The design process I try to follow.

User Centered Design

Each project is different, with differing user requirements, budgets, deadlines which may or may not require a standard user centered design life cycle. In my opinion it makes sense to have a standard methodology to work as a baseline, as a place to start. As the project comes into “focus” the method that will work best reveals itself. But, without a background knowledge of a complete user centered design methodology I feel it is difficult to decide what will work best for each project.

I tend to follow the concepts put forth by Alan Cooper. He emphasizes that understanding the underlying goal of the user is critical; when beginning a project my first priority is to discover who the primary user group of the system is and what they are ultimately trying to accomplish.


Understand The Design Problem

The first thing I try to do is gather all of the information with the goal of figuring out who that user group is, what their goals are, what they may want or need. Understand ImageAre there any studies available, is there an existing device or application, what’s the competition doing? Is there a design brief available, scope document or any other description of what is needed?

Then I study the information, try to absorb it to the point that I’m able to visualize it when I’m walking around, commuting on the bus, lying in bed. During this time I begin to develop an idea of who this person is, what they look like, what their day to day may entail. I create a persona that I can design by, a ficticious person that I can focus on that represents the user group.

Next I’ll gather typical scenarios of use and the tasks that are needed to fulfill those scenarios. The tasks will become the basis of the flows that I will later create when I move into the next phase.


Design / Test / Iterate

Once I’m feeling comfortable with the information I’ve gathered and I feel like I “get it.” I’ll start to play around with screen layouts using wire frames… what’s most important, what needs to be seen and brought to the forefront? What can be somewhat hidden or obscured, still available but not really that important.

If it’s a fairly complex project I like to work with my team having a brainstorming session or two to kick it off, get the ball rolling. But I do like to try and take a crack at the design first myself if possible so we’ll have a place to start the discussion.

Then, once I have a good idea how the system is going to work I’ll start to flow out the tasks from the discovery phase. These flows will become the basis of Design Test Iterate Image the UI Specifications Document.

As I work and start to get my ideas on paper I like to have meetings with my team to review, make sure what I’m doing is making sense to them and still adheres to the persona’s needs and goals.

If it’s possible, if there is time and budget for it some user testing can be done to make sure the design is usable and fulfills the needs of the user group. As important as user testing is, sometimes it’s just not possible due to time constraints or budgetary reasons. You just have to make do with what you’ve got and do the best you can.

After the flows are all created, I’ll start creating the detailed documentation, screen by screen where I define everything that will be needed for the developers.


Specification Document & Development

This part of the design cycle I’ll send the UI Specifications to the software engineers, we’ll review the document together. I’ll answer any questions. I’ll make any updates or Specify Develop Imagecorrections as needed. When that’s all finished and everyone agrees they can begin programming the software. I make myself available for assistance if they should come up with any issues.

As the software is being engineered it’s good to follow the progress as things can change once coded. Changes or updates may be in order as things just don’t quite work the way you may have expected.

As the project is getting closer to completion it will enter the quality assurance, or bug testing phase. The system will be tested against the requirements if anything is missing it will be adjusted or corrected. Once everything has passed muster the system is ready for release.

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