The Nine Pillars Of Successful Web Teams

Every Web team has its own take on dividing up roles andresponsibilities and implementing processes for design and development.Formal titles, job descriptions, and reporting structures can varywidely. But the best teams I've encountered have one important thing incommon: their team structure and processes cover a full range ofdistinct competencies necessary for success.

I've come to think of these competencies as the Nine Pillars.In a successful team, we can quickly and clearly identify which teammembers have which of these nine competencies, and where thesecompetencies come into play in the design and development processes.When the system seems to be breaking down, it's often because one ofthe pillars is missing, either from the team structure or from theprocess.

Pillar By Pillar

Here's a diagramshowing the Nine Pillars and how they interrelate. The Pillars rangefrom strategic competencies needed to develop broad-ranging, long-termapproaches to tactical competencies needed to address the immediate,practical details of execution. Let's look at the Pillars one by one,from the most strategic to the most tactical.

1. User Research: User-centered design meansunderstanding what your users need, how they think, and how they behave- and incorporating that understanding into every aspect of yourprocess. User research provides the raw observations that fuel thisinsight into the people your site must serve.

2. Site Strategy: Defining your own goals for the sitecan be surprisingly tricky. Arriving at a common understanding of thesite's purpose for your organization, how you'll prioritize the site'svarious goals, and the means by which you'll measure the site's successare all matters of site strategy.

3. Technology Strategy: Web sites are technologicallycomplex, and getting more intricate all the time. Identifying thetechnology strategy for the site - platforms, standards, technologies,and how they can all interoperate - is essential to avoiding costlymistakes.

4. Content Strategy: Content is often the reason userscome to your site. But what content can you offer to meet your users'expectations? How much content is appropriate, and what form should ittake? What style or tone should it have? Before you can produce thatcontent, you need to answer fundamental content strategy questions suchas these.

5. Abstract Design: Information architecture andinteraction design translate strategic objectives into a conceptualframework for the final user experience. These emerging disciplinesaddressing abstract design are increasingly recognized for their valuein the Web development process.

6. Technology Implementation: Building technicalsystems involves a lot of hard work and specialized knowledge:languages and protocols, coding and debugging, testing and refactoring.The more complex your site, the more important a competency intechnology implementation becomes.

7. Content Production: Knowing what content you needisn't enough. You also need to know how you'll produce it. Gatheringraw information, writing and editing, and defining editorial workflowsand approvals are all part of content production.

8. Concrete Design: Before the abstract design canbecome a fully realized user experience, you must determine thespecific details of interfaces, navigation, information design, andvisual design. This realm of concrete design is essential to creatingthe final product.

9. Project Management: The hub that binds all thetactical competencies together as well as the engine that drives theproject forward to completion, project management requires a highlyspecialized set of skills all its own. Neglecting this area oftenresults in missed deadlines and cost overruns.

Putting the Pillars Into Practice

Does this mean that every Web team has to have at least ninepeople on it? Not necessarily. It's very common to have team memberswith multiple competencies.

This is especially true for the strategic competencies, whichare often paired with complementary tactical competencies. For example,someone with a strong grounding in technology implementation frequentlytakes on technology strategy as well, and many concrete designers alsohave an aptitude for abstract design. On the other hand, manyorganizations find they need several team members to fill out a singlecompetency (especially in the case of the more tactical pillars).

How you end up structuring your team and your process willdepend largely on the specific circumstances of your organization. Butby building your practices on the Nine Pillars, you can be assured thatyou aren't missing any competencies that are essential to your site'ssuccess.

About the Author:

Jesse James Garrett is a Partner at Adaptive Path. His latest book is The Elements of User Experience. Jesse will be covering the Nine Pillars in more detail during Adaptive Path's Adaptivepath.com - User Experience Week in Washington, D.C., August 18-21.

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