Before coding any new UI features, everything goes through a process of verbal discussion, scribbled notes, and sketches on whiteboards; from there the idea is patched together and laid out in Illustrator for review.

It seems simple enough, but when these Illustrator mockups are finished and reviewed the results can be surprising. Sometimes, even though everyone was on the same page in the verbal phase, everyone didn't take the same vision back to the drawing board. Maybe the scribble intended to indicate a dropdown box is interpreted as a series of links or a block of abbreviated notes in the margins are understood to represent a feature of some kind.

It isn't all bad, though. Sometimes new ideas for features or design elements present themselves this way. Even though I could be totally off the mark with a certain aspect of a mock-up, it could be something that Matt sees as an interesting concept, or something that should have been in there from the beginning. Further discussion can sometimes lead to these mistake-ideas being identified as good ideas. From there they can be improved upon, or merged with the original idea, and potentially be integrated into the final product.

If we were following instructions on how to build an existing product, we'd be in trouble. Since we're building something entirely new from scratch, I think we're on the right track. Some digital whiteboards would be nice, though.

Comments ()/Permalink