UX & IA Design Thinking

Over the last couple of years UCD (User Centered Design) has become a buzz word just like RWD (Responsive Web Design). 5 years ago when I wrote my SharePoint Branding book I use to call it the 4D’s of User experience. It included Discovery , Definition , Design , and Development . I had a nice little picture and everything to depict the different phases. Now the picture is much nicer and clean however, I really don’t think it matters what you call each phase it matters more what you do within them. I have seen so many different variations sliced and diced in different ways. To me it is about adjusting your approach based on the needs of your users and your client. In a more traditional waterfall project you have a tendency to over burden yourself with documentation because there is no chance of going back. Also those types of project are usually the ones where you scope out in the begging a full solution without ever fully knowing what the real need actually is. I would much rather on...

During the creation of the CSS, Master Pages, and Page layouts its critical to stay on top of your Front End Development testing. As you know many classes in SharePoint are shared classes so when you make a modification to one element you have to test, test, test. Below are some helpful things to review before giving that oh so critical demo… Hopefully these will help you out during your development process and testing. Create and test all OOTB SharePoint templates Publishing Sites Publishing Toolbar Page Layouts (All that are available) My Sites My Profile Organization Hierarchy web part In Common with you web part Team Sites Meeting Workspaces Tabs Recurring Meeting Workspaces Quick Launch Blog Unique Quick Launch Post date, title, content, and links Wiki Functional Links (Edit, History, Incomin...

Click to watch the video presentation (36MB WMV), thanks to my friend Paul Galvin for taking the video. Update: For some reason the link was not good. I have updated it and it should work now.

I want to thank everyone for attending my presentation. It was a great success! I had a co-worker video record the session but it will take a little while to get that uploaded/edited for the masses. Here is the link to my presentation. I have included notes on each slide for the dialog. Download: http://cid-ed1a37150dabcd2d.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/IA%20and%20Branding%20Process%7C_ErikSwenson.pptx?ccr=80 Thanks again, enjoy and please add your comments to this post!

As a teaser, I would like to provide a sample of my upcoming session at the SharePoint Summit 2009. Roles: Information Architecture –Much of the interface navigation and page structure will be driven by the Information Architect. Designer – Skill depends on several factors, if leveraging native features, skill is very dependent on knowledge of SharePoint. SharePoint Front-End Development – MOSS-FED highly specialized skill set, especially if doing CSS-based changes. UXD Process:

I will walk you though a few steps to implement your branding by using custom Site Definitions, Master Pages, and Features. Images: Place all modified images in a new folder in the following directory C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\IMAGES\Custom Styles: Create a separate CSS file and place it in a new folder in the following directory. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS\1033\STYLES\Custom Application Master Page : *Modify only if you want Farm Wide System pages to have a consistent look and feel. Go to the following directory on the server (if there are more than 1 web server make sure this is done on each) C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\LAYOUTS Add a <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="" /> in the head of the Application.Master to your alternate styleshee...

This post was originally created in a 26 page PPT deck that I created. Here are the highlights of that presentation. Anything is Possible: With the ability to create custom Master Pages/layouts, the amount of customizations are endless... Examples of Highly Customized MOSS sites: Games For Windows Glue Mobile Games HedKandi Choose Chicago Hawaiian Air And Many More Please keep the following in mind Not all projects are the same. Some require more 1 on 1 attention Some defer all branding look and feel requirements to either their own internal marketing departments or external vendors for definitions. Some allow full creative freedom, while others are pre-defined. The Process The process described in this post is intended for internal small scale sites. And not intended as a basis for all implementations! What is UI Design? User Interface Design is the process of creating a consistent, successful, integrated design solution...