Down to Earth

1. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals BY DIANA MACLEAN

2. My Client • Jenny Cassar, Financial Planner • Works in construction for the moment • Down to Earth: her new small business on the side Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

3. Relationship with Client • Friendly, encouraging • Parent to Parent • On phone, and primarily email • Client fairly prompt at giving feedback • 1.5 week period during the process where client was unresponsive • Follow up emails and phone calls to remind helped Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

4. Website Objective • To get the name out there • Provide information for potential clients • Provide support for print advertising • Provide resource for clients • Provide solid image for the brand Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

5. Deliverables • Valid Code • Flash Logo • Horizontal 6 item menu system, with one drop down menu • 3 phases of mock-ups: • Wire frames and colour • Revised layout with colour and font choices • Final layout, colour and font choice • Email contact form for clients to send to Jenny • She has provided example of what she would like. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

6. Anticipated Challenges • Client’s family member is sick, takes up her available time to work on her share • Client or myself gets sick delaying the project • Lag in communication • Client has little to no budget for photos Non-Anticipated Challenges • Migraines • Client gets into serious accident and cannot devote time to producing any content. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

7. Encountered Challenges & Solutions • Client has literally no budget for photos • Solution: Site is uses graphic elements for visual interest • Client’s father is ill; her free time is already booked • Solution: When I email her, I don’t waste her time. Clear, concise questions and I the indicate the kind of feedback I need. • Lag in communication • Solution: send friendly reminder emails asking her for feedback, following up with a phone call if necessary. One fairly sig. delay in November. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

8. Encountered Challenges & Solutions • Technical issues building the site might affect design outcome • Solution: offer an alternative that will be visually similar, but not add much time on task. See Design Process section. • Client involved in serious work accident, physically unable to commit to producing content / provide domain info. • Solution: use the small amount of content she sent initially, and use placeholder text to show her what site will look like down the road. Production site available. • Understanding that the site is not her priority, I email her to cover my end of the project: the site will not be finished, but I can gladly work for her again down the road when she has recovered. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

9. Work Flow Protocol • 3 phases of revision during the mock-up/prototyping stage, and then 2 phases of revision during the building/testing of the coded site. • Duration: 6 weeks Time on Task • Estimated Time on Task: 88 hours • Actual Time on Task: 95 hours • Reasons for increase: Flash logo re-do and implementation (3 times before it was right), tabbed image link issues, background photo editing. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

10. Reasons for T.O.T Increase • 3rd Phase of Mock-ups: • 1.5 weeks delay due to client’s absence/lack of feedback before I could proceed to the building stage • Building Phase: 1.5 week increase due to: • technical design issues (flash/background image/link issues) • Client delay in delivering content. Waited for content (while reminding client to send) and did not receive new content in the end. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

11. Projected Timeline October December November Planning/DesignPhase Building Phase Review & Tweaking Actual Timeline October December November Planning/DesignPhase Building Phase Waiting for Client Approval Review & Tweaking Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

12. Design Process

13. Design - Feeling of the Site • Rich texture (dark earth backdrop) • Girly • Boutique • Smaller creative highlights • Signature pink gloves • Clean & organized • Modern Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

14. Design intro to Client • Made client aware of wire-frames she would receive from me, and what they represent • Explained what kind of feedback I need in order to revise • I would be sending her 3 phases of mockups • Once the 3rd phase was complete I would need confirmation on the layout and colour/font choices in order to proceed Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

15. Design Stage Phases (WBS) • 1st Phase: • 6 basic wire-frames - narrowed down from 15 examples • 4 options for colour schemes • 2nd Phase: • 3 revised mock-ups with colour • 5 options for web-safe fonts • 3rd Phase: • 1 revised, final mock-up with 4 choices for font Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

16. Phase 1 Mock-ups 6 Wire-frames: Ideas for background: Colour scheme options: Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

17. Phase 2 Mock-ups Layout combined with colour schemes and possible graphics Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

18. Phase 3 Mock-ups Chosen mock-up with 4 different fonts to be used for menu links:

19. Technical Issues • Gradient originally in final design would not replicate smoothly once in html. • Solution: Eliminate gradient, and use a simple border around the main content area, defining the main content section. • Left-justified site created awkward, unused space in the browser window. • Solution: Center the site in the browser window, and create rounded corners for the left side of the design to be equal with the right side. • Page title should be in a web-safe font: • Solution: Use the chosen web-safe font (Geneva) for both the page title and body copy. Down to Earth Gardening & Removals | Diana Maclean

20. Change to Design • I presented the problems to Jenny, and she agreed with the changes I suggested. Original Final Design Updated Final Design

21. Final Site Visit Down to Earth Gardening & Removals Thank you!