Speaking to just one point.... Unless you are the developer, or familiar with the software or framework behind the functionality, I would not recommend doing the whole design and then passing it to a developer, unless cost and performance are not issues. The biggest mistake I see clients make is trying to separate design from development, as if they were not two sides of the same coin.
As a company that does both design and development, and frequently one or the other, for websites, it is always most difficult when we are handed a design created by someone who does not know the framework upon which the site is being built. (It's especially bad when the designer really doesn't know interface design.) This frequently ends up resulting in additional costs to the client. Even more ideal is to incorporate design into the iterative development process, so design and development are dovetailing and weaving together. The pre-development (iteration 0) work can then limit focus to the overall design framework, what kinds of design patterns to work with, color palette, leaving the specifics for when the development is happening, when design can adapt to actual functionality and workflow needs as apparent when looking at the actual result, rather than via speculation via mockups. Of course, Agile is not for everyone. In general, though, one part of Agile I think is critical throughout any project: regular communication. Lots of little iterations rather than a few big ones. The Big Design Up Front (and don't talk to me until I say it's ready) approach has less appeal to me in this rapidly evolving and ever interactive world we work in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43541 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
