I recently stumbled upon the work of Jesse James Garrett, the president at Adaptive Path. I had no idea the world of user experience could be so enchanting. His insights towards process development were some of the best things I’ve heard all year.
After reading his book on UX, I combined his 5 layer model with a list of deliverables from Communicating Design. They fit together quite well, with a little more work they’ll be the perfect compliment to each other. The process lights the path and the deliverables make great milestones. It’s the beginning of a beautiful thing.
Describing the process of building a website has become a crucial part of communicating it’s value. To someone that doesn’t know a thing about my job, it’s hard to notice that I wear so many different hats.
I like to compare building a website to erecting a skyscraper. There are architects, engineers, real estate developers, land surveyors, construction managers, landscape and interior designers, contractors who provide climate control, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, security, etc.. They all work together to get the job done. Even after they’re through there’s faculty and ongoing maintenance that run the show.
Anyway, when building a website, I’m all those people. I’m not just the construction crew, I’m a project manager, information architect, usability & accessibility specialists, user experience designer, graphic designer, account manager, and programmer. Whew, sometimes its confusing which hat to wear and when to switch to another. I think I’m getting the hang of it though, it certainly keeps me thoroughly interested in making websites.
