Planning and Managing Drupal Projects

Framing the Design Challenge

While the discovery phase sets up the client’s objectives and perceptions of their audience, the user experience (UX) phase focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of the site’s intended users, and works on framing the design challenge you’re facing for the client and the development team.

The tangible deliverables of this phase may vary from team to team, but they often include things like:

• User personas or scenarios

• An outline, or matrix of functional requirements

• Sketches of screen designs or user flows

• Wireframes

• Paper or digital prototypes

• Content strategy documents, including a breakdown of site content, content types and categories. This may also include a breakdown of the site’s user roles (editor, member, etc.) and what content they have permission to access, edit, etc.

The goal of this phase, which can take anywhere from a couple of days to a few months, is for the client and the development team to get on the same page regarding who the site’s users are and why they are there. Additionally, and most importantly, the goal is to identify areas of the project where budget or project scope might need tweaking, and head off any confusion that might occur down the road.