Website Requirements
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What Are Website Requirements?
Website requirements describe the features, functions, and content of a site. They are a list of what the site must have and what it must allow users to do.
Requirements might include general features and functions, such as search or contact us. Or, they might be specific features and functions of your site. These could include online grant applications, database retrievals, shopping options, or e-mail alert sign-up forms.
Additionally, website requirements might include specific content or content areas that your site must cover, such as:
- Research reports
- Articles on health for the general public
- Lists of funding opportunities
- Links to other related sites
- Meeting reports
- Press releases
Developing Website Requirements
Website requirements should reflect your users' needs. Your user scenarios should outline the tasks your users want to complete on your site. Use the features, functions, and content described in your scenarios to develop your requirements.
Requirements can begin as a phrase or one-sentence description of what the site must have or must allow users to do. Your requirements will become more detailed as you move through the process. Eventually, you may want to use the requirements to write use cases. Use cases describe how users will interact with the site to accomplish your scenarios.
Using Website Requirements
Website requirements only tell you what your website must have and what it must allow users to do. Requirements do not tell you how to design or develop the site to have those features, functions, and content. The other design steps help you figure out how to make sure that the site is organized, written, and designed to satisfy the requirements.
