Ebay is for auctions. Amazon is great for books. Mapquest gives you driving directions. Notice that each of the examples has one or more narrowly defined core functions. Some businesses have expanded their services over the years like Excite, but one lesson is clear.
Successful websites are successful because they provide solutions to problems.
It follows then, that the first step to designing a successful website is deciding what problems your trying to solve. Problem Definition Let's pretend that you are a consultant brought in to rebuild a company website. As with every new project, the most difficult part is figuring out where to begin. The most important question to ask is why. In order to solve the problems, first you must define what your problems are.