Guy Sangwine, User Experience Specialist, Enterprise Application, Information Services [HREF1] , University of Melbourne [HREF2], Victoria, 3010. guy.sangwine@unimelb.edu.au
The University of Melbourne has recently created a new central web design team imaginatively named the “The Web Design Team”. This team provides training, advice and consultancy in user interface design and evaluation to clients within the University. To support this work, we use print and online documentation in a variety of template designs. A key document used is the Web Development Framework, which outlines the activities and deliverables required during each stage of development and maintenance of a university web site.
This paper outlines some of the steps we are taking to consolidate this support documentation, some lessons learned and some idea of what may happen in the future.
We had a number of problems with our existing support documentation:
What we needed was a system of documentation that would briefly explain the key concepts, deliverables, and activities involved in a web development project. This system would cross reference our other documents and show where people could find out more on the topic.
A brief review found that other people had faced similar challenges and that a common solution was using a single side of A4 paper, or card, to highlight information in a digested format.
Our interested was piqued by “IA single sheeters” created by Leah Buley [HREF3]. These single sheeters compile information on one side of A4 and explain some of the activities carried out by an information rchitect. A number of IA single sheeters have been created and are now available on a specially created web site.[HREF4]
Another example are the “Classic IA tools” comics, where Dan Willis created a series of cartoons explaining key Information Architecture techniques [HREF5].
During this research phase, we asked a number of web workers at the University what they would find useful in a Web Brief.
Some of ideas provide were:
We also looked at a number of books that explained how to carry out web techniques to see how they presented their information in overview - for example at the beginning of chapters.
After looking at our research, we decided to use both sides of a single piece of A4 (revolutionary, I know); the first side would be used to explain the basics of the activity, document or service, the second to give more details and links to related resources.
From these thoughts we developed some prototypes, finally ending with the following design.
At the top of each sheet is an information band that identifies the material as either:
This identity is supported by the colour coding of the band and this use of colour hopefully boosts the visual interest of the sheets and allows quick recognition of the content. The colours used are matched to those used in the Web Design Framework and online resources provided by the Web Design Team. The connection with the Web Development framework is also highlighted as the development cycle stage is given. This band is also shows related Web briefs and required tools or resources.
Some benefits from using these Web brief sheets are:
An unforeseen benefit of this system has been that the process of distilling down the various processes and services has forced me to reconsider their usage and usefulness. In the past, I have found it straightforward to create extensive training materials – it certainly requires a lot more discipline and thought to create an overview of a technique or service in two sides of A4.