On Feb 12, 2008, at 11:04 AM, Cagwin, Virginia wrote: > Like David mentioned, interaction design must come first. It's the > only > way I found a project to work successfully.
Interestingly, I am about to begin Phase 3 of a major project with the following phases, each of which slightly overlaps the others. For context, the whole process is overseen by a small product management team while the design and programming teams are largely specialized consultant firms (including my team at Behavior). 1) Strategy- and Design-Focused (4 months): Thoroughly design a version 1.0 prototype and test it with real users. No tech development. Just collect requirements and design something that meets a business strategy and delivers an awesome user experience. Identify the technological needs, but don't code anything. 2) Engineering-Focused (4 months): Agile programming team develops the product using the prototype as a target, with occasional light input from the design team but mostly focusing on solving and innovating tech solutions. Expose the development product regularly to a small user test base and collect feedback. Meanwhile, the design team begins conceptualizing the version 2.0 product. 3) Close Collaboration (4 months): Design team ramps up again, using the lessons learned and opportunities identified during the tech progress, plus the prototype and product user testing feedback, to work alongside the tech team to finalize the UX and implement the fit and finish of the product. Much triage is anticipated. It's a little more complex than this when you drill down a little bit (there are design cycles that are heavily focused on branding and larger corporate integration issues and that have little to do with the features and functionality), but this is the basic idea. Design first, code it halfway, then collaborate closely down the home stretch. I'd love to hear what people think of this approach, especially if you've tried something like it. I'm pretty confident in it, at least for now. Cheers, -Cf Christopher Fahey ____________________________ Behavior biz: http://www.behaviordesign.com me: http://www.graphpaper.com > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
