I’ve just finished managing a web design project and was reflecting on lessons learned. Three big ones for me:
- On this project we worked with an external design agency to develop the information architecture, user personas and user journeys. I was rather sceptical about this approach in this case as some work had already been done, but am now a convert to the cause. This work actually made a critical difference between a website that would have been just OK and one that’s really good.
- We used a lot of mockups and clickable wireframes, and they really served to bring the project to life, and instil confidence in our project stakeholders. Even more true on a web project because it’s so visual. One prototype page is worth many Powerpoint slides.
- As part of the design we did some “quick and dirty” user testing, where we rounded up a few potential users and sat them in front of a working mockup. This was useful for the design, but had the additional effect of adding a huge amount of weight to the design decisions, to the extent that these were almost never questioned subsequently – which I’m pretty sure would have happened without the testing.
Useful lessons for next time.