Designing Process: Taming the Web Development Cycle Adam Steele DePaul University Chicago, IL, 60604
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Abstract In this short paper, we present the outline of a process for developing design products. The advantage of having a process for these types of projects is that it allows us to focus on the creative aspects of the project, by reducing team stress. The design process also allows us to integrate the creative aspects of a Web project with the more mundane aspects of software development.
Introduction Building a presence on the Web is the embodiment of visual engineering. However, during this process the client, the audiences, and the turnover of technology are stretching the imagination and intellect of the project members. One of the challenges of managing a web development project is that it brings together programmers, designers, managers, marketers, and artist in order to create a final product. Part of the reason that Web projects often fail, or are drastically over time and over budget is that the very different motivations and personalities of the parties involved in the development team make it difficult to successfully plan and monitor these types of projects. The diversity of the development team is important to the design of a specific, relevant, and appropriate web presence. The elimination of team members and the simplification of project plans are examples of not understanding the necessary structures in which the web presence is asked to compete and operate. If the team structure is not the initial question, where then does one look for solutions to combat wayward deadlines and inflated budgets? The answer is difficult to see because you as a team member are both part of the problem and part of the solution. Consider the process, just as the client problem presents challenges to the team, the inappropriate use of process can be a restrictive hobble for creativity, a catalyst for team unrest and a blinder inhibiting useful client feedback. The team’s stress can negatively impact the project’s quality. Our experiences on the implementation and the design side of the same types of projects revealed project principles that if followed increases the efficiency and the effectiveness of the web project solution. An easily overlooked, but very important part of the Web development that we focus on in our process is to link phase termination with a deliverable and payment. At the beginning of the project the concept development
Roymieco Carter CTI DePaul University CTI Chicago, IL, 60604
[email protected] phases of the process are identified as Research and Incubation. The Research phase is where the team uses the proposal as a springboard for project definition, determining the nature of intended audience, project scope and functional parameters. The deliverable that should be associated with this phase is a refined Project Definition. This document is the found information and sources that demonstrates to the client that you are interested in the understanding of their specific problem – the client will offer invaluable feedback to the team if you listen to them during the presentation of the Project Definition. The next phase is Incubation - the uncovering of relevant facts. Logic now is allowed to interact freely with the imagination. The team is brainstorming, making free associations engaging in conceptual blockbusting (project based Q & A). This phase will end having produced an exhaustive number of thumbnails and from these thumbnails the second deliverable is developed, the Rough. The Rough is made up of half-sized black and white drafted presentations of the web project. Once again the key to this phase is to listen to the client response for information that can be incorporated into future changes. The Research and Incubation phases provide the team with a clear concept and, it is the most important phase because it sets the stage for everything else. Client, editors, programmers, designers, and production members have to know what the goal of the project is and every decision has to be based on this common vision. Based on the gathered feedback and the work of the team the Illumination phase is executed. This phase is the outward manifestation of the team’s genius. It is also called the “Eureka” phase. The direction is decided in this phase and the third deliverable is the Project Comprehensives. These are full sized, full colored, non-interactive prototypes of the look and structure of the project. The signed approval of the Project Comprehensives allows the team to implement the project, including the ability to hire any outside talent needed for project. During the Implementation phase of the process the team builds the functioning structure, finalizes and edits the copy and implements and tests the programming. The project can then be critiqued for the harmony of aesthetic quality and function. The deliverable from this phase is the Demonstration Model of the project. It is important that only minor changes are made between successive phases.
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The last phase, Verification occurs before the launch - to be sure that the solution the team delivers in its final form is still adhering to the project definition. This phase should be a technicality, considering that all decisions during development should have been made from the Project Definition. This phase concludes with the project launch, and the return of all borrowed client materials as final deliverable. The frustration with the management problems of these types of projects has given rise to the belief that the Web is a fundamentally new environment, with radically new models for project management and development "the old rules just don't apply any more". In this panel we discuss the notion of development process for graphic design and other aesthetic endeavors. We present a generic process for developing these parts of a web project by focusing on the questions that need to be asked during development. What are phases of development, and what are the termination conditions and deliverables for each part of the design process? In addition, we ask how we can use these conditions in planning and monitoring a project, and how do the conditions get used as part of an overall evaluation strategy for the project and the team. The experience of the panelists has shown that it is possible to successfully plan and execute design projects either as independent entities, or as part of a larger web development effort. The key to these successes has been the ability to mesh the process for managing design projects with the more traditional development process for software projects. A clear implementable process reduces the stress on the team, avoids scope creep, missed deadlines, and inflated budgets. The collective bane of all developers and artists working in the Web environment.
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