Ideologies
Web Solutions
A successful solution equally address business, design, technical and user needs and goals.
Needs & Goals:
All four components are equally important. Without meeting the needs of each, a solution is incomplete.
My experience in each of these fields provide me with an appreciation of their unique worlds.
My value comes in understanding these areas and carefully combining them to create a solution.
Contact me to discuss your company’s needs and goals.
Experience Design
Many years ago I was requested to design an interface for a banking kiosk. I wanted to create the best user experience I could. While consulting with the client, I asked the standard questions: what are the kiosks functions, is there a keyboard or mouse, how large is the screen and what is its resolution?
Then I wondered: if a really tall or short person uses the kiosk, how will their height affect their use? I continued along that track... Is the kiosk going to be in an enclosed space? If so, how high is the room’s ceiling? What are the lighting conditions? What’s the average temperature of the room? Is the kiosk located near an outside door? And on and on the brain train went.
The experience the user would have with the kiosk wasn’t just a result of the colour, size or style of typeface I would choose, or how fast the computer and network connection was. It was the result of many, many more factors.
Excerpt: ...an ‘experience’ is a collective of all personal experiences, immediate and past, direct and indirect.
I was limited in my role with that project to design only what existed between the first and 1024th pixel across and the first and 768th pixel down, but a massive paradigm shift had occurred. I realized that an ‘experience’ is a collective of all personal experiences, immediate and past, direct and indirect.
Yes, a collective experience, and depending on the situation that may include something as seemingly obscure as what a person has had for breakfast. To design the ideal experience, one had to account for a plethora of different factors. Some can be controlled, most can’t, but nearly all need to be accounted for.
Excerpt: ...orchestrated, the symphony would be far greater than its solo parts.
I was intrigued. I spent days pondering this shift in perspective. I loved design – graphic, industrial, interior, fashion, culinary, musical – individually intricate and amazing, but orchestrated, the symphony would be far greater than its solo parts.
I worked to develop this perspective for years. I sat through a cognitive psychology course at UBC trying to understand how humans process stimuli. I read and I read. I traveled and my ideas grew even more.
I’ve come a thousand miles and now a thousand more and have barely scratched the surface of what constitutes experience. This perspective is the foundation and starting point for approaching every project and solution I undertake with my clients.
Contact me to see how we can progress your company’s experience.