Things to Budget for When Planning a Drupal Implementation

FACTORS TO BUDGET FORWhen planning a Drupal project

Dani Nordin :: @danigrrl :: tzk-design.com

Dani Nordin• UX Designer and

Strategist• Specialize in Design

Strategy for Drupal teams

• Founder, the zen kitchen

• Author, Drupal for Designers series (O’Reilly, 2011–12)

• Twitter: @danigrrl• Email:

[email protected]

Lifecycle of a Drupal Project

Discovery• Understand the client’s specific functional needs• Get clear on the client’s marketing and business goals, and

how this project fits in• Get a handle on resource issues, time investment and other

practical considerations• Research the client’s competitive landscape and audience

UX/Architecture• Get an understanding of the site’s target users• Map out how users will flow through specific key tasks, and

what information needs to be there to support them• Find out what content exists for the current site, what needs

to be created, and how the content will be organized• Come up with a set of assumptions, and standards that will

govern the project as you move forward

Prototyping• Start setting up initial Drupal architecture, and laying in

content to see how it works in “the real world”• Test task flows and assumptions with real users, and see

where you need adjustments• Refine functional requirements and understand what needs

to be done to finish the project

Prototyping• Start setting up initial Drupal architecture, and laying in

content to see how it works in “the real world”• Test task flows and assumptions with real users, and see

where you need adjustments• Refine functional requirements and understand what needs

to be done to finish the project

Visual Design & Theming• Sets up visual standards that will guide the site’s look and

feel• Applies those visual standards to the templates that will

output the site’s content

Functional Implementation• Often happens concurrently with visual design & theming

phase• Takes the knowledge gained in the UX, Architecture and

Prototyping phases and works it into a more finalized version of the site• Can be the longest—or the shortest—part of the process

Testing and Launch• Moves the site from development to staging• Makes sure that everything is working correctly in the

new environment• Makes last-minute updates to modules, content and

other customizations

Project Wrap-up/Retrospective• Takes a look at what went well, what needed tweaking, and

assesses the client/design team relationship• Creates documentation and understanding that will help

make future projects easier• Identifies new areas for iteration, improvement or growth in

the future

FACTORS TO BUDGET FORDiscovery and UX

User Research• Who are the site’s users?• Customers/potential customers• Content admins and editors

• What are their goals at the site?• What is the context in which they’re visiting?• Who are the major stakeholders in the project?• What business goals do you need to achieve?• Increased signups?• Purchases?• Contact requests?

Content Strategy• How much content exists?• Is the content on brand/message?• Is there any new content that needs to be created?• What types of content?• Videos?• Image Galleries?• Articles?

• Who creates content?• Does content have expiration dates or deadlines? • Is there an approval process for publishing?

Information Architecture• How is content organized?• What “basic pages” (i.e. marketing pages) exist?• What pages will involve listings of content (blog posts, news

items, etc.)?• Are there specific tags, categories, or sections to consider?• What does each type of content look like?• Extra fields?• Images?• Video or audio?• File downloads?

Requirements Gathering• Who gathers stakeholder and user requirements?• How are requirements delivered to the development team?• Spreadsheet?• Project management software?

• Who keeps the team on schedule?• How are deadlines structured?

FACTORS TO BUDGET FORDevelopment and Maintenance

Hosting and server configuration• Hosting• Which provider?• Shared hosting, private, cloud?

• Server configuration• Integration with external APIs or software?• Integration with other tools (advanced search, CRM, etc.)?

Users, Roles and Permissions• Who has access to log in to the site?• What types of access are required?• Content editors• Site administrators• Site visitors/commenters

• What information is collected in the user’s profile?• Should users be able to contact one another?

Content Entry, Migration & Display

• Does legacy content need to be migrated into the new site?• Who will enter and manage new content?• How many database queries (Views), i.e. blog listing, news

feed, etc. are required?

FACTORS TO BUDGET FORVisual Design and Theming

Visual Design• Do brand standards exist or do they need to be created?• Are there any special elements (callouts, advertisements,

etc.) that need to be accounted for in the design?• Who will create the visual design?

Theming• Who will apply the look and feel to the site’s theme?• Are there any dynamic features that need to be created?• Does the design need to work on multiple devices in

multiple contexts?

Responsive Design• In what contexts do users visit the site?• How do those contexts impact:• Content served?• Navigation?• Interactive features?

FACTORS TO BUDGET FORSite maintenance and content administration

Maintenance and Backup• Who maintains codebase?• How are upgrades handled?• How are backups handled?

Content administration• Who authors/updates content?• Who approves content?

QUESTIONS?