How to Write a Web Proposal

How to Write a Web Proposal By Dr. Jin Yang 1 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Why Proposal Think before you design  Organize materials  Plan your schedule  Express ideas logically and visually  Communicate with your client and get approval from your client  2 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Main Components 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 3 Goals Audience Sections Pages Multimedia Interface Structure Mock-up / storyboard Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Goals What makes the project unique and necessary to create?  What do you want to accomplish with the web site?  There might be more than one goal. State them all clearly.  Use verbs to state your goal  4 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Examples of Goals Provide statistics about current professional athletes  Promote UM sports  Offer information on the Yangzi River flooding history  Make people aware of the importance of blood donation  5 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Audience Who are they?  Never say: “anyone” “anyone interested in my site.”  Information on their demographics, even psychographics, their computer skills, and their web access speed, printout needs  6 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Examples U of M sports fans, college-level education, sports knowledgeable  Mostly use PC, high-speed internet access  They don’t need to print out the pages  7 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Sections (content) How many sections?  Content planning and organizing  8 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example (Newspaper Research Journal web)        9 Submission section (users find information about manuscript submission, including reviews, acceptance, NRJ writing styles, tables and graphs, book reviews and micro forms) Subscription section Copyright Editorial board Links Sample articles About us Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Pages (content) How many pages for each section?  Logical, historical, chronicle, or others  10 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example of pages  Submission: three pages: the actual submission information page, which contains anchored links to nine subsections, a link to an HTML version of the endnote examples and the submit manuscript page; additionally, there are external links to the AP stylebook site and Chicago manual of style site Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 11 Multimedia (content) Photo slide show  Audio clips  Video clips  Background music  12 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Theme and Tone Dominant color  Graphics, Photos  Background color  Link color  Warm, exciting environment  Cold, calm down environment  13 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example of theme and tone The site is not gaudy. It will look simple and yet smooth  It incorporates a mostly white background, so as not to crowd the page with too many colors that may distract users  The main color exhibited on the site is a reddish blue, almost burgundy. It is a warm, inviting tone.  14 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Interface Boxy approach  Build-around-graphic approach  Traditional layout  Modern layout  Navigation: buttons, rollovers, text  15 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example of Interface The interface is simple and straightforward. It should look clean and professional.  Main navigation are set at the top, colored blue, and buttons shall have rollover effect  16 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Site Structure Hierarchical tree  Flow chart  17 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example of Site structure Home Products Services History Electronic Parts Cell Phones iPods 18 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Mock-up page/ Storyboard Template for home and inside pages  Individualized pages  Use squares with x inside to represent graphic  Use squares with lines inside to represent text  19 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009 Example of Mockup Page 20 Proposal Writing 6/12/2009