Website Design

We have a design process that is collaborative and evolutionary.

Information architecture

The initial research phase will involve development of an information architecture. We start the process at a workshop using just a pen and paper to sketch initial wireframes and Post-it notes to explore possible structures and labelling. Information hierarchies, wireframes and sometimes clickable prototypes are the deliverables we create during the information architecture phase.

Wireframing

A website is an interactive product that needs to support intuitive and pleasurable user experiences as well as looking good.

Wireframes are used to work out what will appear on pages and how it will be labelled. Wireframing interactively can start with a client using good old-fashioned pen and paper. Wireframing helps to bring focus to objectives, priorities and calls to action.

Moodboards

Moodboards help to reflect possible design directions. Moodboards are a great way to comunicate ideas between designer and client.

Moodboards combine examples of colour palette, imagery and typography. They often contain design elements grabbed from other websites that illustrate possible approaches.

We like moodboards because they help us to work together with our clients to identify the character of a design look and feel before we move on to detailed page designs.

Page mock-ups

Once we’ve identified the character and personality of a design direction and we have some wireframes we start to mock-up page designs.

By now there should be no major surprises, no big ‘ta da!’ design unveiling moment. The personality of the site and the objectives and priorities for different page types have already been defined. Both parties have been heavily involved in the process which means that neither party ‘owns’ the design.

Often we help with the presentation of designs to senior management by illustrating the process, showing the options and explaining how decisions we’ve made relate to business objectives and user requirements. What we won’t do is ask senior management ‘so, what do you think?’.

Prototyping

When time allows, we’re really keen to create clickable prototypes of the websites we’re going to build. These prototypes are relatively simple to create and amend using tools such Axure, so they can act as excellent tools to quickly test ideas and therefore avoid wasting time and effort during the build.