Types of Projects

1. Brand Presence

Article: Brand Experience and the Web | Article:Brand Experience in User Experience Design

Brand presence sites are the most focused on presenting the company's brand messages and values. They provide channels that interface directly with customers and serve as a broad online funnel for those interested in finding out more about the company or its offerings.

2. Marketing Campaign

timathrocks.com | Book: Landing Page Optimization

Marketing sites are similar to Brand Presence sites, however, Marketing sites tend to be evaluated on their ability to achieve very actions within a set focus ( such as a particular time frame or audience). Rather than serving as a funnel for channeling interest, they are meant to be the engines that generate interest. From an online standpoint this generally means they are aligned with an overall marketing strategy and may be run in conjunction with other efforts like TV, radio, print ads or other promotions.

The primary purpose of a marketing campaign site is to create a narrowly focused campaign usually targeting a specific set of metrics. The focus is often narrowed by one or more of the following:

Marketing Campaign Metrics

Time: A campaign centered around Christmas for example, or a 3-day conference.
User group: Such as a campaign targeted to teenagers or teachers.
Product/Product Suite/and or a specific use for that product: For example, a site that highlights kitchen appliances by showing virtual kitchens, with matching ovens, dishwashers and stoves.

3. Content Source

flikr.com | Article: 4 Modes of Seeking Information | T-Mobile brand portal

A Content Source site contains a store of information, potentially in several types of media (articles, documents, video, photos, tutorials), and is meant to inform, engage, and/or entertain users. All sites have some content of course, but some sites place a particular emphasis on the presentation and structure of their content.

The emphasis may come about because the site has such a large amount of content it poses its own challenge or because specific types of content carry a high degree of importance: they might for instance, support critical decisions or draw users back to the site frequently.

4. Task-based application

Example: dropbox.com

Task-based applications can vary from a simple calculator embedded in a mortgage site to a full system handling multiple critical workflows. If you project involves the latter, there will be more roles involved, and mostly likely, a substantial requirements gathering process.

The primary objective of a task-based application is to allow users to perform a set of tasks that are aligned with their needs and, ultimately, with the client's business goals.

E-commerce sites

Example: REI

E-Commerce Sites can include elements of all four project types, because a site that is primarily intended for e-commerce needs to have its own brand presence, provide content (usually product specs or descriptions of product usage), and facilitate tasks (searching, comparing, writing reviews, checkout). Marketing campaigns are often closely tied into these sites as well and may involve multiple marketing groups within the organization.

E-learning applications

Example: lynda.com | gotoandlearn.com

E-learning applications are a cross-over between a content source and a task-based application. Content for lessons must be generated, which often requires that the team add the roles of learning specialist and subject matter expert for the topic being covered. The product is task-based in that the user usually follows a flow through the lesson an may also need to track progress or explore related topics. Some hands-on lessons may also require tasks to be completed.

Social Networking Applications

Book: Designing for the social web

A social networking application is primarily a task-based application, because users need to be able to find and add friends, manage their profile, connect, post, and search. They contain challenges associated with content sources, however, especially the need for an organic framework that can handle a potentially very large amount of user generated content. If the site is essentially given its own identity it will also have the characteristics of a brand presence site.

Sources: A Project Guide to UX Design