The web creation process begins verbally, then takes shape graphically, and won’t move into the code or programming phase until the final stage. This process isn’t well understood by those outside of web design. And why should it be? A great deal of “designers” don’t actually get it either.

Web sites aren’t conceptualized in a web development tool like Dreamweaver. The business needs of the client are discovered through an interview to identify wants, needs, the audience, the message, functionality, look and feel, and so on.

This discovery (scoping) information collected from the client is interpreted into a graphical mock-up in a graphics application like Photoshop. The mock-up is a non-functioning image of what the future site will look like—a flat image.

Once the graphical mock-up has been refined and polished, the image is then taken to code. Based on a number of considerations, including the programming languages to be used, web applications employed, search engine optimization techniques and more, the image is dissected and interpreted during the site building process.

It’s worth noting that modern graphics tools like Adobe Photoshop have a push-button website creation function, whereby anyone can use the tool to dump out the code and files required to post a web page. No doubt these features are quite amazing, but this method should not be confused with proper website development. Proper development takes into consideration usability, the target audience, ongoing site maintenance and scalability . . . not to mention the integration of different technologies that give life through functionality.