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 My background includes various professional experiences in information design, but I tend to focus on the following services and often provide a combination of these services in any given project. Site Planning & Information Architecture Building a successful web site, like building a house, requires planning. Before any work can be done on site design and programming, there first needs to be a common, documented understanding of the site's goals, intended user experience, content, structure, visual design, project roles, and project timeline. The length of this planning process is often dictated by the overall project budget. But even a modestly financed project will benefit immeasurably from this kind of advanced planning. In providing this service, I conduct interviews with stakeholders, facilitate meetings as necessary, and produce documentation that serves as the master plan for the site design and programming. Web Design The visual design process involves a series of steps that begins with the establishment of shared understanding of the overall concept and aesthetic, advances to the creation of layout templates in the chosen markup language (such as HTML), and continues with active participation in the ongoing site development. In preparing for visual design, a number of points need to be researched. For example, How should the visual design relate to the overall corporate identity? In addition, often there are other sites, or elements of other sites, that may be considered as useful reference points. Once there is agreement on the overall visual approach, and prior to doing any coding in a markup language, I prepare a range of different layout mockups in an illustration program. These layouts may only include the basic look and feel of a sample page, with global and local navigation and any page components that recur on every page. The project team then has the opportunity to comment on these layout options, ask questions, and suggest changes. At this point in the process, changes can be made quickly because the layout only exists as a graphical illustration. For more complex web sites, once a basic design template has been selected, sometimes wireframes are created for selected pages. Wireframes depict the content and information structure for any given page - such as a search page. Finally, the chosen design is translated into markup language, which can then be used as the basis for the development of all site pages. Application Development These days, almost all web sites offer some interactive functionality. Sometimes, this is as simple as a contact form. Other times, you want to give your site visitors rich personalization options that enable them to interact with and participate in your content and services. Or, more fundamentally, perhaps you want a content management solution that gives your team role-based administration of your site content. This range of functionality can all be achieved through the development or integration of specially programmed application components. Frequently, I develop such components from scratch according to the project's required specifications, using a server-side scripting language such as Macromedia ColdFusion. Other times, there are third-party application components that can be easily integrated and which obviate the need for custom development. Other Services If you have a need that doesn't seem to be included in the above service offerings, please let me know. Even if I can't help you directly, perhaps I can point you in the right direction.
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