Documenting Design: A Critical Step in Any Developers Workflow

documenting designa critical step in any developers work ﬂow 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

Lisa Sabin-Wilson•DESIGNER SINCE 1998•“DEVELOPER” SINCE 2003•DEVELOPER SINCE 2007•AUTHOR: WORDPRESS FOR DUMMIES•OWNER: EWEBSCAPES DESIGN STUDIO 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

documenting design ... 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

lives within that preciousspace betweendesign &development 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

Let’s call itassumption alley - -because this is whereMOST of the assumptionsbegin and then stick. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

EliminateAssumptions• Saves time• Reduces headaches• Avoids hard feelings• Happy client• Happy developer 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

SetExpectationsEarly• Keeps project realistic• Keeps projects on time• Avoids miscommunication• Happy client• Happy developer 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

DocumentProjectRequirements• Ready reference point for all• Eliminates “he said/she said”• Provides a work ﬂow• Happy client• Happy developer 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOESPROJECT HTTP://NYAJ.COMDATE CLIENT JULY 2012 NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOES

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE’SPROJECT HTTP://NYAJ.COMDATE CLIENT JULY 2012 NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE’S

documenting the designﬁles eliminates the guesswork. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

WE BUILT A SITEMAP - WHICH WAS HELPFUL...BUT IT WASN’T ENOUGH 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

WE HAD A 16 PAGE STATEMENT OF WORKBUT IT STILL WASN’T ENOUGH 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

PSD Files Acquired. DESIGN APPROVAL DONE! 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

A TOTAL OF 26 DIFFERENT PAGE VIEWS/LAYOUTSBELIEVE IT OR NOT ... THIS WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

at this point?it is really tempting to digright in and startdeveloping this bad boy. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

the sooner you get it done...the sooner you get paid.the sooner you can update your portfolio.the sooner the client is happy. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

right? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

What they wanted... ? LISA NEEDS TO START DEVELOPMENT NOW BECAUSE WE WANT THIS DONE & LIVE IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

What they needed... ? STOP ... TAKE A BREATH ... LISA NEEDS TO DEFINE THE DEVELOPMENT IN A WAY THAT TAKES QUESTIONS OUT OF THE ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

eliminate removeobliterate assumptions.

as a developer - I canmake assumptions withthe BEST of them

assumptions are based ona persons own frame ofreference.

what i see in my head willbe different from what yousee in your head.

interpretations will vary.

For example . . .

THE LANDING PAGETHERE IS A LOT GOING ON HERE

i made some assumptions :( 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

THE LANDING PAGEMORE PHOTOS? IT’S A SIDEBAR CAROUSEL - IT FLIPS THROUGH STAFF PHOTOS

THE LANDING PAGETHE REALITY .... THE CLIENT’S INTENTION ? ...

THE LANDING PAGETHE REALITY .... IT’S A SLIDESHOW/CAROUSEL OF PHOTOS IN THE MAIN BODY

a sidebar carouselis HUGELY differentthan a slideshow in themain content area. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

if i had gone with myinitial assumption withoutdiscovering the clientsintention ... 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

i would have wasted time. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

i would have presentedincorrect work to theclient. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

i would risk the clientlosing conﬁdence in me. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

especially if i had mademy next assumption . . . 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

THE LANDING PAGEREMEMBER THIS? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

THE LANDING PAGEJOIN OUR EMAIL CLUB - - LINKS TO A PAGE WITH A SUBSCRIPTION FORM - RIGHT?

THE LANDING PAGENOT EXACTLY - CLICK IT AND IT OPENS INLINE - NO NEW PAGE LOAD. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

THE NAVIGATION MENULINKS TO INTERNAL PAGES? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

THE LANDING PAGENOPE! IT CONTAINS A FLY OUT MENU WITH SUB NAVIGATION 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

none of this was indicated •INITIAL REQUIREMENTS •STATEMENT OF WORK •SITE MAP •PSD FILES 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

a smart developer •RECOGNIZES GAPS •ASKS QUESTIONS •SEEKS ANSWERS •REQUIRES CLARIFICATION 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

i have not always been asmart developer •WASTED HOURS UPON HOURS •FRUSTRATING BACK AND FORTH •LOST MONEY •FRUSTRATED CLIENTS •SCOPE CREEP •NEVER ENDING PROJECT 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

when you have your handson the approved designﬁles - get into the mind ofthe user 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

you know ....the person who is actuallygoing to use the web site 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

you will do yourself andyour client a favor if youstart asking questionslike... 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

whathappenswhen I clickthis? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

how many photosare loaded into thiscarousel?what happens when iclick “more photos?”does clicking on anindividual photo takeme anywhere? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

asking questions likethese gives the clientthe chance to correctyour assumptions...“oh no, that’s not for those photos ...it’s for the main photos on the left!” 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

so then you canclarify....•HOW MANY PHOTOS?•ARE THEY LINKED TO ANYTHING?•ARE THESE POSTS WITH FEATURED IMAGES?•DOES THIS HAPPEN ON OTHER PAGES?•OR JUST THE HOME PAGE? 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

whereverthere is anactionindicated ...clarify it 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

Never beafraid to...ask questionsget clariﬁcationcorrect your assumptions

Doing soshows ...initiativemotivation to do it rightconﬁdencethoroughness

but wait ....don’t stop at simply havingthe conversation 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

document it. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

make it part of thecontract. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

before you lay down onesingle piece of code - getyour client to sign off on it. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

ﬁnd amethod youprefer - butdeﬁnitelydocument it 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

•AUDIO: RECORD THE CONVERSATION•OLD SCHOOL: SPREADSHEET•CONCEPT SHARE•HTTP://WWW.CONCEPTSHARE.COM•CAGE APP•HTTP://WWW.CAGEAPP.COM 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

whatever method youchoose to use - make sureyou document the process 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

Documenting eachelement in the projectadded approximately2 hours. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

if it wasn’t documented ... it didn’t happen 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

The End. 9/19/2012 - LISA SABIN-WILSON

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Documenting Design: A Critical Step in Any Developers Workflow

by Lisa Sabin-Wilson on Sep 19, 2012

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