When you embark on a web redesign project, it’s important to ask your client open-ended questions to get some ideas on what they want to accomplish with their new site. You want to learn about their users, their goals, and what’s important to them. From there, you can start thinking about the information architecture of the new site and potential designs.

Here’s a partial list of questions you can ask (mostly courtesy of Scott McMillin):

• Why are you re-designing your Web site?
• What goals do you have for this re-design?
• What are your company’s core values? What sets you apart in your industry?
• What do users need from your Web site?
• Is there any information your users are having trouble finding?
• Describe your typical user. Do you have different types of users who need different things?
• Can you provide any aggregate data on your users, both demographic and technical?
• If you could only put three pieces of information on your home page, what would they be?
• List some Web sites and/or specific pages that you feel are effective in communicating the feeling or message that you want your site to evoke. How and why are they effective for you?
• Do you have a logo or logotype that you want to use? Do you have identity or branding standards that must be adhered to?
• Have you gotten user feedback on your current site? If so, what have you learned from that feedback?