The old adage of measure twice cut once has been engrained into my style of work since a young age. I would do research for weeks to try and determine what the best guitar, surfboard, computer, or phone would be to buy in my price range. Analyzing the pros and cons of the candidates and testing the products yielded me with a decision I could be proud of and a product I could trust to perform the way I expected it too.

I took this analytical skill set and applied it to the design and development process I learned in BCIT’s New Media program. I created my own 4 step process to take projects of all sorts from start to finish, and get it right the first time. Here is a quick overview of how it works.

PLAN

Planning projects begins with determining the goals, and gathering the content. This process gives a broad outline of the project details. We will narrow the choices down to fit our criteria.

By the end of the process we will have determined things such as the navigation, labelling, wire frames or thumbnails depending on the project’s nature. All the preparation and research will be done during this phase.

PROTOTYPE

Once we have the content, we should create the look and feel of the project with prototypes. The prototypes will be static, or low fidelity at first, and interactivity will be added as they are refined.

Designs will require the creation of rough sketches and composites during this process as we continue to refine the project throughout the prototyping process.

PERFECT

Testing and perfecting the project is next, before going into the final production phase. Making any final changes is important at this stage, to prevent additional time and costs later.

Testing can be from a basic low fidelity level to an intricate high fidelity level depending on the scope of the project and the budget.

PRODUCE

Production is the final step of the project. All content has been created, and now is being implemented into the final design, or build. We will have already created aspects of the final design in the prototype and testing phases. At this point we know exactly what we are creating.

This process generally results in the end of the project, and the creation of a fully functioning, optimized and ship ready product.