There are many steps that make up the web design process and often times the jargon that goes along with it isn’t what you’d normally hear on a daily basis. It’s important that the client and designer communicate clearly in terms that both can understand.

Here is a quick primer on a few common words that you might come across.

  1. Wireframe – A wireframe is a basic visual guide to suggest the structure and layout of a website. Key elements of a web page are arranged as they might appear in the final site design. These areas of a wireframe are often represented by a hand sketch or may be a digital file with several boxes laid out in a grid format. Wireframes are generally free of any image graphics or other artwork. The purpose of this step in the design process is to make sense of the content and goals of the web page. Here are a couple of wireframe examples:

    wireframe

    Sitemap
  2. Sitemap – A sitemap’s job is to identify the key pages in a website. In addition to calling out specific links in a global navigation, the sitemap may also show a secondary nav system or even list out links to external sites. Here is a simple example:

    mock-up
  3. Mock-up or Comp – Mock-ups or comps are used early in the design process to get feedback from clients on design ideas and direction for their site. It is a simulation of the layout and graphical elements and is usually presented as a flat image. The mock-up or comp is produced and reviewed before any HTML prototyping is done.
  4. Development Site – While a website is being programmed, it may be hosted at a temporary web address. This allows for the creation, testing, and review of a site to be done out of the eye of the general public.
  5. Content Management System or CMS – A Content Management System is a tool for clients to update the content of their website  without needing the additional help from a programmer or design professional. Clients can easily make changes to text, add and delete web pages, and upload photos to their site all within a familiar interface that resembles a word processing application such as Microsoft Word.

There are lots of other components to a project that may come with their share of industry terms. The key is that they’re used in a way that not only explains their meaning but lets you, the client, know what to expect during the project lifecycle.