Design Process in the Responsive Age

Design process inthe responsive ageA UX perspectivePon Kattera Senior Interaction Designer R/GA@pkattera 14 June 2012: NYC Responsive Web Design Meetup

TONIGHTA little about meResponsive process (alpha)Responsive process (beta)Resources and tips getting startedQuestions 2

TL;DROur job now is to create future friendly designsystems (not fixed pixel width interfaces).This requires a change in process. 3

A LITTLE ABOUT MEI’m a senior Interaction Designer at R/GAI’m an AustralianI’m loving New York! 4

BACK IN 2009Fixed width pixel designs were all the rageDesktop screens were getting largerMobile users were visiting our sitesAnd yes, I’ll admit it. Back then,I was recommending 960px fixed width. 5

MY 2010

2011:GOODBYE TIMBUKTU,HELLO NEW YORKWhat’s this “responsive webdesign” thing you speak of? 7

SO, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A RESPONSIVE DESIGN?1. A flexible, grid based layout2. Flexible images and media, and3. Media QueriesEthan Marcotte, Responsive Web Design 8

RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN VSADAPTIVE WEB DESIGN“Adaptive web design is about ADAPTIVEcreating interfaces that adapt tothe user’s capabilities (in terms ofboth form and function). To me,Adaptive web design is just THIS ISanother term for progressive RESPONSIVEenhancement…” Aaron Gustafson, Adaptive Web Design via Brad Frost 9

DOES THIS PROCESSSOUND FAMILIAR? PLANNING AND STRATEGY USER RESEARCH WIREFRAMES VISUAL DESIGN DEV TEST 10

DOES THIS PROCESSSOUND FAMILIAR? PLANNING AND STRATEGY CONTENT STRATEGY USER RESEARCH WIREFRAMES VISUAL DESIGN DEV TEST 11

DOES THIS PROCESSSOUND FAMILIAR? PLANNING AND STRATEGY CONTENT STRATEGY USER RESEARCH Lorem ipsum WIREFRAMES Lorem ipsum COPY VISUAL DESIGN DEV TEST 12

DOES THIS PROCESSSOUND FAMILIAR? PLANNING AND STRATEGY USER RESEARCH WIREFRAMES VISUAL DESIGN Devs are lumped with too many DEV important design decisions TEST 13

WHY CHANGE OUR PROCESS?To increase efficiencySave time and make money.To design better websitesDesign systems, not fixed pixel width interfaces. 14

WHY CHANGE“RWD comes under criticism for notbeing commercially viable. It’s becauseit’s trying to be shoe-horned into anexisting, fixed-canvas, inflexible process.”Mark Boulton, on responsive workflow 15

IF YOU DON’T CHANGE 16

RESPONSIVE PROCESS (ALPHA) 17

CASE STUDYFINANCIAL ADVISORSRESPONSIVE SITEProject Details:An existing Financial Advisors website thatincludes basic profile information, marketinfo and company news. Advisors updatetheir page via a CMS.The brief:Redesign the website to make Advisorsmore accessible and engaging to bothpotential and existing clients. Current state: Think of the site like a Linkedin for Financial Advisors 18

CASE STUDYFINANCIAL ADVISORS Business Objectives User GoalsRESPONSIVE SITE Increase the number of Prospects: Browse for prospects contacting Advisors, make a selection, Advisors contact Advisor Increase the number of Existing clients: Get customer referring market updates, login to Advisors their financial accounts 19

TIPS SHOULD I GO RESPONSIVE FOR MY PROJECT It depends… Project context Budget and timelines Skill set of your team Client expectations 20

TIPS Responsive web design may not be the best option right now for your project 21

CASE STUDYWHY WE WENT Client’s Business Supporting observed user Facilitate customerRESPONSIVE Objectives behavior referrals To be future Competitive Building friendly advantage expertise 22

CASE STUDY OUR APPROACH Mobile first (content first) responsive web design Focus on users and content first before sketching mobile screens 23

CASE STUDYRESPONSIVE PROCESSUser Content Iterative design & development Prototype handover to clientPlanner, UX Planner, UX, Visual, Tech UX, Visual, Tech UX, Visual, Tech TEST PROTOTYPE USER CONTENT RWD RESEARCH STRATEGY SKETCH PROTOTYPE VISUAL DESIGN WIREFRAME Starting mobile first 24

CASE STUDYUSER PERSONAS SCENARIOSRESEARCH 25

CASE STUDYCONTENT INFORMATION CONTENT ARCHITECTURE REFERENCE DIAGRAMS 26

CASE STUDYCONTENT INVENTORY AND PRIORITIZATION Mobile contentCurrent website content Content inventory reference diagram * Profile information had a separate content inventory Linear design: think of content devoid of an interface 27

TIPS CONTENT STRATEGY: A USEFUL RULE OF THUMB “Generally speaking, your web content is useless unless it does one or both of the following: - Supports a key business objective - Supports a user (or customer) in completing a task” Kristina Halvorson, Content Strategy for the Web 28

TIPSSHOULD WE HAVE LESS CONTENT FOR OUR MOBILE SITE? 29

CASE STUDY ITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT TEST PROTOTYPE SKETCH VISUAL DESIGN WIREFRAME 30

CASE STUDYITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BREAKDOWNClient check ins: 1Start with: STRATEGY USER RESEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY WIREFRAME* Sketching and testing throughout 31

CASE STUDYITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BREAKDOWNClient check ins: 1 2 VISUAL DESIGNStart with: STRATEGY USER RESEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY WIREFRAME WIREFRAME PROTOTYPE* Sketching and testing throughout 32

CASE STUDYITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BREAKDOWNClient check ins: 1 2 3 VISUAL DESIGN VISUAL DESIGNStart with: STRATEGY USER RESEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY WIREFRAME WIREFRAME WIREFRAME PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE* Sketching and testing throughout 33

CASE STUDYITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BREAKDOWNClient check ins: 1 2 3 4 VISUAL DESIGN VISUAL DESIGN VISUAL DESIGNStart with: STRATEGY USER RESEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY WIREFRAME WIREFRAME WIREFRAME PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE* Sketching and testing throughout 34

CASE STUDYITERATIVE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS BREAKDOWNClient check ins: 1 2 3 4 5 VISUAL DESIGN VISUAL DESIGN VISUAL DESIGNStart with: STRATEGY USER RESEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY WIREFRAME WIREFRAME WIREFRAME RWD PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE PROTOTYPE* Sketching and testing throughout 35

CASE STUDYINTERACTION SKETCH WIREFRAME PROTOTYPEDESIGN 36

CASE STUDYVISUAL VISUAL GRIDS ANDDESIGN LANGUAGE PROPORTIONS 37

SPEEDIS A DESIGNDECISION 39

TIPS RWD ISSUES What screen sizes should I design? Start at 320px? Then what? 40

TIPS RWD ISSUES How do I select breakpoints? Breakpoints should be device agnostic Let page content determine your breakpoints 41

CASE STUDYKEEPING PAGES BALANCED: THE PROBLEMAdvisors can choose between 1 and 20 content modules Where an Advisor removes modules 5 and 9 42

CASE STUDYKEEPING PAGES BALANCED: SOLUTIONSContent priority Two column layout, dynamic grid layout One column, fixed position side nav 43

TIPS RWD ISSUES Presenting responsive designs to clients On screen, with all layouts side by side PROFILE PAGE Nothing beats placing the prototype in the client’s hands 44

CASE STUDY PROTOTYPE: Cheap Fast Focus LOW FIDELITY [DEMO] 45

CASE STUDY PROTOTYPE: Treatment of media Testing visual styles on Something the client can show HIGH FIDELITY assets more devices their boss 46

RESPONSIVE PROCESS (BETA) 47

DESIGNING IN TEXTSimply, write down the contentfor each page in text form.The text should communicate theessence of the page.Tools like Markdown and Pandochelp convert text files to HTML. 48

STYLE TILES BY SAMANTHA WARRENhttp://styletil.es/ 49

HTML STYLE GUIDESGet started earlyUse throughout the projectAdd responsive patternsPattern Primer by Jeremy Keith Pea.rs by Simple Bits Starbucks style guidehttp://patternprimer.adactio.com/ http://pea.rs/ http://www.starbucks.com/static/reference/styleguide/ 50

DESIGNING IN THE BROWSERCreating elements and styles inHTML/CSS“The most important part here is to use a toolwhich doesn’t restrain your creativity. It can bethe browser, Photoshop, Fireworks, InDesign oranything else that feels right.”Viljami Salminen, on responsive workflow 51

STOP.COLLABORATE.AND LISTEN. 52

WHAT ARE OTHERS DOING? 53

MARK 1. SketchBOULTON 2. Prototype 3. Design 4. Iterate 5. Talk Mark Boulton’s, notes, thoughts and conclusions Responsive workflow - Responsive Summit, London 24 February 2012 http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/responsive-summit-workflow 54

STEPHEN 1. Content inventory 2. Content reference wireframesHAY 3. Design in text (structured content) 4. Linear design 5. Break point graph 6. Design for various breakpoints 7. HTML design prototype 8. Present prototype screenshots 9. Present prototype after revision 10. Document for production Stephen Hay, responsive design workflow Mobilsm Amsterdam, 11 May 2012 http://www.slideshare.net/stephenhay/mobilism2012 55

VILJAMISALMINEN Viljami Salminen, on responsive workflow, 28 May 2012 http://viljamis.com/blog/2012/responsive-workflow/ 56

HOW WOULD I APPROACH A NEWRESPONSIVE PROJECT STARTING TODAY? 57

MY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT(depending on project context) USER RESEARCH 58

MY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT(depending on project context) USER CONTENT RESEARCH STRATEGY IA and content reference diagram 59

MY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT(depending on project context) USER CONTENT DESIGN RESEARCH STRATEGY IN TEXT 60

MY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT VISUAL(depending on project context) STYLETIL.ES USER CONTENT DESIGN RESEARCH STRATEGY IN TEXT SKETCH CONVERT TO HTML 61

MY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT VISUAL TEST(depending on project context) STYLETIL.ES PROTOTYPE USER CONTENT DESIGN RESEARCH IN TEXT SKETCH STRATEGY VISUAL DESIGN CONVERT WIREFRAME TO HTML Skipping formal reviews of mid-range (e.g. tablet) wireframes and visuals 62

HTML STYLE GUIDE RWD PROTOTYPEMY RESPONSIVE PROCESSFOR THE NEXT PROJECT VISUAL TEST(depending on project context) STYLETIL.ES PROTOTYPE USER CONTENT DESIGN RESEARCH IN TEXT SKETCH STRATEGY VISUAL DESIGN CONVERT WIREFRAME TO HTML Skipping formal reviews of mid-range (e.g. tablet) wireframes and visuals 63

RESPONSIVE RESOURCES 64

Start hereGETTING http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-designSTARTED http://futurefriend.ly/ Read these books Get knee deep in code http://www.html5rocks.com/en/mobile/responsivedesign/ http://www.netmagazine.com/tutorials/build-responsive-site-week-designing-responsively-part-1 65

RESPONSIVE Stephan Hay’s Responsive Design Workflow http://www.slideshare.net/stephenhay/mobilism2012PROCESS Viljami Salminen’s responsive workflow http://viljamis.com/blog/2012/responsive-workflow/ Mark Boulton’s Responsive workflow notes from the Responsive Summit: http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/responsive-summit-workflow Drew Clemen’s Design Process in the Responsive Age http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2012/05/30/design-process-responsive-age/ Ben Callahan’s Hands-on Responsive Web Design https://speakerdeck.com/u/bencallahan/p/hands-on-responsive-web-design?slide=12 Yellow Pencil’s Responsive web design process http://responsiveprocess.com/ 66

RESPONSIVE As RWD evolves, so will our processRESOURCES RESS: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1392 Responsive images: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-images-and-web-standards-at-the-turning-point/ CSS4 media queries to tackle touch: http://www.netmagazine.com/news/css4-media-queries-tackle-touch-121980 Optimizing for Retina Screens: http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/mobile/hi-res-optimization/ Stay up to date @rwd @grigs @stephanierieger @beep @scottjehl @bryanrieger @brad_frost @stephanhay @globalmoxie @lukew @adactio @wilto and more: http://twitter.com/pkattera/rwd 67

THANKS@PKATTERAUXRAVE.COM 68