Avoiding Functionality Overkill

All to often we find ourselves talking to a client who loves the BBC's website, and why wouldn't they? The BBC have done a lovely job on it, it looks great, has many amazing functions and obviously works extremely well for them. The problem is that the people asking for their site to be "like the BBC's" are not the BBC.

As digital professionals we have the ability to create all this shiny new website functionality, but is it needed? Does it enhance the user experience? Does it benefit the client? Does it make best use of the available space? And most of all, does it answer the brief? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then go ahead. If no, then what's the point?

It is our job as digital professionals to guide our clients, they see something and they want it as we all do, but before you say yes to a piece of functionality consider this:

Is It Something That Users Want?
Sometimes a client may want a function on their website but have not considered if their users want or even need it.

The best way to find out what functions may benefit your users is to look around - see what similar sites are doing and if their features are being put to good use. For example; imagine building a forum that never got used, it creates a perception that your company is uninteresting and not worth talking about, not only that but you have wasted a lot of time and your client has wasted a lot of money.

Does Adding This Functionality Help To Achieve The Clients Goals?
Often people charge in to a project without clearly identifying the project's goals. Without defining goals you will struggle to decide what functionally will be of any real use.

For example; a client comes to you and asks for a fully content managed website even though they only want to show 6 pages of content and wish to put the odd news story up every now and then. Do you give them what they want? Maybe. But first suggest a better solution, how about a 6 page static website with an integrated blog? A much more cost effective solution which still allows extra functionality to be added at a later date if needed.

Is The Budget There?
New features need specialist attention so are not always cheep to create. If you are not 100% sure that a piece of functionality is needed then don't waste the money, it is better off spent elsewhere. There is no point creating functionality for functionalities sake.

If you would like to add functionality to your existing website or wish to start something new, why not contact us and we will find a solution that not only fulfills your brief but also saves you money.

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