Research and Design Process

Every project and team has its own process. This is an example of my independent workflow. Feel free to inquire about any project process as this is a general representation of my process.

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Understanding the Users

To get a deeper understanding of who would use or is currently using the product, I take user analytics and/or conduct user interviews to create personas. These personas help identify important needs and frustrations to work through as major components of the product are developed and helps keep a focus on the end goals of the product.

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Architecture and User Flows

After user research, I will lay out each product page/area that have been defined or are being added to the product. Organizing them based on content and flow helps provide a map to each pages interactions and a clear hierarchy of flow.

 
 
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Storyboarding by Hand

Once the key areas and interactions have been established in the architecture and flow, quick hand sketches help me to start flushing out ideations of inter-page interactions, layout, content placement and organization. At this phase, I begin to get engineering involved so they can give input on implementation and limitations before going further. 

 
 
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Wireframes to Mockups

Using the hand sketch ideas or low-level wireframes, I then work up to high-fidelity mockups using real content. These are pixel-perfect designs of the intended product.

 
 
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Prototype and Refine

Depending on scope and scale, I will use the pixel-perfect designs to walk through a simulated flow of the product. This can range from HTML prototyping, Invision app prototypes or storyboarding print outs. If missing pieces or problems come to light, refinements are made and the process is repeated until the product is in a place to be implemented.

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Implement and Repeat

I work closely with engineering to assist with implementation, providing detailed documents and frequent QA sessions. Once the product is launched, there will always be improvements to be made or new features to add and my process begins again.