planning process:
goals
audience
competition
content
structure
design
  Source: Information Architecture Tutorial
analyze your competition

Knowing your competition is a good way to learn about your own site.

 

how do they do it?
Put your competitors' sites under a microscope.

 

 
  1. Make a list of your competition.
  2. Evaluate the site against your goals.
  3. Generate a set of other features and criteria to evaluate each site
      • Layout
      • Download time
      • Page size
      • Look and feel
      • Navigation
      • User friendliness, etc.

Use a chart to evaluate objectively:
(click the example chart to see larger view)

Write down pros and cons for each site together with screen shots.
Set a time to observe sites over time – anywhere from six weeks to three months to complete your analysis.

You learn a lot from reviewing your competition. Don’t neglect this part even if it has to be finished in short period of time.
define your audience determine your content