Guideline

How to track and share design decisions

During the design stage, work can be quite creative involving brainstorming and occasional iterations. Things can change at a rapid pace, and in some cases, decisions are made implicitly. Documenting final agreements (what has been done and why) is important to communicate progress to the Web site sponsors (for review and clearance) and to the team, particularly those who will be involved in development and construction.

Each one of the design steps can produce its own deliverables, which need tracking.

Information architecture

Can be tracked using:

• Web site diagrams showing the organization, grouping and labelling of content categories and pages;
• wireframes, i.e. a high-level schematic of the page layout and the placement of content and functionalities (e.g. search box); and
• screen flow, i.e. a series of wireframes showing the changes on the screen during a sequence of steps in a task (e.g. an advanced search with progressive refinements of query and results).

Interface design

Can be tracked using:

• interface design documents, i.e. a list of events triggered by user actions on the screen and the resulting display; and
• mock-ups of the main page types, e.g. usually graphic files of how the pages will look based on the information architecture and the interface design requirements.

Technical implementation

Can be tracked using:

• technical requirements, i.e. specification of the functionalities the site will offer for the site developer who will take care of the implementation; and
• choice and description of the tools that will be used to implement the site.

The documentation that is produced at this stage and its level of detail depend on the scale and complexity of the project.
At a minimum, for simpler projects, it is recommended to produce site diagrams, interface mock-ups and a list of technical requirements to incorporate in a project brief, including all the information.