User Experience Design

Visual Information Architecture

Our User Experience Group blends a mix of traditional schematic wireframe diagrams with visual design elements to create high-fidelity visual wireframes that make it easier for our clients to understand and participate in the paper prototyping process.

By providing a series of diagrams that resemble actual electronic interfaces, our clients and end user test groups can:

• Better grasp how the application is intended to function
• Provide more useful and productive input and feedback throughout the process
• Identify potential usability problems long before development and coding begin

Because paper prototyping is not always the most effective mechanism for testing functional designs, we also create clickable prototypes through our iDocs tool, which:

• Simulates the application's desired functionality
• Enables users to interact with the interfaces
• Allows input and feedback throughout the process
• Permits changes to the prototype to reflect user feedback
• Shortens the amount of time for each iterative testing
• Keeps documentation up to date for the development team

We offer both paper and clickable prototype options to our clients, and make recommendations for which to use based on the nature of the engagement.

Visual Graphical User Interface (GUI) Design

Although our User Experience Group blends visual design elements into information architecture diagrams, the prime focus of these diagrams is on functionality, not visual design. The visual GUI design is formally developed in a separate process, based on the creative and branding requirements gathered by the client and the User Experience team.

We are committed to understanding the critical need to balance form and function in the final GUI design, and to ensure that visual design elements work to complement the functional design, not overtake it.

Our Information Architects work closely with the graphic designers and interactive developers responsible for creating the final look and feel of our applications.

We strive to develop interfaces that:

• Are accessible and usable to the target audience
• Incorporate an appealing visual design
• Extend our client's brand

Process and Approach

We rely on task analysis and information architecture to organize key functionality or content for a software application, web site, or screen flow. Although task analysis and information architecture usually result in different types of design artifacts, they both represent the backbone of a well-designed visual interface and accurately reflect the user's goals, product functionality or content, business objectives, and constraints.

Our team members are experienced with different methods for gaining insight into users' mental models and effectively applying these insights to user interface design. The end goal is to organize functionality and content into intuitive flows and structures that users can easily understand and adopt.

Deliverables may include:

• Annotated Wireframes
• Clickable Prototypes
• Content Matrices
• Detailed Analysis
• Flow Diagrams
• IA Maps
• Interaction Maps
• User Scenarios