The Many Hats of Web Design

Website design actually involves a variety of tasks and skills, not just graphic design. Large websites will most likely be designed by a team, but for a smaller project, one person may need to wear several 'hats.'

If you are a small organization setting up a website for the first time you will probably have a website committee who will split up the planning and content jobs, a technical person to actually set up the site, and possibly a graphic artist.

On a big website design project, the following people might be involved:

Like a regular architect, the Information Architect visualizes the whole site and comes up with a blueprint. They start with the needs of the client, and identify the goals and audience of the site, make an inventory of content needed, and provide for future expansion.

The Project Manager is the team leader and coordinates the whole process, beginning with information gathering and planning. They are also responsible for communications and training.

The Content Manager manages the content of the site, including text, graphics and some additional special considerations for the web like links and headings. They are responsible for the creation and delivery of the content, as specified in the Project Plan (editing, scheduling, etc.). The Content Manager's job starts in the planning stage with a detailed outline of the site content.

The Visual Designer is responsible for the look and feel of the site (the 'skin'), including basic graphic design, colors, and typology.

The Web Programmer/Developer handles the programming and installation of the scripts which provide functionality (the 'backend').

The Production Designer puts it all together, tests and uploads the actual website files.