5 replies to this topic

[wilkinsonsm4]

I have an idea for a business/database website and can picture it in my mind. To really solidify my vision for it, I've worked out a paper-draft outline of its basic functions and the features it would need.

My question is whether it is possible for me to put on paper both visually and through writing, the way I want the website to work. In other words, can programmers take my plan and use it to paint by numbers?

I'm sure there are things that a coder would bring to my attention as inefficient or impossible, thereby revising my concept. But do you think there's anything I can do on my end to save money/expedite the process before hiring someone to put it online?

Thank you for your thoughtful reply,
Sean

[ethikz]

Well generally they can grab the basics. If you create mockups of the website for every page and through detailed writing what every page's content shall be that should speed it up.

[wilkinsonsm4]

Thanks ethikz, I was hoping this document could be put to use in other ways than just helping me to figure out exactly what it is I'm looking for.

Would anyone else happen to have any thoughts as to what degree a customer's outline can aid a programmer in translating it into code?

[Alexander]

Telling the (must be contract so you can work with them) developer the basics up front, in a way that they will recognize the amount of work without needing much details will be most important. You may wish to look on freelancing (odesk.com, elance.com and guru.com) sites and see the format of the jobs people put out, compared to the job they ask of.

To get back to your situation, I am not one hundred percent sure many PHP developers are comfortable with designing elegant solutions to the website theme (other than templates), so you may wish to seek somebody with web design experience and state that along with your requirements.

The simpler the mockups and steps/goals the better, as long as they convey 100% what you want to do in a clear manner. I had a late night, I'll try to post back any other thoughts to make the process easier if I have them.

[so1i]

I think that most programmers (if used to developing for someone else other than themselves) would be pretty comfortable with this. If you draw a diagram that is logically/technically correct, the programmer should be able to logically implement it, or get back to you with things that he/she thinks might be better altered.

Depends how complicated the system, but there are some standardised ways to do this (maybe read up on some UML), however for anything that isn't going to be super complex, I'm sure a flow diagram of how you want the system to work will suffice.

If it's more on a design side, you might want to take your designs to a graphic designer, and then to the programmer. As programmers will be able to take images and code them, they may not be so comfortable with taking hand drawn images and creating/coding them. :)

[WingedPanther]

Most programmers are taught to do this for their own projects, as well. In short, if it's done well, yes.