From the initial meeting to the final presentation of the project I involve the client throughout the process to ensure that the solution meets their unique needs and expectations as well as those of their audience. The following is an overview of the process I use to identify the project requirements, develop the solution and design specifications, direct the project through to its successful production, and deliver the final project that achieves its intended results.

Define the Project
The development process begins with an analysis of the client’s and audience’s needs and concludes with the presentation of a design proposal outlining the solution and design specifications.

In an effort to define the project, I work to:

• Understand the client’s business objectives and goals for the project by asking questions and listening to the client’s responses
• Discover the target audience, their characteristics and their informational and functional expectations and priorities through discussion with and observation of the client and their audience
• Assess the organization’s current site as well as that of competitor’s sites through critique and user testing, using methods such as cognitive walkthrough, usage log analysis, think aloud protocol, questionnaire, and field observation.
• Write a brief that includes a clear and concise statement of the site’s goals, required content development and feature set, development timeline, cost estimates, necessary people and technology, and the measurements of success

Design the Interaction
At this stage of the process, I design a structured information architecture, navigation system and the visual interfaces providing users a pathway to achieve their goals and clarity of control over the information presented.

In designing the interaction, I do the following:

• Direct the collection and creation of site content
• Discover how the information and interaction should be designed using personas and card sorting and label writing techniques involving the client and audience
• Conduct cognitive walkthrough and think aloud protocol usability tests with visual paper prototypes and on-screen interactive prototypes in order to determine the success of the content, information structure and navigation system
• Create flow charts, storyboards and use cases that explicitly outline the interaction design to be followed in production
• Design visual interfaces using color, composition, images, and text to convey the client’s message

Produce the Project
At this point, all of the pieces of the site are fabricated and integrated into the completed solution. Testing for technical functionality and usability are conducted and assessed against the intended goals of the project.

In the production stage of the project, I do the following:

• Implement the interactive and visual design
• Direct programming and external system integration (databases and e-commerce systems)
• Conduct usability tests with production system similar to those used in the initial Project Definition stage
• Conduct functionality tests with production system to assess platform and browser compatibility, system functionality, content accuracy, and server stability

Launch and Maintain the Site
It’s now time to release the completed solution providing training, assessment and maintenance as needed.

In the final stage of the project, the following steps are completed:

• Advertise the site through promotional materials and search engines
• Train the client on techniques for maintaining the site
• Conduct user assessment with the production system through log usage analysis, field observation and questionnaires