Information Architecture (IA)

Site maps

Download: Visio or GIF

This site map was created for a revision of a web-based survey tool. Users were provided with extensive customization choices for both the look-and-feel and their survey's functionality. One of the challenges we faced was creating a user flow that did not overwhelm novice users, but allowed those more familiar with the tool (and with survey creation in general) the functionality they needed to incorporate such things as skip patterns, question banks, and survey branching.

Functional Specifications

Download: Excel

One of the most important steps in the development process is creating a specification that accurately details all aspects of the tool's behavior. This document was created for a medical supply company's Web site. It details all of the site's searching and purchasing path, as well as indicates state-dependent behavior, error messaging, and required form fields.

Use-case Scenarios

Download: Word

Use-case scenarios help detail the interplay between a user's actions and the system's response. These documents are particularly important when designing intricate e-commerce systems, where the dependencies and potential errors are quite complex. This scenario illustrates the use path for a back-end shopping cart approval system.

UI Design Mockups

Download: GIF

The actual look-and-feel for a Web site or software product should reflect user needs, functional requirements, and business goals, while attending to aesthetics, branding, and marketing. I hand-coded this wireframe mock-up in HTML to detail the functionality and design for a Web-based survey tool set. One of the challenges we faced was creating an interface that supported both survey and quiz features in the same tool. The screenshot shows one screen of the complete system; through this screen users could access both textual and statistical results for their quiz.

• Needs assessment and requirements gathering, both with internal and external clients
• User research (using surveys, contextual studies, focus groups, ethnographic observations, and persona creation)
• In consultation with programmers, creation of technical solutions to complex purchase-path and other tricky interface issues
• Use case/scenario creation
• Site map creation for large database-driven sites
• Functional specification design
• User interface design (from paper prototypes, to Photoshop comps, to HTML wireframes, to the final designs)