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The Complete Guide to Project

Deliverables in Web Design
Sergei Davidov(https://elementor.com/blog/author/sdavidov/) November 13, 2020
No Comments(https://elementor.com/blog/web-design-deliverables/#respond)
Business (https://elementor.com/blog/category/business/)

Setting project deliverables can help you avoid confusion, project delays, client
dissatisfaction, and additional, unnecessary expenses. Learn what they are and why you
should consider them when starting a new project.

A common source of con ict in web design projects is di ering visions of the nal
output. If the deliverables are not clearly communicated from the start, the end product
may be unsatisfying to the client. This can lead to frustration, wasted time, rounds of
revision requests, and even scope creep (https://elementor.com/blog/scope-creep/).

De ning and managing project deliverables is key to keeping a project on track

(https://elementor.com/blog/project-management-checklist/). Using output milestones
that are speci c, measurable, and realistic can also help your team determine upfront
the acceptability criteria by which the client will judge the success of the design.

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor

In this article, we’ll discuss what website design deliverables are and why they’re
important. We’ll also dig into how to de ne and manage them. Let’s dive in!

Create a Web Design Brief Before Starting a Project

(https://elementor.com/blog/create-website-brief/)

What Are Project Deliverables in Web Design?

In simple terms, a deliverable is an output of a project. This can be anything as long as it
ful lls some predetermined criteria, such as:

Being within the scope of the project

Having complete buy-in from all relevant stakeholders
Ful lling a particular objective of the project

In the context of a web design business (https://elementor.com/blog/start-web-design-

business/), deliverables can be website content, branding assets, the site itself, or
something else. There can be multiple artifacts resulting from a web design project.

In general, project deliverables accomplish client objectives. This is why it is particularly

important that each expected output is speci c and measurable. In addition, it makes
the case for de ning deliverables only when the expectations of all relevant
stakeholders and the target audience have been ascertained.

To further clarify what a deliverable might look like, during the course of the project,
several documents might be created, such as design sketches, mockups, and
wireframes (https://elementor.com/blog/wireframe-website/). The sketches needn’t be
considered deliverables, because they don’t directly ful ll a project objective. 

However, the nal product depends on the wireframe and the mockup. In this sense, a
deliverable can be said to have dependencies or ‘sub-deliverables’.

At this point, it is important to distinguish between deliverables and objectives.

Objectives detail the outcome of the design process. In other words, they are the
potential bene ts that will result from the project.

For example, one of your client’s goals may be to increase tra c to their site. Therefore,
one of the expected deliverables might include social media posts or blog articles
(https://elementor.com/blog/create-blog-wordpress/) for attracting visitors organically
via online searches. The di erence between deliverables and objectives can be
summarized this way: the former are distinct or individual items that help ful ll the latter.

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LET 'S GO
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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor
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Why Are Project Deliverables Important in Web

Design?
Deliverables are handy for establishing client expectations
(https://elementor.com/blog/client-expectations/). Clearly-de ned artifacts can make it
easier to determine the scope, timeline, and budget. This eliminates the risk of your team
having a vision of the project’s output that is di erent from the client’s and can entail
thoroughly itemizing features, functions, and so on.

In a nutshell, deliverables are the culmination of the client’s needs and wants for a web
design project. They are instrumental in meeting the goals of a project. 

In general, the business goals of a web design project will determine its output. For
example, if the objective was to acquire more leads through digital marketing
(https://elementor.com/blog/podcast-46-matthew-woodward/), the nal deliverables
might include a website and some blog or social media content.

On the other hand, if a project involved migrating customer data to the cloud, its output
might include training documents for teaching employees how to use the new database
system. In conclusion, a successful turnover of deliverables to the client will typically
signal the completion of the design process.

Types of Project Deliverables

Depending on who they’re meant for, project deliverables can be classi ed as internal or
external. Internal deliverables are typically created for use within the web design teams

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor
and in support of the project output.

Internal Design Project Deliverables

Internal deliverables help make the development process run smoother and keep the
business a oat. 

Examples of internal deliverables in design projects include:

budget reports
software tests
technical reference documentation
resource availability reports
and more

External Design Project Deliverables

On the other hand, external deliverables are output meant for the client upon completion
of the project. This is usually what people picture upon hearing the term “deliverable”.

Examples of external deliverables in design projects include

feasibility studies
product prototype or MVP
A mobile app,
Etc.

Examples of Project Deliverables in Web Design

As mentioned earlier, there can be multiple deliverables from a web design project.
Additionally, the expected output will vary. A common example is a creative brief, which
provides an overview of design goals, scope, and target audience.

Another example is a wireframe (https://elementor.com/blog/wireframe-website/), which

can provide the client with a visualization of the website, its layout, and navigation even
before the actual work begins. This gives them the chance to critique speci c details
and ensures that they’re fully on board with the nal design, reducing the risk of revision
requests.

Mockups build on wireframes as you begin to specify the nitty-gritty details of the
design, such as typography (https://elementor.com/blog/web-fonts/), colors, branding
assets, images, and more. Other examples of deliverables include:

A gap or SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis

report on competitors for identifying opportunities.
Design presentations made for clients to better understand the goals of the
project.

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor

Ebooks, case studies, whitepapers, blog articles, or social media posts created by
the marketing team to promote new products and services. This can also include a
homepage or other web page built for speci c advertising campaigns.
Design prototypes meant for A/B testing (https://elementor.com/blog/a-b-testing/)
with speci c user segments.
Style guidelines (https://elementor.com/blog/web-design-style-guide/).
Creative assets such as music, illustrations, animations, etc.
Press releases for sharing important news and updates.

All of these kinds of web design deliverables, whether internal or external, are key to a
successful project. That means they should be itemized upfront.

Build a Better Website with Elementor

LET 'S GO
(HT TPS://ELEMENTOR.COM/ WELCOME/)

How to De ne and Manage Project Deliverables (in 4

Steps)
Project management can take signi cant e ort and practice to get right. You want to
successfully achieve the overall goals while working within the budget and time

constraints. One way to make the process smoother is by de ning and managing
deliverables. Here are four steps for handling this:

Step 1: Break Down Project Objectives into Manageable Parts

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor
Step 1: Break Down Project Objectives into Manageable Parts

Of course, you want to make sure to de ne each deliverable right at the start of the
planning stage and before any work begins. To that end, the rst step to de ning and
managing your cumulative output as a project manager is to fully understand design
objectives. In other words, you need to understand the criteria for creating an
acceptable deliverable.

If you reached out to the client with a website design proposal

(https://elementor.com/blog/website-proposal/), you might have already established the
most important points. Regardless, some questions to ask when de ning deliverables
include:

What is the objective or goal of the project?

What are the constituent elements of the overall objective?
What is the format of the constituent parts?
How important are those parts to the project’s overall goal?
How much time will it take to ful ll each part of the project objectives?
What resources are required to create each of these smaller objectives?

The above questions enable you to break down the project’s objectives into smaller
parts, as well as evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of each of those parts.
Additionally, this decomposition can position your team to see and report progress more
quickly to the client. This can give the impression of e ciency and thoroughness.

Finally, you might want to consider associating each of these deliverables with
milestones to provide better tracking. This can provide a greater sense of achievement
for each task knocked o your team’s to-do list.

Step 2: Research the Requirements for Each Deliverable

Thoroughly

Deliverables have two components: the deliverable itself and the criteria for calling it a
success.

For example, if you’re designing a mental health therapy app for a client, a deliverable
might include onboarding documents and the app itself.

However, both elements would need to meet some requirements, such as having the
client’s branding and allowing the users to reach out anonymously. De ning
requirements can be even more of a trying task than itemizing the deliverables
themselves. This step is extremely important, as incomplete requirements can lead to
scope creep and cause your team to overshoot the set budget.

To gather and list out requirements for your deliverables, you can rely on:

User observations, perhaps even from shortcomings identi ed for competing

products or services

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor
Surveys, questionnaires, and interviews
Focus groups
Prototypes
A/B tests
And more

You generally want to involve users and other stakeholders as early as possible to
increase your understanding of the requirements for each deliverable. This can mean
asking questions of this sort:

Who are the relevant stakeholders you need to get buy-in from?
What are their most important pressing concerns?
Do the deliverables t into the agreed scope and budget? If not, can you get the key
stakeholders to sign-o on an expansion of both?
What are the existing industry standards you’ll need to comply with?
Have you had previous experience creating similar deliverables? If so, what were
their requirements?
How can you make each deliverable a success for the target user?

Finally, you want to make sure to follow industry best practices where appropriate. For
example, depending on the target audience, it might make sense to be very thorough
with the accessibility features you build in.

Step 3: Identify Key Metrics for Measuring the Acceptability of

Each Deliverable

Once you’ve split the objectives into smaller parts and have de ned all required
deliverables, the next step is to develop some key metrics. Using data to drive your
decision-making (https://elementor.com/blog/webinar-kieran- anagan/) will help you
measure the progress and success of the overall project.

Some example metrics include:

Estimated budget
Number of open or late tasks
The deadlines of the project and its smaller deliverables

These metrics can help you assess the health of the project and identify areas in need of
the most attention. This is why they need to be highly actionable. In an ideal project,
team members will be able to update their progress on a shared dashboard.

Additionally, changes such as new issues can trigger an update on dashboards reporting
on a particular metric. These might make use of colors to let you know when everything
is going smoothly or something is wrong.

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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor

Step 4: Plan the Review and Approval Stage

The nal step is to plan for the review and approval process. The amount of time this will
take can vary based on many factors. However, overlooking this stage can be
detrimental to quality and client satisfaction.

A tool such as Filestage (https:// lestage.io/form) can be used to manage this step:

Some items to schedule for review and approval include blog articles, social media
posts, videos, illustrations, and animations, etc. You might also need to ensure that
marketing content follows Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices. 

Essentially, this process fosters a culture of transparency and ensures that the nal
quality of all project deliverables is stellar. This ultimately leads to happier and loyal
clients who can net you more work via word-of-mouth advocacy of your web design
services.

De ne and Manage Your Project Deliverables

Clearly de ned project deliverables in web design are important for ascertaining the
expectations of all relevant stakeholders. They also form the criteria on which the
resulting design can be considered a success. It can take some e ort to de ne and
manage them, but it is time well spent.

Fortunately, de ning and managing project deliverables doesn’t have to be a challenge.

You’ll just need to break down project objectives into manageable parts, research the
requirements for each deliverable thoroughly, identify some key metrics, and then plan
the review and approval stage.

Do you have any questions about project deliverables in web design? Let us know in the
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1/19/2021 Project Deliverables in Website Design: The Complete Guide | Elementor
Do you have any questions about project deliverables in web design? Let us know in the
comments section below!

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(HT TPS://ELEMENTOR.COM/ WELCOME/)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sergei Davidov
Sergei Davidov is a content creator at Elementor. His favorite topics are gadgets, advances in science, new apps and software
solutions. He enjoys spicy food, reading books and listening to elevator music.

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