Many web designers base their projects off of past projects and do not take the additional time to plan. Andy Budd, creative director of Clearleft, states that planning is the most important part of every project. Designers tend to think they won't run into many problems in their projects, but according to Andy Budd, the more complex a system is the more obvious variables it will have which will lead to something going wrong at some point.
The designer and client often have the best understanding of the website's aims, but it isn't often that they stop and think about the users who will be accessing the website. These users are the most important link to the design chain. Andy Budd comments that it is always a good idea to talk to the user of who you are making the webiste for prior to it's completion, because really, they are the ultimate stakeholders.
Modern sites are going above and beyond in static imagery more than they ever have before, and this part of the planning process must take into the account of the rich media componets that will be on display. The designer has to determine if the site will be content-managed, and if so by whom, and if this will require a lot of altering into the publication. It's also important to take consideration into the future of updates, and as content gets changed on your site, will the page have technical issues?
