Create a packing list for your web project launch

When you're – rightly – focused on the finer details of your web project, it can be easy to overlook what some might call the no-brainers, or non-negotiables, of your website's deliverables.

They're not the headline acts or the features that garner the most attention, but we'd be pretty lost without them.

Picture unpacking your suitcase in your hotel room, only to realise that your toothbrush is sitting on your bathroom sink at home. That's the kind of thing we're talking about.

As a product owner, you should always be mindful of your project's requirements and make sure that these have been clearly communicated to your squad. Even where a tender document or a contract itemises a product vision, it's the responsibility of the product owner to communicate the requirements.

You could compare your project backlog to your hotel packing list. Jotting down your toothbrush and checking it off as it gets packed in your wash bag could help you avoid making that call to the front desk to ask for a spare.

So don't fall into the trap of assuming that certain things will be captured as a natural part of the web development process, because what may seem standard to you may not be so for someone else – every project we deliver is unique.

Just imagine how much your wash bag might differ from someone else's. Not everyone deems that eyelash curler essential, but it might well be the item that you just can't do without.

As the saying goes, "If you don't ask, you don't get." It's vital that you make every requirement known to the squad you work with.

Some of the things that we find people overlook most often are snippets, scripts and tags. For instance, are you considering embedding tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager (GTM), cookie consent banners, a web chat service or other custom HTML scripts to your site?

If you are, then don’t underestimate how long these might take to implement. Instead, add them as a first-class backlog item, and ensure they are considered appropriately.

Because, as with anything, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

For example, connecting these types of third-party tools to your web project could be achieved in a couple of different ways. You could:

• add each tool to your project’s codebase
• add each tool yourself via GTM and have your GTM snippet added to your project’s codebase.

When considering these options, have a think about:

• how your preferred implementation of tools are tested in your project
• how admin users will access and manage your tools over time.

We encourage the use of GTM as it allows you to inject compatible third-party components into your app through a single code snippet written into your project codebase. This is not only simpler from a development perspective, but also allows you to control and manage the component add-ons you wish to connect to your website, whilst maintaining your organisational privacy of such accounts.

Deploying a supported tag or custom HTML tag via your GTM account is relatively straightforward; step-by-step guides are usually available from the component provider or directly from Google Support.

GTM is also handy if you want to have a trial run of a new component, and you’d like to assess the proof of concept before formally rolling it out on your website – giving you flexibility when it comes to adding or removing tools or services implemented on your site.

Please resist the temptation to glaze over based on the heading of this section, we promise it’s useful!

After the 2018 hype of GDPR coming into force, the popular acronym for legislation that arose under the European Union to protect personal information has since been aggregated into a version for UK law known as The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2019, alongside the Data Protection Act 2018.

Organisations are typically expected to have a page on their website that details how their company or website collects, handles and processes data about their customers and users.

When crafting such a page, it’s important to describe how and what data you collect, handle and process – whether this is data collected from online forms or services used, or from simply browsing the site.

Having this information readily available via a ‘privacy policy’ or ‘privacy statement’ on your website should provide users with easy-to-understand information about:

• what data you collect
• how you will use it
• how long you will store it
• how and when it will be destroyed, and
• how users can submit a request for any information you hold on them can be deleted under the Right to Erasure.

Similarly, browser cookies also warrant being highlighted in a statement or policy to advise your users what cookies apply to your website and how they can choose to consent to them or not via a cookies banner. The rules about cookies are set out under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).

We recommend reading up on the cookies advice given by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Further detailed resources are also offered by aboutcookies.org and allaboutcookies.org.

If you’re unsure what cookies are associated with your website, you can run manual checks for each browser, or you can use online cookie scanners. Whether you opt for manual or automated checks, the steps and options are widely available by searching online.

Although we don’t offer cookies consent banners as a product, we can help you install your choice of cookies banner to your web project. This can be done by providing us with the script of the product, or we may advise you to load this yourself through your GTM account. Either way, a cookie consent banner ensures your resulting web project will be compliant once deployed.

Like planning and preparing before a trip away from the creature comforts of your own home – ensuring your grab-and-go essentials are packed, checking windows and doors are locked and your car is fuelled up – it’s good to be conscious of what your web project is going to need before getting on the road.

No one wants to have sleepless nights wondering if you’ve left the lights on or if the front door is unlocked. So, by keeping these things in mind during your web project, there’ll be no misunderstandings over whether you have the right tools in place for monitoring site user activity, performance or compliance.