Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I have a meeting next week with the stakeholders of this project, I will suggest that we work on changing the design process to be included earlier. It might be too late to truly benefit this current project, but may be helpful for the next project. I also will be scheduling a meeting with the development leads to discuss ways to improve our "Agile" process. Brian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
Brian, you might have already hinted yourself at an IMHO highly possible source of your troubles by labeling your process as 'supposedly agile' etc. Apart from the regular potential pitfalls of agile processes[1]: an 'agile' process that isn't will consequently in most cases inherit the type of problems that agility is supposed to solve. If your management is currently not sufficiently committed to get this fixed, you are trying to tune the wrong set of screws when just looking at the design process: The real problem could quite well be sitting one stage above... (and needs to be dealt with _there_). > What is your design workflow? Do you do low-res mockups first, or > start with an existing design? Personally, I am most often concerned more with concept/product development/ideation/etc. Hence starting with an existing design is rarely an option at this stage. Sorry, if I might not be too helpful here. > (This is in the context of creating a > new application to fit into an existing suite of apps, so the visual > style is already set) Erm... visual style ≠ design ;-) But how about already established (and well working!) behavioural patterns, affordances (ok, those are often visual), ...? > How long does your design process take? Always different. Highly depends on budget, deadlines, priorities, people(!), ... > Are they at every design review, or do you work until > you feel the design is "ready" before you present it? Depends on the ability of the stakeholder to deal with the low-res stage, i.e. imaginative skills, design process savvyness, etc. Some worst case people just don't get it until you have already a quite refined prototype (and then get stuck on discussing really minor details instead of stuff that matters *sigh*). This type is often hard to deal with (at least for me). The more grateful types are much better able to cope with iteratively exploring a possibility space, and may provide good feedback already at less ready/refined stages. And in case of a stakeholder that is imaginative, understanding, and committed, showing and discussing things as early and often as possible IMHO really pays and may evolve into a heavily inspiring and rewarding mental ping-pong incl. according results. At least for the more stimulation-seeking types amongst us. :-) YMMV - there are enough people who prefer to work a little bit more secluded until they feel safe to present something more 'ready' (and do better this way). > Do you find your requirements change at all during this process? Yes, of course. Though in agile, requirements should actually never change *within* an iteration, only *between* iterations. In other words: design work normally feeds the backlog (or an respective equivalent). If management is not able to restrain the urge to withhold new requirements until the next iteration, the whole process starts to go awry. Which can get quite costly in terms of momentum, time, motivation, quality, ... (and money). (Mind you, I don't hold the opinion that agility is an all-or-nothing type of game. IMHO it is quite possible to have just _some_ agile components and do well with them. Provided: sufficient awareness of the respective whats and _whys_.) > I think the solution is to have design involved sooner in the > process, in the business requirements phase, AB. SO. LUTE. LY. (Though this probably will still not solve the problems your organisation might have with somehow half-baked/half-minded agility.) HTH. Cheers, Sascha -- [1] In my experience design in an agile environment should i.e. strive to be at least one step/sprint/... ahead of development and be able to provide not only screens but, much more important, a sturdy, flexible conceptual/behavioural/visual framework. [see Sahra's comment above, taking the same line] 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
Sarah, Do you find your requirements change at all during this process? I'm having issues where the prototypes are revealing things that are missed, which is good. But the business requirements have already been set before the design process starts, so now the requirements start to change. It spirals down from there and pretty soon the development is beginning and the design is still changing. I think the solution is to have design involved sooner in the process, in the business requirements phase, but I want to have some advice to back up this suggestion. Another option could be to give more time to design, which currently we are getting 2-4 weeks. Thanks, Brian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
Correction: iQuery >> jQuery -Original Message- Creating the prototype typically takes a few more days, depending on how complex it needs to be. iQuery has been a *huge* time-saver here, as has building up a set of templates for common page types. 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
It's hard to give specifics, because every project is different, but here are some of the common elements to my design process. I typically try to work with ONE stakeholder during the early stages of the design. It's much faster to iterate with a single person, and it helps reduce unrelated politics. However, you need to make sure that the stakeholder you're working with is knowledgeable, connected, and respected. The first allows your resource to act like a proxy SME; the second ensures that they can connect you with the real users/SMEs as needed; the third helps the other stakeholders feel comfortable that someone they trust has vetted the design. I always start with lo-res mockups, even with existing designs, because they are so fast to create and change. This also allows the stakeholder to pull up a pencil and do some direct editing, which saves much time and miscommunication. It's not uncommon for me to create three competing paper mockups, eliminate one immediately, and iterate one the other two designs 3-10 times before moving into a high-res stage. When we're in a rush, this can take as little as a few days. Again, working with a single stakeholder is what makes this so speedy. All but one design has often fallen by the wayside at this point, though sometimes alternative elements are preserved until we get to usability testing. Occasionally I'll do usability testing at this stage, especially if there are major areas of uncertainty -- however, as almost none of our end-users are local, I usually have to wait until I have an electronic version. My high-res stage is DHTML, because in our software we've usually got moving parts (added rows, modal windows, specialized menus) and they're impossible to really evaluate until you see them in action. This also allows me to run useful usability testing remotely, and I'll usually also run some tests internally as a means of illustrating where the design is and soliciting constructive feedback. The DHTML prototypes are usually in a halfway state between wireframe and "decorated." I've got an existing HTML template with some realistic images and colors that I use, and I'll also fill in whatever styling is important to the task, but I do not spend hours on icons or the styling specifics. Creating the prototype typically takes a few more days, depending on how complex it needs to be. iQuery has been a *huge* time-saver here, as has building up a set of templates for common page types. Somewhere around this stage is when I start shopping the design out to other people who need to approve it. The advantage of this is that the major kinks have been worked out and I often have some usability test results to validate that the design is serving its purpose. There are often a few open issues that I'll get feedback on, but very few back-to-the-drawing-board problems. These approval meetings are usually with only one or two people at a time, because I've found that I get better feedback that way. You mention that you're working in a (semi-)agile environment. I have been working on agile teams for about 5 years now, and in my experience, design has to happen at least one iteration before development. The only exception to this is when creating pages that are 90% similar to others in the system (e.g., creating a new form, when you already have a form template). I'm happy to talk more about this offline; ping me if you want to continue the discussion. Regards, Sarah Kampman 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
[IxDA Discuss] What is your design workflow?
I'm having trouble with our design process. It seems like it isn't working, we are falling behind schedule. What I'd like to know briefly is: What is your design workflow? Do you do low-res mockups first, or start with an existing design? (This is in the context of creating a new application to fit into an existing suite of apps, so the visual style is already set) How long does your design process take? If you had to do say a dozen screens, would you expect going from nothing to handing it to a developer to take 2 weeks? 4 weeks? How many iterations do you do on a low-res mockup before you move to high-res mockup? How quickly do you iterate on a single screen? A couple times a day, a week? Who is at your design review meetings? Product mgr? Project mgr? Exec. Sponsor? Are they at every design review, or do you work until you feel the design is "ready" before you present it? I apologize for the survey-like questions, but I really need to get a feel for what works so I can make salient suggestions for improvement around here. If it helps, this is all in the context of a supposedly agile environment, but the reality is they don't do small iterations, they do huge chunks and then mark them as "finished". Thanks, Brian 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
