Taming the Beast: UX for Large Drupal Projects

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

TAMING THE BEAST: STRATEGIC UX FOR LARGE DRUPAL PROJECTSDani Nordin, the zen kitchen

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

Dani Nordin• UX designer, writer

and teacher• Specialize in UX and

Interaction Design for Drupal teams

• Founder, the zen kitchen

• Author, Drupal for Designers series

• Mother of this adorable little diva to my right ->

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

UX DESIGN IS DIFFERENT WHEN BUILDING LARGER SITES

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

Smaller Project UX• Fairly predictable• Can do in small teams or solo• Easy to see patterns in functionality/content• Blog• News Page• Events, etc.

• Often dealing with 1-3 stakeholders• Sites are often promotional, with limited functionality

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

Larger project UX• Generally unpredictable—or predictable in really

annoying ways• Team dynamics are important, but messy• Patterns constantly shift• Decisionmakers, stakeholders and client contacts

constantly shift• Sites involve increasingly complex functionality and

content

tzk-design.com • Twitter: @danigrrl • dani@tzk-design.com

MAKING IT WORK

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HAVE A VISION AND A PROCESS.

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DISCOVERY IS EVERYTHING.

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SKETCH. OFTEN.

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PROTOTYPE OUTSIDE OF DRUPAL.(WITH VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS).

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CONTENT STRATEGY: NO, REALLY, IT’S A THING.

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CONTENT CREATORS ARE USERS, TOO.

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AND THEN…

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THERE WILL BE BAD DAYS.

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THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A NEW STAKEHOLDER.

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PICK YOUR BATTLES.

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KEY DELIVERABLES

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PROTOTYPES

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DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOPS

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SPECIFICATION DOCUMENTS

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ARCHITECTURE DOCUMENTS

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ROUTINE SANITY CHECKS

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YOU AREN’T CURING CANCER, YOU’RE BUILDING A WEBSITE.