Over the many years of having been a web design project manager, I have launched a plethora of web sites. This includes taking projects from the initiation phase all the way through the launch, closing, and maintenance phase of a web sites lifecycle. Throughout this process I?ve learned many valuable tips, lessons, and best practices for succeeding in this line of work. In particular, I?ve learned a few best practices that I?d like to share with you on working with designers, working with web developers, and also working with your clients.

Working with designers can be fun and challenging. I am not an artistic person; I merely know when I see something I like. The designers I work with are very talented and do great work. The tips that I can recommend for working with designers include managing expectations and being very specific about what the client likes and does not like. The first thing I ask the client for is a list of sites that they like and why. The second thing I ask for is a list of a few sites that they don?t like and why. I immediately provide these to the designer so that he or she can get a feel for the clients taste.

Another great tip when working with your designer is to ensure that what they designed can be coded. Early in my career I would sometimes have these be the full designs that the client would love, only to then send them to my developer and find out that many of the aspects could not be coded because of limitations in browsers or code. Now that I am more familiar with what can and can?t be done, I don?t really have this problem. To prevent yourself from doing this same thing, if you have any questions or are unsure about the feasibility of doing something, immediately talk to your developer to get feedback. You do not want to show the client something that you cannot deliver.

My best fit for working with a developer is to be very clear in your expectations and requirements. Sometimes something sounds very simple to us and we do not think of all the little details that are involved in implementing it. We may only tell the developer the parts that we think are important but may end up leaving critical pieces out. This confuses the developer because they may come to completely different conclusions about what needs to be coded then what we had envisioned. As you can see, communication is critical in all aspects of the project.

Possibly the hardest part of launching a web site is dealing with the client. Some clients are very low maintenance while other clients are very hands on and know exactly what they want and force you into a box. It is your job to work with the client and gain trust from them that you know how to do a good job. Constant communication throughout the process is key in gaining and keeping the trust. You want the client to always be informed and to see progress happening so that they know their project is moving along and on schedule.

As you can see, there are many little things you will learn while doing project management work. I have thoroughly enjoyed incubating many ideas and small little projects and turning them into large successes. I have worked with small web startups as well as large companies and nonprofit organizations and all of the projects have been very fun. If you like web design, consider doing web design project management because you?ll be exposed to all of the different pieces that go into launching a new web site.

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