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.

I would estimate that on 90% of my projects, the most difficult person to deal with is the client. Some clients are great, but many clients have unrealistic expectations or don?t exactly know what they want and yet still will throw out random thoughts and ideas. It is your job to keep the client focused on the tasks at hand, to have them aware of and process that you follow so that they do not jump ahead, and to constantly communicate with them the status of the project. Communication is key throughout all phases of the project with all parties involved.

The more projects that you work on, the more you will learn about the do?s and don?ts of web design project management. I have loved every aspects of this job, from just kicking around ideas to implementing a full blown corporate website, everything has been fun. If you enjoy wed designed or if you have a background in project management, you should consider doing web design project management as a side business or as a fulltime job.

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