Posted by Dan Eastwell
Here's a short presentation on User Centered Design with examples of user experience and information architecture I've worked on.
It's not definitive, but reflects the process I've used in the past - hopefully it might be of some use!
Posted by Dan Eastwell
James: question for you
what is a wireframe?
Me: well, there, good question
a wireframe is essentially a prototype
it can take many forms
I will provide you with examples
sent at 2:55 pm on wednesday
A set of blueprints for a website made in excel will do for a wireframe
as will something jazzy like this prototype http://test2.danieleastwell.co.uk/scholastic/index.html
you will note the grey areas for unknown content etc and the fact it is mostly static.
however, you could do exactly the same thing with just layout css, rather than anything better
or you could do it all on paper
sent at 3:00 pm on wednesday
James: ah I see
so its a static html version of a dynamic site
Me: not necessarily
it could have no styling
or not be in html
James: so its quite a vague term then
Me: yeah, just like 'prototype'
it could be a set of visio or excel files
I like to prototype in html and css as I find it easy, but I find that I also need some design styleguides
the draw back to doing it that way is you get stuck in the 'how' and don't concentrate on the 'what it does'
I prefer paper.
it's a lot quicker and you don't mind making revisions
James: yeah I tend to plan stuff on paper
Me: you can also scan drawings in and plop them in html if you just need to change something on only one bit
sent at 3:06 pm on wednesday
Me: here's an example of a paper prototype
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppnRQD06ggY
actually, here's a much much better one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4-A-9hGn0U
that's genius. you can tell exaclty what the application is going to do, without having to have it built
you could say they used simple video editing instead of html to wireframe it
I suppose also, though that that's a prototype - a wireframe is more formal and static and has details of what each part of the page contains and does
although some people call that a 'functional spec'
sent at 3:10 pm on wednesday
James: its some dude wandering around an office
ah I see
Me: are you watching the second one?
the 'ciao'?
you really get a feel for what the app will do.
James: yes
yeah pretty clever
Me: also, very simple. saves a lot of time in app development to get your protoypes right.
and in a very skewed way that vid is a 'wireframe' as it tells you 'what it does'
(not 'how it works' or 'what it will look like')
sent at 3:14 pm on wednesday
Me: I might put this chat on my blog. seems like a fairly useful bit of an introduction...
(to wireframing)
Posted by Dan Eastwell
You've spend months on a project, place it on your portfolio with pride. A year or so later, you go back to the site and - horrors - it's completely changed!
I've had that feeling twice recently.
Firstly I was looking for an old image gallery I'd created for the javascript I'd used. When I got to the site all I could see was a 404.
One to change on my portfolio.
This evening I saw an advert on TV for a company I built HTML/CSS templates for, that I was fairly proud of.
Then I did a double-take.
If they've come up with new style product and a new style advert, their site is likely to be rebranded, too. Oh dear.
Leaping to my laptop I looked at their homepage - it's greatly different. Their main landing pages: different. Then I went deeper into the site, to some of their several thousand product and information pages. Very similar. Phew!
This pleases me on a couple of counts - firstly I don't have to take the page from my portfolio, and that the structure, template layouts, palettes for colours and the other CSS systems tricks I'd put into place were still there.
I can only hope the makeover was easy and therefore cheap for the new design team.
The most pleasing thing of all? My name and site still there in the boilerplate in the css files
CSS templates by Dan Eastwell www.thoughtballoon.co.uk
Is it that wrong to have a little pride in your work?
Posted by Dan Eastwell
or why I won't, until the money runs out...
Jeffrey Zeldman maintains his position as the spokesman for the progenitors of web design and web development in the latest issue of A List Apart by stating that even in this late stage of the web, that web design is poorly understood.
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