The process of steps necessary to building a site includes a number of things happening simultaneously.
The layout includes things like menus and blocks is the process of determining where everything on the site is too be placed. Normally the front page is designed first and each of the other pages use many of the same elements depending upon their content.
The aesthetics are the colors, fonts, and graphic elements that make up your site.
The content consists of all of the text, images, multimedia, and other items that who you are to the customer. The content is can be changed later by the end user(s).
There are also a number of background processes being done by the designer such as setting up user specific priveledges and analytics that will become important once the site goes live.
These three things are all very interdependant yet they could in reality be handled by different teams and sometimes that could even be more efficient because it is important when discussing any one of these elements to not get sidetracked by one of the others. It is the same concept as "Lorem Ipsum" text which was created in the 1500's because of the fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout.
Think of it like remodeling a bathroom. If you are concentrating on the color of your tile while designing the initial layout you are not focusing on the correct part of the process and it the whole process will be hurt.
We will being with the website questionnaire because is an important tool to help understand your needs and desires for a website and is just the first step in your needs assessment. It is designed to help you think about and gather the information you need to pass on to me as the designer.
Website Questionnaire
