Using my new brief I started to develop ideas as to how to communicate the research I had gathered. The fact that I was performing a design process using the very techniques and concepts that would be explained within the application helped me at this stage.

3D Model

One of my first ideas was to try and demonstrate the process as a 3D model in which the user controlled a camera and could “fly through” the process, uncovering information as the camera moved into different positions. This idea would try and get the user more involved with the process and information (various media such as Text, Audio Interviews, Videos and Animated diagrams) about the design process and managing it.

I got inspiration for the model by looking at the promotional site for the HALO 3 computer game, in this site the user can move the camera forward and back along a predetermined path. At points along the path next to key characters involved in the game there were buttons that the user can activate and either watch a short video or read an account of that particular character.

I decided to stop developing this idea as I felt that my skills in 3D graphics and animation were not up to the standard required to produce this application. The idea of linking information together using the buttons on a path and using short videos to help convey information was something that I took forward and applied to other designs.

Synapse Design

This design was based on the nerve links within the human body, trying to convey the ideas moving around the application and design process as well as how these ideas and designs are managed. In a similar theme to the 3D model the user would travel along the nerves and neurons when exploring the sub level of the five main stages. Along these trials of nerves would be further process information, represented by synapses and more neurons.

This “inside the human body” style would have to be a theme that all of the application used, this was part of the reason I decided not to continue to develop this idea. I felt that information could be communicated this way but for a quick and easy reference a simpler more straightforward application would be better.

Travel Design

This design process can be understood as a journey, which gave me the idea to develop the application in a travel, specifically air travel, style. Each stage of the process would be linked to an analogous stage of a journey, for example the Proposal stage could be twinned with Check In at an airport.

My influence for this idea was the styling of the Virgin Galactic site where I liked the layout and contrast of the colours. I envisaged this design to have diagrams similar to an aeroplane emergency fact sheet.

It was important to try and order the information I gathered so that it would flow logically from the start of the process to the end. This design really helped me think about the process as a whole and how to communicate the multiple interactions during the journey.

‘Peeling the Onion’ Design

In this design I wanted to try and organise the key stages of the process and the various information and practices associated with it in a logical and structured manner so a User could easily navigate through the process and quickly find any topic they required.

The journey to get this information would have visual cues to help the user understand the iteration of the design process and re-enforce how important good communication between the client and designer is at all stages of the process.

This design ordered my chosen topics into three separate layers. On the top layer were the five key stages of the process, Brief, Proposal, Development, Implementation and Completion. The second layer contained information about the tasks associated with each of these stages including information about what commonly occurs when the process reaches that stage / task together with an indication of what responsibilities the Client, Designer or both sides need to contribute. Finally the third layer contains further, more detailed information relating to topics in the second layer to be explored.

I decided to use this simple but organised design and develop it further towards the prototyping stage. I also wanted to incorporate ideas that I liked from the other designs in order to evolve and improve the standard of the application prototype.