If You Don't Have A Plan, You're Probably Going Nowhere

Forgive me if I sound like I'm stating the obvious here, but I can't stress enough the importance of planning when it comes to web design. It's one thing to be working on your own sites and projects, but whenever you're working with a group of people (other programmers, analysts, or anyone else) or for an organization, you need to have a plan put together for where you're going.

What benefits do you get from having a plan?

• Things Get Put In Writing - This way you don't have to worry about what you thought you heard, or anyone changing their minds along the way (well, they can still change them, but at least you have in writing what you agreed to previously). Everyone end up on the same page then, or at least someplace close.

• You'll Already Have The Solution, You Just Need To Do The Work - Whenever I work on a site, whether it's from scratch or modifying something existing, I always like to go through the code and write down everything that needs changing. That way, if I come across something that doesn't work as I expect ahead of time, I can alter my plan instead of going back and recoding parts I've already done.

• Impact Analysis - On a similar vein, if you put together an execution plan, you can also figure out what other areas may be impacted in advance. If you find that there are a lot of interdependencies in your code, it can also help you prioritize your work.

• Progress Report - If you're reporting to someone, especially someone who's non-technical, you can show them your plan and point out how much of it is done to demonstrate your progress. Trust me, it's a lot easier than just saying "we're still working on it".

Every day, I work with a plan on my projects. It may seem like an extra step to get done before getting to work, but more often then not it will help you keep from wasting time on ill-fated development and keep your code from getting too disorganized. It's well worth your time.