Sunday, August 21, 2005

How do you go about developing a good design?

Developing good design intiality can be instant, but then refined iteraratively. If working with other people agreeing on a style of working together, process, and communication are very important.

Depends on what I am designing but generally I start on paper and work through wireframes and the relationship to other products, flesh out the design and maybe do a high end first pass.

I like to gather other people's opinions and datapoints so I will show it around and ask for input. Make some changes and go to the next step.

Sometimes a project also requires advising people what they need to learn or to understand in order to accomplish a very flexible interface. Elements like using the proportion of the golden rectangle (also called the "golden mean") makes user interface design beautiful.

Visio plans often help in visualization for everyone involved.

When we have something we are somewhat happy with I like to run it through user interface studies, even if they are informal using volunteers or paying to do a brief study. Oftentimes this will back up what you already believe about a design but what is really great is when you learn something totally unexpected and you can use it.

With my experience in fine art and design, I enjoy the critical review cycle, but it's always nice to give some positive feedback.

Most of my work is in product or program management so in this way I work interactively with lots of very smart people to design a composite of what we need, using the best ideas and best practices in a cooperative manner.

When designing a small business website, after meeting with the client I begin by structuring the information, and visualizing the look and feel of their site design. Then I follow my iterative process as time and their budget permits.

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