The focus in the planning stage is on information gathering. This stage is about asking questions and analyzing the answers. The following are some of the questions you need to ask:

1. What are the goals of the site?
2. Who are the intended audiences of the site?
3. What type of content should or should not be part of the site?
4. Which tools do you need to use in order to present the content in the site?
5. What types of interactions do you have and want to have with your users?
6. What are the short and long term goals of the site?
7. How do you see this site a year from now?
8. How will success be measured?

Some of the techniques used in gathering this information are face-to-face meetings, site critiques and building wish lists for defining the content to be included in the site.

Make sure your deliverables address the issues outlined in the checklist above. Once you think your documents contain all the information, submit them to your tutor using the 'submit' page. The tutor will review your work and give you feedback. This feedback will be uploaded to the ‘review’ section of your tutorial. Allow 1-2 days for the feedback to be uploaded to the review section.