Food For Thought

Bullet Proof Design Procedure

One of the complications that will always arise in a design team is a variety of styles and skills.

As the leader of a design team it is my responsibility to help my fellow designers overcome these challenges and develop a procedure that will allow designs to: meet the expectations of the project scope, create a more consistent user experience, and create a strong team mindset.

This presentation was given to, and its methodologies implemented at, 4WheelParts.com.

5 Easy Steps – General Guideline

1. Visualize
2. Design
3. Proof
4. Review
5. Communicate

1. Visualize
Understanding the Scope of the Project

1. Who is involved? (Who’s in your team? who is your audience? Identify their roles and visualize your role within the team)
2. What is the purpose of the project?
3. When is the deadline?
4. Where? (Which page? Which site?)
5. Why move forward with the project?

Don’t Forget to Plan Your Tasks
Make a list of your duties, check them off as you go!

2. Design
The Message Behind the Design, Aesthetics, & Technicalities

1. Did your design communicate the message?
2. It is easy to understand?
3. Is it simple and direct?
4. Clean and aesthetically pleasing?
5. Is the design prioritized in importance? (Call out of colors, placement of design, etc)
6. Cross browser tested?
7. Does it follow proper html/css guidelines?

3. Proof
Testing Your Work

1. Spelling mistakes
2. Proper/correct links and functionality
3. Proper colors, images, and messaging
4. Double checking your work

4. Review
Checking From the User’s Perspective

1. Follow the  design from the beginning to the end from a user’s perspective
2. Does it communicate a clear message?
3. Are we guiding the user on what to do?
4. Did we meet the scope outline and goal?

5. Communicate
Owning Your Project

1. Own the entire project. Your not alone!
2. Are we on time with the project?
3. Is the team complete as a whole?
4. Is everyone on the same page? Anyone left behind?
5. Who will deliver this project?

Conclusion

Good design methodologies take time and effort to develop.

This outline helps designers avoid some of the common pitfulls, such as creating different page layouts on the same website. A strong design team works like a strong military unit; each designer needs to be aware of their team mate’s actions and create strong foundations for attack that can be used over and over.

Design is about learning, so if you have other ideas that would be good to add to this list, please don’t hesitate to let me know.