HG Development

The most important bit of any project irrespective of it's size, function or purpose is planning. By effective planning you can save a lot of time in the process of making your product, as you should have a clear vision of what you want it to look like and how you want it to function. With this in mind I turned to my notebook to write out a scope before re-writing it in more detail. Along side this I sketched out some simple designs to enable me to make up my mind on different aspects of my site. This meant that I had a clear vision prior to turning on my computer. Below are photos of my scope and design work.

As you can see, I started by writing out a general scope to give me something to think about. Following this I broke down each section into more detail. This meant I didn't have to think about too many things at once. This was an attempt to cover all the bases, so my site would look professional.

Design 1 is a simple design that has a good use of space. It contains everything that you would expect from a basic website including a title, some kind of illustration, a menu bar and some welcome text.

Design 2 is also very simple and contains the same information as Design 1. The only difference with this one is the layout, even though it still utilities the space well.

Design 3 is also a simple design, showcasing all projects from the start page. This would mean fewer pages to look through to see everything. The main purpose of the site would be visible straight away. It also fills the space well without looking to busy.

Design 4 is much more technically challenging which would create a fun and interactive experience. The start page would consist of nothing more than an image where clicking on each section would take you to different parts of the page. This design is more complex than the others, and minimises the amount of context on the start page, making it more aesthetically pleasing.

After reviewing my designs I decided to go with design 2. The reason for this is that it is easy to read and follow. I felt that providing I used an effective colour scheme it would create a professional looking site for others to search through my work. I also think that it uses the space well without looking over crowded, making it easy to scroll through different areas of my website. By having this plan ready before I started to build my website the process was relatively quick and straight forward. This saved me a lot of time and effort which was better used on other parts of the project.