Can I build a site before I have the visual designs done?

[MisterMusty]

Hi all,

I need a website built and would like to know whether i need to have someone do the visual designs for each page before I can get a developer to actually build the site functionality. I'd rather get cracking with a developer as there's going to be a lot of detail to get right - is it possible to add the look and feel later on in the process?

thanks for all input

[fisicx]

I wouldn't consider it to be done any other way. There is almost no way to do the visuals until the functionality, navigation and content is completed. How for example will you know the best location for the navigation until you know the number and type of links. The only way to check this is to build the site first.

The look and feel of the site is the very last thing you need to do and is simply a matter of sorting out the CSS.

[Kev Jaques]

Yes however, you should factor in at the very least some kind of wire frame layout, not everything works well jumbled in a mess.
Not all pages need to be designed, those with similar framework will obviously be the same and it will only be a few other content pages needing some clarity.

Your copy should flow to sections you want people to be moved in like a sales funnel.

You need to make sure the developer knows the kind of aims and goals you want for the site and how it should be perceived even though they won't be looking at the aesthetics, you still want the touchy/feely functionality things to work well.

Alternatively you could hire some one/me <--- who can do both! ;)

[Astaroth]

Have never known anyone who has recommended building functionality before template designs before.

It is certainly possible for a transactional site to be built before the look and feel is completed however this will add additional developer time as it is quicker to code once with look and feel in mind than to code once for functionality and then have to go back and revisit it all to do the styling.

That said, the actual coding is less than half the job of a developer and front end coding even less still. It is certainly possible for the developer to gather your requirements, create the technical specification and develop the database etc all of which is almost free of risk of duplication unless you decide to go wildly down a different route (eg changing from a HTML based site to Flash).

[tradedemon]

Yes you can but how easy/difficult it is to change and add to the design afterwards will depend on the code that the site is built with. But certainly if you're developing your functionality from scratch there's no reason why you can't get started with that first.