The Design Process Year 9 Multimedia

The Design Process The design process is a systematic way of solving a design problem. Consistent Comprehensive Efficient Investigate Design Produce Evaluate

Design Brief The design process starts with a design brief. It describes the client’s problem. The design process is used to find the best solution for this problem. A design brief usually details Who the client is Their need/problem Who the audience/users of the solution are Any conditions that will limit/effect how the solution is designed

Investigating the design brief Read the design brief thoroughly. Ask your client further questions if you need to. You must understand clearly & in detail what the client needs - and they must agree that you do! 1 - Purpose - what must the solution do? Find some examples of similar products and identify the features your client’s product will share, and what will make it unique. 2 - Audience - who will use the solution? Create an audience profile. Collect images that show the colours, ideas, activities etc. that the target audience finds appealing.

Designing the solution Depending on the type of solution needed, there are many different design tools that can be used. However, all designs need to specify: 1 - Function - how the product will work? Use a site map or a storyboard to show your function design. 2 - Appearance - what it will look like? Use layout sketches, storyboards & screen mockups to show the visual design. 3 - Evaluation criteria - what questions will you ask to judge the success of the finished product? Use a feedback form or survey.

Producing the solution Multimedia solutions are produced using software tools. Some commonly used tools include: Dreamweaver, Google Sites, Wordpress (websites) Flash, Pencil, Pivot, Shockwave (animations) Gamemaker, XNA, Torque 2D (games) Blender, Google SketchUp (3D models) It is important to continually test your product to make sure it meets the design specifications.

Evaluating the solution You will need to get some feedback from the client to make sure that the solution really has solved their problem. Feedback can be collected by Watching people use the solution Surveying people who use the solution Tracking performance statistics