Implementation

The next step in the design process is to take what you’ve learned from the client and use it to create a design. Regardless of the project, try not to get caught up in the technology associated with building web sites—at least not at first. At this point, it shouldn’t matter whether the site is going to comprise straight HTML, a template for a content management system, or a Ruby on Rails application; the bottom line is that we have an interface to design and a blank sheet of paper. “Paper?” That’s right, paper. Did you really think I was going to let you get back to your precious computer right after the client meeting was over? No way. Here’s why: it’s easy to lose focus on the design if you start thinking about the layout in front of a computer. If you start out on paper, you can ignore the technical limitations of browsers and CSS, and focus on how you want the final product to look. Now you might think that all good designers carry around fancy hardbound sketch books in which they use expensive markers and paint to design masterpiece renderings of web page layouts. For me, the equivalent is a 79¢ spiral-bound notebook and any writing instrument I can find on my desk that still works.

I start out by sketching a few possible layouts. After a few of these sketches, I decide on one I like, jump into Photoshop, and use the rectangle tool to block out the areas I’ve marked down on my paper. Once I’ve defined my layout, I experiment with foreground and background colors until I have a solid color scheme. I continue twiddling the Photoshop knobs and pushing around pixels until, finally, I have a comp to show the client.

Simple, right? Okay, perhaps I skipped a few steps in that brief description. Honestly, though, when people ask me how I do what I do, they usually get a similar explanation. The truth is that there are bundles of now-subconscious information from my past experience and those old college design and art classes that have helped me to define my own design process.

Learning how to design is like learning how to program. Some people have a bit of a knack for it, but anyone can learn. Just as there is good code and ugly code, there is good design and ugly design. Learning some of the principles and conventions that are associated with design will help you to understand the difference between the good and the ugly, and help you toward establishing your own design process.

Discovery

The discovery component of the design process is about meeting the clients and discovering what they do. This may not feel like a “design” task, but gathering information about whom your clients are and how they run their business is the only way you’ll be able to come up with an appropriate and effective design. Before you schedule your first meeting with your clients, take a few minutes to figure out what they do and how they do it. If they’ve asked you to design a web site for them, they may not currently have one, but Google them anyway. If you can’t find any information about their business specifically, try to learn a little more about their industry before the first meeting. Whenever possible, the first meeting with a client should be an actual person-to-person meeting. Sometimes, distance will dictate that the initial meeting will occur over the phone, but if the client is in town, schedule a time to meet.

Keep in mind that this meeting doesn’t about impress the client, selling yourself, or selling a web site. The initial client meeting is about communication. Try to listen more than you speak, and bring a pad of paper on which you can make notes. Do not bring a laptop. Computers have screens, and people tend to stare at them. If the client isn’t staring at the screen the whole time, you will be as you write your notes. If you must drag some technology into the meeting, bring a voice recorder. In my experience, though, a pad of paper is less threatening to the often not-so-tech-savvy client.

Here are a few of the questions I like to ask in initial client meetings even if I’ve already answered them myself via a search engine:

- What does the company do?

- What is your role in the company?

- Does the company have an existing logo or brand?

- What is your goal in developing a web site?

- What information do you wish to provide online?

- Who comprises your target audience? Do its members share and common

- Demographics, like age, sex, or a physical location?

- Who are your competitors and do they have web sites?

Sometimes I start off with more questions than those listed here—use your imagination and try to come up with some creative queries that will really give you more insight into the client organization. If you’re a programmer, avoid the tech jargon. If you’re a designer, avoid talking specifically about design. Sure, that may be all you’re thinking about, but semantic markup, fluid and fixed layouts, and color schemes will likely mean very little to the client. Worse still, these types of conversations can bring misguided design opinions your way even before you get a chance to start thinking about the design yourself.

The Design Process

In a web-programming book I read recently, the author introduced a fictional scenario in an Office in an Office to explain why readers needed to design a page layout and create a style sheet for the Even when I worked for a company Even when I worked for a company. example application. He basically said that the company web designer was off getting with a big office, I had some of my most productive with a big office, I had some of my most productive.

Inspiration from somewhere and wouldn’t be back until later in the year. It sounded as if client meetings at a coffeehouse or over lunch.. The client meetings at a coffeehouse or over lunch. The he was implying that designers are prone to lake out and go on vision quests for months feasibility of this approach depends on the client. If feasibility of this approach depends on the client. If at a time, but I’m going to assume the author made that comment in an endearing way, and your contact doesn’t seem like the informal meeting your contact doesn’t seem like the informal meeting type, don’t suggest it; in many cases, though, it’s a type, don’t suggest it; in many cases, though, it’s a introduce the same scenario good way to make a business meeting more personal good way to make a business meeting more personal Here are the hypothetical details of this scenario: Jim Smith of Smith Services needs a web site. We have his business card and he’s eager to get started. Unfortunately, the designer is out of town … wait, that’s not a good excuse. Let’s say he was injured during a freak dairy cow stampede while attending the South by South West Interactive (SXSWi) festival in Austin, Texas. Yeah, that’s believable. Anyway, he’s out for a few months, and you’re on your own. So where do you start? The actual process of developing an entire site or web application includes a lot of steps, but the process of creating a design comp boils down to only two tasks: discovery and implementation.