The links on the Navigation bar above expand on the process below
(This - Goals, Audience, Content, Structure, Design - is a summary of a process presented by John Shiple at Webmonkey. He is the leader of Squishy Designs, an Internet consulting company in Venice, California, specializing in information architecture, collaborative system strategies, and advanced user interfaces for Internet-based content. He also helped found Bigstep.com .)

Information Architecture

This is the science of determining what you want your site to do and then constructing a blueprint before you start to put it together.

Firstly you must define your site's goals.

The next step is finding out who your audiences are going to be. Once that is done you can start organising your site into pages of content and functions that the site will need to have.

Next you start to build the site - form a skeleton, pick your metaphors and map out your navigation.

Then it's time to come up with layout grids, design sketches, and mock-ups.

Next you build your site, testing as you go, documenting all the important steps along the way.

Finally complete the usability, functionality and accessibility testing and of course, finalise the documentation.