Several steps involve collaboration between Allin Consulting and the client to define project requirements and gather existing materials. It is important to note that in full scale engagements our UX process is a component of our overall Project Methodology. For projects that are limited to User Experience resources the general progression is as follows:

Determine Purpose and Scope of Design

Determining the purpose of the SharePoint environment is an essential first step in the process.

• Content Management System: Used as a corporate website. Takes the limitations of SharePoint into account while not allowing them to dictate design.

• Corporate Intranet: Follows an established layout. The frontend finds a happy medium between an extensible layout and strong design.

• Team Collaboration Site/Document Repository: A more utilitarian SharePoint implementation. Design seeks to be unobtrusive; simply applies your brand and highlights important functionality.

Determine Requirements

The design team works with the client to determine the project’s goals, as well as any constraints that may exist. This is your chance to express your expectations about the project and communicate the desired end result to our design team.

We work with you to define:

• Budget/Deadline: The first guidelines to be determined, as they are instrumental in outlining an accurate project scope.

• Design Requirements: Requirements may be technical (i.e. Browser Compatibility), or aesthetic (i.e. adherence to established Design Conventions)

• Design Goal: The desired end result. A design goal could be increasing site usability, increasing site stickiness, or bringing an existing SharePoint implementation within an existing corporate brand.

• Intended Audience: Affects the site-building approach. For example, if SharePoint is being used as a Content Management System for an external-facing site, a detailed understanding of the target market is required.

• Final Deliverable: Based upon the client’s unique situation. If the client has internal/contracted SharePoint development staff, then the final deliverable would be the assets necessary to create the front end including HTML, CSS, Imagery and JavaScript (if applicable) along with any necessary documentation. In contrast, a full implementation would entail the modification of the site’s Master Pages, Themes, CSS, and imagery.

Establish Base Information Architecture

It is important to establish base information architecture upfront. Although site structure will grow and evolve over time and in accordance with your SharePoint governance plan, this initial structure will impact navigation design.

• Create List of Necessary Content/Pages: Itemize necessary site pages and sections to provide for intuitive site organization.

• We recognize this, and follow and document Search Engine Optimization guidelines and best practices to improve content presentation and accessibility.

• Note Important Features within Information Architecture: Features vary site-to-site, and may include items such as number of landing pages, stylized custom webparts, and embedded rich media.

Gather Collateral

We work with you to locate and compile any existing marketing/branding materials. This allows us to integrate the new design with the pre-existing brand, as well as avoid unnecessarily collecting content that already exists.

• Branding Collateral: Materials including vector-based logos and branding guideline documentation.

• Previous Design Work: If previously-designed marketing materials exist, there may be value in integrating them with the new project (or at least using them for reference).

• High Quality Imagery: Existing corporate or pre-selected photography. For existing photography, image rights information should be supplied to ensure that elements of the site design comply with legal permissions. If necessary, time can be allotted to find and acquire appropriate photography.

• Site Copy: If there is no pre-existing copy, determining the importance of copy and an estimated word count is useful in determining layout and hierarchy of content regions.

Review Initial Deliverables

Before the site design is implemented, we review the deliverables to ensure everything will deploy according to plan.

• Wireframes: The underlying skeleton of a site design. Useful in determining layout before additional aesthetic elements are determined.

• Mood Boards: Used to summarize a site’s color, subject matter, and texture.

• Mockups: The final first round deliverables and the end result of applying the appropriate aesthetic to the final wireframes. Useful in demonstrating both site design and behavior.

Implementation and Testing

Following site implementation, a series of user tests are performed to ensure functionality, performance, and consistent presentation.