I've used the term functional design to help our clients understand the different roles within the design process. The IAs are responsible for the functional design while the visual designers are responsible for the design of the form.
When you add to this, form should follow function, you have an adage that helps explain why you want to get your wireframes done before the comps. I think this also serves project teams to better understand the role in a project. If the final design looks like a coat of paint was put on a wireframe, then the project team is not working well together. conversely, if the wireframes are merely suggestions to the designers, then you also have a problem. But to think of design as form following function, you have a mental model to help a team work together. The IA designs the functions of the application, the visual designer does the form. Finally, the best design happens in an iterative fashion (no one can get a design perfect on the first try). When you put this all together, you have form and function design tracks interweaving and building on each other... with the functional track starting just before the design track. Anyway, that is how I explain it to my clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://gamma.ixda.org/discuss?post=21651 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
