De Monsters

De Monster working method, or our design process as we like to call it, is heavily based on Alan Cooper’s Goal Directed design. Within this process Interaction Design, user-centered design and quality by a strong foundation in research are key elements. Our process is of course different, but experts will definitely recognize the influence that the Big guy himself has had on us.

Phase 1. Planning. Before we start with a project we think it is important for all the people involved to know what is coming. Making clear notions of expectations, milestones, presentation moments and goals is the starting point for every project.

Phase 2a. User research. Because users always have a specific goal to use a product, we want to find out as much as possible on these individuals. Through the use of qualitative research methods such as interviews and observations we try to figure out who the user is and what his motivations and goals are to make sure that we can offer the best possible user experience.

Phase 2b. Contextual research. We don’t want to leave anything to chance, so we make sure that all Monsters become subject experts during a project. This is mainly done by talking with experts on the subject and going through a lot of literature. For instance you can ask us almost any question on astronomy, animal friendly emergency slaughter, the political structure of Dutch political party GroenLinks and all the small irritations that come up during communication when working on a creative project. We are looking out to what the future will bring for us, because Monsters never know enough.

Phase 3. Personas. A persona is a design tool for all the members in a project team that consists of fictitious individuals based on real people. Personas are the cornerstone during decision making and communication within a project. We always create our personas based on qualitative research. Even though we can spend many months creating our personas, we can also do this in a matter of days. We use personas to relate all our design decisions to actual research. If this phase is unclear than we can always explain it in more detail en show some examples on how this works out in practice.

We recommend to apply user-centered design within any project, but we realize that this is not always an option. As long as everybody understands the consequences we can work on a project without doing any research. Even though it is always hard to give guarantees for success, the use of research will greatly improve the chances of success. While we have faith in our own capabilities, we rather trust in research than in a designers ego or his qualities as a gambler.

Phase 4. Interaction Design. Through the use of personas and scenario’s we layout a project in detail. All Monsters involved in a project collaborate as Interaction Designers to create a well founded product. The result is a detailed, but yet clarifying design that shows how the final product will function. Even though this document has texts, we feel that flowcharts, wireframes and other models help communicate a design much better. Which is why they are always present in our interaction designs. The interaction design is created before the actual productions commences, making sure that the expected results for the needed investment are clear at an early stage.

Phase 5. Functional Design. Our functional designs consist of pixel perfect visual design accompanied with detailed descriptions of style and behavior. The functional design is meant as a communication document that can be used as a guideline during the development phase. A copywriter can see exactly where certain texts need to appear and in what context they have to be written. A developer can focus on his work without having to worry about possible open ends that have been missed by a designer. By involving the people that come in action during the development phase during the creation of the interaction design, we keep them from developing a sense that they just have to cope with everything a designer throws at them. During this phase it is common to do user tests so any changes to the design can be made before final development starts.

Phase 4b & 5b. Rapid Prototyping. By creating a lot of small prototypes during the design phases we can turn a process that is often perceived as a waterfall method into a flexible process. These prototypes make sure that we can adapt our design decisions at an early stage when the prototype shows that it has some faults. The process of prototyping is an iterative process which creates visual results. By using technical, animated and paper prototypes we can validate decisions in a phase where flexibility is not only present but also very needed. Our experience is that this phase can give stakeholders a lot of clarity. It is possible to create many variations on a design in a very short time frame and to present this in a visual way. A design really comes to life during this stage.

Phase 6a. Development. Since we have a wide variety of backgrounds, we are capable to take on a project from start to finish. Our speciality when it comes down to development is in ActionScript 3. With it we can create advanced media-heavy websites, FLEX application and with the use of Adobe AIR even desktop applications. Within these projects we can integrate realtime online communication and (if necessary combined with) video streaming. Besides this we can also create websites using XHTML, CSS, AJAX and attach this to a backend.

Phase 6b. Support developers. While we are capable of taking on development, it is of course possible that the development will be done by a group that focus on development for the full 100%. In that case we can support that group by giving any necessary explanation. During this support our main interest is in making sure that the user will get the experience that is needed. By cooperating with the developing group and by involving them in the design phase we make sure that the final product unites with the goals, motivations and behavior of the user.

Phase 7. Support. Acceptance of the product might be the end for the design and development phase, it is also the start of the most important phase: the use of the product by the users. To make sure that the launch of a product goes smoothly, but also to support the contractor in the long run during unforeseen events, we can remain actively involved with the product for a longer period of time. Of course the level of involvement will be decided in conjunction with the contractor to make sure that we can take on the perfect advising or maybe passive role for the project.