How do you design something amazing? If we have enough time, we can keep iterating and polishing as we learn, discover issues, and find ways to improve. Experienced designers avoid many hurdles with a process that gathers input from the right people and keeps them involved along the way.
If we're designing a site for a non profit cycling club that advocates for infrastructure and policy and organizes group rides, we want to know what kind of things their users want to see and what they want to promote on the site.
Discovery
When a project officially begins, a contract is in place with a scope of work defined. The team starts with these assumptions and boundaries and begin to gather more information to find out what they can do.
Stakeholders
Everyone has an opinion about what they want and how it should look, but who is the decision maker? You will need to understand the organizational hierarchy and sometimes challenge it to get input from everyone and make decisions that will make the most impact.
Phantom stakeholders
Some people have control over a project but don't appear at meetings. They work through what they hear from other people and give them commands on the side. These people can derail a project if not handled well. So make sure to ask who has input and establish agreements along the way. These people will often come around if included in the process.
Requirements
What is the project expected to achieve?
Are you replacing a site that already exists with a new build? You may need to analyze existing features and decide how to rebuild or reimplement them.