Project planning: Boost productivity and profits

Creating a digital product that delivers great results, whether a website, landing page, app, or social media asset, involves much more than creativity and getting down to work. That is just the middle stage of a process that starts with good project planning.

Today, the market treats planning as a starting point for development, with its cost built into the project and often without the proper attention and effort.

However, this is the time to take a closer look at the client's needs, create a more detailed scope, and develop a real understanding of the project. Questions such as "what is the goal, who is the target audience, what language will be used, and what services will be offered?" will help guide the entire creation process. Project planning, especially in the digital environment, is not an easy task and should not be treated as a courtesy by digital production companies, because even the client stands to lose. This phase alone can easily last between 30 and 180 days, depending on the project's complexity. When this stage is done well, it prevents a lot of friction with the client, since it makes it possible to measure the project's actual cost.

With good project planning, there are no budget overruns caused by identifying new needs during development that require additional features to be added along the way.

When this is put into practice, we also avoid wasting months of work on a product that is rejected because it differs from what was expected, and the final delivery is more likely to meet the expectations of both the client and the project's actual users. Here are five steps to good project planning:

1. Identify the client's needs: what they do, where they want to go, and how long they have to get there;
2. Establish a phased plan and timeline, creating a hierarchy of information and goals, with adjustments planned at the end of each phase;
3. Understand the company's or brand's market by conducting research with users, employees, partners, and even competitors;
4. Study which features work best for the company's audience, and choose the best platform to achieve the desired results;
5. Assign a specialist to work at the client's company, if necessary. Immersion is essential.