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Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning, Mobipocket
 
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Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning, Mobipocket [Kindle Edition]

Dan M. Brown
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

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This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version.

Most discussion about Web design seems to focus on the creative process, yet turning concept into reality requires a strong set of deliverables—the documentation (concept model, site maps, usability reports, and more) that serves as the primary communication tool between designers and customers. Here at last is a guide devoted to just that topic. Combining quick tips for improving deliverables with in-depth discussions of presentation and risk mitigation techniques, author Dan Brown shows you how to make the documentation you're required to provide into the most efficient communications tool possible. He begins with an introductory section about deliverables and their place in the overall process, and then delves into to the different types of deliverables. From usability reports to project plans, content maps, flow charts, wireframes, site maps, and more, each chapter includes a contents checklist, presentation strategy, maintenance strategy, a description of the development process and the deliverable's impact on the project, and more.

From the Back Cover

Most discussion about Web design seems to focus on the creative process, yet turning concept into reality requires a strong set of deliverables—the documentation (concept model, site maps, usability reports, and more) that serves as the primary communication tool between designers and customers. Here at last is a guide devoted to just that topic. Combining quick tips for improving deliverables with in-depth discussions of presentation and risk mitigation techniques, author Dan Brown shows you how to make the documentation you're required to provide into the most efficient communications tool possible. He begins with an introductory section about deliverables and their place in the overall process, and then delves into to the different types of deliverables. From usability reports to project plans, content maps, flow charts, wireframes, site maps, and more, each chapter includes a contents checklist, presentation strategy, maintenance strategy, a description of the development process and the deliverable's impact on the project, and more.

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39 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars For people who work in large web teams, November 6, 2007
By antenna (ex-UK now US) - See all my reviews
If you work in a large team in a big corporation, and use conventional rather than agile approaches to web development, you may find this book very useful. It has advice not just on what tools to employ, when, and why, but also how to interact with clients and specialists in various roles during every stage of website genesis/ontogeny, from strategy to execution (via usability tests, concept mapping, wireframes and much more).

As a one-person band with a very small budget, I found big chunks of it rather idealistic, somehow old-fashioned, and not very relevant to my own circumstances. The usability / market research specialist? The information architect? Those would be me. The programmer? The graphic designer? Oh, those would be me too. And the person making sure that the words and images are suitable for the web as a medium? Me again.

I wanted some advice on best practice for (a) documenting decisions made (and reasons for making them) and (b) highlighting consequences of those decisions (and reasons) for future work. I was quite surprised not to see much discussion about how to document (b), which in my experience is often a huge hole in documentation.

Also, the processes I use are much more agile than those described in the book, which doesn't cover how to document development using agile methods. This is a shame, because I think more and more developers are moving in this direction.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware - companion website does not have promised resources, June 2, 2008
By S. Harrison (Clements, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Part of the value of this book is the promise that the author will provide templates and examples. This promise is worth zero. If you go to the companion website, there is a note from the author that says, essentially, "Ooops, so sorry. Got too busy." Just a tad unprofessional? I guess different people have different perspectives on such things.

Call me crazy, but one would think that the author would have had a whole stack of examples and templates BEFORE he wrote the book. How else would he know what documents are needed? Just a rhetorical question.....

The book itself is useful, don't get me wrong. I am just very disappointed in the lack of companion material. Other reviews very adequately cover the content.

In terms of practical help, AND downloadable templates, I vastly prefer Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works (2nd Edition) by Kelly Goto.

Kelly Goto's advice saved my tail when I was a newbie in the field (waaaaay back in the dark ages of the 20th century), and still has relevance for me today.

Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works (2nd Edition) (VOICES)

[...]

UPDATE: August 2008: nothing has changed on the companion website, [...] Quite frankly, it looks like it has been abandoned.


UPDATE: February 4, 2010: The author finally has updated the site. However, as of this date, there are still no templates or other downloads as far as I can tell. Looks like the author has turned it into a blog. You might want to check it out and see if any progress has been made. Since Amazon won't allow a web address to appear in a review, you can figure it out from the title of the book.

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The meta-web development communication book, December 2, 2006
Dan Brown did it. I never imagined someone would pull it off, but he came up with a meta-web development communication book, a book about the process of putting together user needs, strategy and web design documents. In these three categories, he covers the ten web site communication deliverables he considers to be of most value, taking the reader through a structure that will help in the process of conception, construction, presentation to others and context.

I found the concept of Personas he introduced very interesting (and innovative in the web development space) and later picked up a book that specialized on the topic ("The User Is Always Right" by Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar) to learn more about it. In terms of the rest of the concepts he introduced, if you are a seasoned web producer/development specialist, you may not find most of them to be new, but seeing the whole package in front of you will be useful and refresh items you know to be of importance. If you are becoming acquainted with this area, the book will become a permanent reference you will want to take with you at all times along with "Web Project Management: Delivering Successful Commercial Web Sites" by Ashley Friedlein.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Web Design, and Marketing Communication book
I can't think of a better resource to refer to in developing the Discipline of communicating graphically. Also it is a verry fast read. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Bill Hunt

4.0 out of 5 stars Great in-depth methodology on UX design
Great book for ux professional. Lots of in-depth techniques on each step of the ux design process. However, for small and medium companies, this approach might be too formal, and... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Quan Nguyen

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource
This is a great resource for showing you all the various documentation process that surround web design today. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Brian Kenyon

4.0 out of 5 stars full of information
an easy read and jam packed with vital information when working as an interaction designer.
Published 17 months ago by Q. G. H. Berk

5.0 out of 5 stars Good reference
The book considered as a very good and valuable reference, I think it's essential for those in the field (development) to have this book in their libraries. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Ahmed Bassel

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for a none designer
I'm been a web developer for several years but recently I've been pushing myself in to the design field. not easy but either hard. Read more
Published 17 months ago by E. Leon

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solution to a Long Time Problem
I have to admit something. When I joined my company, my department had been struggling with two big problems for years - poor programming hires and poor product documentation... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J. A. Kranz

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Handbook for Creating Documents
This is an excellent handbook for creating all those design documents you'll need for communicating with others on your team. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Denise Shanks

1.0 out of 5 stars Good book but no documentation!!!
I thought the book was quite good but was disappointed that there was no documentation on the website that was promised in the book. Read more
Published on September 7, 2008 by D. Toop

4.0 out of 5 stars Wheres the templates and reference material?
EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT book for reference. Actually the best you can find of the type. No filler and I enjoy the authors style. Read more
Published on August 19, 2008 by V. Matyi

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