Things to Know Before You Start Designing
This is the first post in the Design Process series. In this series I’ll cover the methods used when developing websites, user interfaces or similar complex graphic elements. This defiantly isn’t the only way to approach a design project but it has worked well for me over the years. This Design Process is part of the broader Development Process we follow in our projects.
Preparation
When presented with a new design project there is some basic information you’ll need before placing pen to paper. This information is typically gathered during the Needs Analysis with the client and then detailed in the Development Plan or HLD for reference.
Things to know:
- Overall Goals of the Project
- The Target Market
- Platform(s)
- Design Goals vs. Visitor Goals
- Design Preference & Comparative Designs
Overall Goals of the Project
What is the underlying reason for this project? Increase sales? Reduce calls in the call center? Generate leads? Entertain? Provide a resource or tool? Each of these examples merit a slightly different approach to design.
Target Market
Who is the design for? Ultimately, the design is not for the client but rather the end users. These end users are the people who will interact with the design ( visitors to the website, users of the application, etc ).
Note: The Target Market can greatly affect how the design is approached. Among other things, certain demographics can be tied to restrictions in resolution or bandwidth. If a large enough percentage of the target market is using legacy systems the design may have to be made for 800×600 instead of the current standard of 1024×768.
Tip: If this is a re-design for an existing website, looking at the current sites statistics can provide insight on the current market. Specifically the resolution, bandwidth, operating system and browsers used. (OS and browsers become more important after the design is approved and is formatted for the web).
Platform(s)
Is this design for print? A website? An online app? Will there be a mobile interface? Are there plans in the future for the design to be shown on a different device? Currently there are many platforms available and having an eye to the future can be beneficial in planning for changes that could be around the corner.
Example: Say we are designing a web application with a mobile interface. There will be 2 designs created with special attention to the number of elements in each view. The 2 designs must be similar without looking sparse on the web or cluttered on the mobile device.
Design Goals vs. Visitor Goals
Design Goals: What the design is trying to get the viewer to do. (aka client goals)
Visitor Goals: What the viewer/visitor is looking for.
Every design entices an action or response from the viewer be it favorable or dis-favorable. The trick in business and advertising is to achieve the project’s goals while at the same time fulfilling the viewer’s goals. In other words, keep your customers happy :)
Every view must do one or both of the following:
- Entice the viewer to an action that meets a project goal without obstructing the viewer’s goals.
- Help the viewer achieve their goals.
- (Tip: The viewers who meet their own goals while at the same time fulfilling yours are the target market for the project)
Design Preference & Comparative Designs
Viewing designs by the competition or other organizations with similar goals always provides some insight. One or more of the Needs Analysis questions should provide a place to look for 2-5 comparative designs and the clients opinion of those designs.
In the next post we will talk about Information Architecture and some of the tools used to organize content (like sitemaps & flowcharts)…