Doing things the same way every time can make any project go faster. Design for a while and you will undoubtedly start to develop a groove that works best for you. If you are new to designing, you may not yet have developed this routine, hopefully this post will help you do just that.

Share the Outline with Your Client
Ive found that sharing the outline with your client can help you rid yourself of constant emails from the client asking whats going on. Setup the outline as milestones in a project management application like Basecamp and you probably wont hear from the client unless you contact them first.

Another good thing to do is include points from the project brief into the project outline. By doing this you can help prevent scope creep from showing up.

About My Project Outline
Below you find a sample outline that I setup in Basecamp as a to-do list. For each phase I create a milestone. This helps to keep the client informed on whats going on and when thinsg will be accomplished.

Obviously this is an oversimplified version of a project outline for a simple WordPress theme.

My Sample Project Outline:

Phase One – Pre-Design Work

• Send client pre-design questionnaire
• Send client invoice
• Send client login information for project management site

Phase Two – Research

• (If redesign) Set up heat mapping script
• (If new) Research designs from the pre-design questionnaire
• Call client for initial 30 min consultation

Phase Three – Design

• Homepage mock up
• Content page mock up
• Custom pages mock up
• Make client changes to homepage
• Make client changes to content page
• Make client changes to custom pages

Phase Three – Code

• Code site into valid xhtml/css
• Code into WordPress

Phase Four – Beta Testing

• Test live theme for bugs
• Test live theme in all major browsers
• Send client link to live WordPress site
• Make requested changes

Phase Five – Finishing Touches

• Make sure all changes have been corrected and addressed
• Install theme on clients server
• Write a simple Read Me file for client
• Send copy of fully paid invoice to client
• Email client for a testimonial

How Do Your Work?
Do you have a similar way of working or do you do something completely different? Id be intrested in hearing about how you work. If you have a useful way of doing things or can share some documents that help you organize your work, Id love to do a post about it and include your resources or information.