The Brief Set

For our Personal Development project we were asked to obtain or create semi professional briefs. Because I felt that a previous project of mine was in need of a major over haul from a server side point of view, and because the client felt so also I asked for a brief off of them. The following is what they sent me:

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Website Design Brief

Overview

Food Dreckly currently has a website which is in need of revision and updating. We do not feel that a complete overhaul is required but definitely new text, changes and additions to the current web page layout and better links to other sites. The website is promoted in all our publicity and therefore it is of paramount importance that in the future a ‘non techno’ member of staff can easily update the site to reflect changes to the business.

Aims and Objectives

Food Dreckly is a proactive food business with a growing reputation for quality food. We would hope that our website will act as a ‘shop window’ for the business providing potential and existing customers with a ‘taste’ of what we do and how we do it. To this end we want the site to demonstrate the Food Dreckly:

• ethos – the use of locally sourced, high quality and seasonal ingredients, often organic and where that is not possible the use of fairly and ethically traded goods.
• attitude – relaxed with a touch of humour, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food on offer.
• menu – high quality, traditional (with style) and innovative dishes, affordable;

Audience

The intended audience for the website is likely to be:

• existing customers - wishing to find out about events, sales days, outside catering and contact details.

• potential customers – those who have read about us in marketing, promotional or media material or heard about us from friends.

• Other business’ that are looking to sell us their products or services or create mutually beneficial links. This might be potential suppliers, other tourism business’ or even our competitors.

• We recognise that most of our clients are professional people who are looking for high quality and healthy food in an informal atmosphere. This group also eats out at other more expensive venues and has quite high expectations of service. The age range is probably late 30’s upwards and includes an increasing number of retired ‘comfortably off’ customers.

Design Specification

Clarity, cleanness and simplicity are crucial to the feel of the site.
Font - We have an existing logo using the colours blue and maroon. Staff uniforms include blue polo shirts and maroon aprons. Any font or colour used needs to complement this existing logo and colour bias.

Picture – we have a small library of pictures that can be used. The current site only uses pictures of food. Pictures of the café, the farmer’s market food stall, suppliers, Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley area and outside catering events should be included. The use of high quality pictures is very important as we are appealing to professional and often artistic customers.

Other Café Websites

http://www.bunkersbeachcafe.com.au/breakfast.html - this has a modern style, plenty of space and looks professional. However it does not give a feel of the food or place itself.

www.porthminstercafe.co.uk - an example of a good title bar but a far too crowded and messy layout

www.venuscompany.co.uk - an example of good information but very old fashioned design

http://www.wilfs-cafe.co.uk easy to navigate, fast and informative but no finesse or artistic merit

http://www.blue-bar.co.uk a modern feel and relaxed but still a bit messy

http://www.watergatebay.co.uk/thebeachhut - slick and possibly a bit too clever for its purpose

Functionality Specification

Navigation: We already have a clean and functional title bar that will helps the customer to navigate the site quickly. However the quality of the logo is poor and takes up too much space, it is dwarfed by the strong font of the strap line.

Home page the existing page needs to clearly show that there are three arms to the business, these are: the café, outside catering and Farmers Market stall. There also needs to be a ‘Contact us’ provision. We suggest using a picture of Dartmoor or the Tamar Valley on the home page to reinforce our pride in the area.

The café opening page to include: existing text to set out our ethos, a picture of the café, a map to the venue and opening times, this page should have links to a:

1) sample menu,
2) Third Friday Night and other events
3)Ward and Chowen cattle sales days
4) details of media coverage
3) contact us

Outside catering opening page to include existing text and picture of a buffet or sample dishes. 1) A link to testimonials from past customers would be desirable 2) contact us
Fast Food /Farmers Market opening page to include picture of the stall in action, sample menu and link to Farmers Market website.

Supplier’s links to our supplier’s websites need to be better integrated into the text
Accessibility Specification

The current web site is no longer easy to access on Google, the inclusion of the Food Dreckly name on the web sites of others has pushed our own website down the list. It is very important that the search engine ranking is increased to improve our accessibility. The work of the designer will not be considered complete until the website is checked for accessibility using one of the popular tools

Deliverables

By the end of the contract the following work must be delivered:

• The website itself – as a series of HTML pages;

• Documentation - a list of the pages along with a map of how they fit together;

• Clear information on how Food Dreckly staff can update and manage the site in the future

• A clear indication that the code has passed accessibility requirements.

Budget

The budget for the website is very limited and we do not wish to incur expensive after care, hence the lack of interactive elements. To this end we would require the website designer to include all likely costs within the work including any changes we make during the process.

Copyright Statement

We require a clear statement of the ownership of copyright over the pages, code, content and images created or used in developing the site. In particular, you should ensure that rights over the coding of the pages remain with Food Dreckly.