Sun has a pretty good design methodology that we use to
manage our many different web design projects, large and small, that
happen across the company. One of my New Year's resolutions is to write
a series of postings on the steps that we follow.
We employ a "4-D" approach, which breaks new designs
into twelve steps grouped into four stages. Even though it sounds
like a lot of steps, many of them can happen quickly. Following
this methodology helps us keep projects on track. The chunks break down
like this:
|
Discover |
Describe | Describe what the objectives are for the project, via a strategic brief. |
| Research | Understand your users, their roles, and their tasks. | |
|
Design |
Model | Develop abstract descriptions of roles, tasks, and systems,
including the "information architecture" components. |
| Architect | Design the system's features. | |
| Extend | Refine the design and apply it to all parts of the system. | |
| Specify | Consolidate design into an implementable specification. | |
|
Develop |
Build | Create the templates and code that implements the design. |
| Populate | Add your content to complete the implementation. | |
| Test | Perform final quality control checks. | |
|
Deploy |
Launch | Prepare for transition to the system, and launch it. |
| Wrap | Put everything away nice and neat. | |
| Maintain | Add new content as needed and fix things that break | |
For medium-sized and large projects, this kind of design approach is
essential. It forces you to figure out what you're doing, in stages,
before you run down the pike firing up Photoshop and Dreamweaver or
writing code. Since most groups in most companies really want to
jump right to the "Build" step above -- thereby skipping the most
important stuff. Having a methodology to follow helps enforce some
discipline and ensures production of a quality final product.
In keeping with my New Year's resolution, I'll be blogging regularly
about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the above steps from
taking a design from concept through deployment and launch party.
