• Read Productive Interaction Paper
• Design Document, due week 05
  

A design document is the central source of information for an interactive project. It serves as a proposal to the client, forms the basis for the development of a budget, and is the road map for the production team.

Students will submit a finished design document as a web site built using a WIKI on the MDP Experimental server. The document will be built by the members of the team, where each team member builds sections of the document according to their assigned role on the project.

In addition to the the team collaboration on the design document, each student will create design comps of their own for their selected team site. Each student must create a simple website in their own server space that displays their comps. This website should have navigation that shows each comp on it's own page, as well as providing a link back to the main design document. The design document should link to each student's comp site.

The document should include:

1. A title page listing the project name and client, date and revision number of the design, plus:
   1. A table of contents listing the sections included
   2. A contact list for the project team members, client, and other important contacts. NOTE: Since the MDP web sites are visible to the public, DO NOT PUT PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE. You may want to distribute this information on paper to the team members.
      
2. Sections:
1. Overview describing the project including goals and audience (producer)
   1. description of the project including goals and audience
   2. the client and their availability
   3. source of the content
   4. proposed project scope - number of pages, amount of content, anticipated difficulty/challenges
      
2. Site map/information design (content editor)
   1. a diagram of the content organization
   2. brief user scenarios demonstrating paths through the content
      
3. Inventory of content (content editor)
   1. for each item - site section, description, related tasks, source, production time, person responsible
   2. for each item - is it in-house yet?, is the task completed?
   3. total estimated work hours for all items
      
4. Creative brief which includes: (art director& content editor)
   1. Theme - the underlying idea that unifies the project and brands the company/product (e.g. community, security, fun, innovation, solutions, etc.)
   2. Attitude - the approach and tone of the project that comes out of the theme (e.g. calm, edgy, reserved, experimental, muted, bold, etc.)
   3. Concept - the means to communicating the theme (e.g. the product lasts forever, organic shapes & colors communicate "natural", hybrid cars don't hurt the environment, etc.).
   4. Competitive positioning - how the project responds to the competition
   5. Research - provide links to web sites and pictures of print graphics that inspire the design of this project. Each link should have a sentence or two describing what is interesting and well done (or not) about the reference.
      
5. Art direction samples and style guide (fonts to be used, color palette, etc.). Under the direction of the art director, each member of the team must create web page design comps and make a simple website in their own server space to display them. (art director and all team members)
   
6. Research on the field and similar works. To demonstrate your research, list several websites (plus other collateral) that are comparable, competitive, or inspirational. (all)
   
7. Technical plan which includes: (technical director)
   1. navigation design including how sub-navigation will work
   2. discussion of tools & technologies to be used
   3. special technical challenges (e.g. streaming video)
   4. page size targets (based on target audience connection speeds)
   5. file naming convention
   6. site directory structure
   7. site revision conventions
      
8. Production plan which includes: (producer)
   1. task assignments
   2. schedule for design
   3. schedule for asset production: content, art, html
   4. schedule for proofing, functional testing, and revisions
   5. schedule for final release
      
9. List of urgent questions for the client that will help better define the project

Example Design Document

• Art Center
• All Systems Go

design doc presentation : 

Each group will present their design document to the class week 04. The information should be presented by the group in a professional way, as if you were pitching your design to a real client. You should have a clear idea of what you will present and how you will present present it--rehearsing is suggested. Your presentation should follow this basic format:

1. Overview describing the project (producer)
2. Site map/information design (content editor)
3. Inventory of content (content editor)
4. Creative Brief (art director and content editor)
5. Art direction samples (art director and all team members)
6. Research (all)
7. Technical plan (technical director)
8. Production plan (producer)
9. Set of urgent questions whose answers will help define the project better

all materials on this web site © copyright 2005, Philip van Allen