Intro
One of my largest project thus far has been Craigsland.com. They are a company that sells land online via eBay. This site is meant to supplementary to their eBay store. I was heavily involved in the Design of the UI and the user interaction design to make the site user friendly and more importantly admin friendly.
What is the importance?
The importance of the UI design for craigsland.com is the fact that is displays both my web development skills, in the use of AJAX, and my graphic design skills. The logo included in the design is not only used for the website but is also used as the primary logo for Craigsland. The real importance in the UI design is the integration of graphic design to encompass the entire web development process. On this site the Design was very closely tied to the development stage through the use of AJAX.
What skills were acquired?
Because the UI deign was also to be used for other purposes than just the web, one of the main skills that I learned was dealing with print materials. Craigsland.com uses the logo for all of the stationary, Shirts, etc. so I had to learn to provide the printers with the format they need the design in. Another Important skill I learned was the process of revision. By this I mean the process of making a draft taking it to the client and then implementing the changes they wanted. Along with this came the skill of being able to help the client make decisions. Clients always want to keep changing things around but you need to quietly tell them it’s time to move on.
What went well.
The main thing that went well was the interaction between myself and the client. I was able to create drafts and present them easily and effectively. The communication was outstanding and question were answered quickly and easily for both parties. Also from the developer side the coding was effectively implemented with very little problems.
What should to change.
Overall most everything went well however there is one thing that I would change. The problem was the while the design is what the client wanted it took a long time to get that way. They client would change their mind and then change it back after I had already implemented that changes. For the next time I believe that I should lay a foundation for a procedure to change UI design so that they make sure it is what they want. Also from a strict Graphic design perspective I would like to integrate a different color scheme due to the fact that most everything I do is mainly blue.