The entry below is classified as a LEGACY post, meaning that it was written (well) before the current version of Avalonstar was released. Although these posts have survived the numerous moves over years, there is no guarantee that they've survived the trip unscathed (especially the links).

LEGACY–

December 13, 2011

My Process is Circular

When one runs into a problem with something—say, designing—one tends to overanalyze the process they've been using to try and conquer said problem. Needless to say, I've been doing that; call it designer's rust from the honeymoon or just a general slump from the status quo. Nevertheless, I began to notice something that was historically an unconscious behavior for me.

Granted I haven't attended many design talks over the past few years, so my views may be antiquated. Whenever process was brought up as a talking point, it was usually presented as a linear process:

$ ./start_designing
Developing idea.............................. done.
Sketching thumbnails......................... done.
Converting sketches to wireframes............ done.
Adding detail in Photoshop................... done.
Unsuspecting developer to pass this onto? [n/n]: N
Code it yourself? [y/y]: __

Script done, job done. Well, not for me it seems.

(I don't usually sketch, but when I do, I take way too long on them.)

I present to you, My Design Process in a Diagram, presented as an Instagram. My process is circular and can start on either end depending on how scatterbrained I happen to be that day.

To be honest, this diagram formalizes this process a bit more than it should have.

For instance, if I start sketching, I'll draw a box and then all of a sudden get an idea (hence "EUREKA!") and move to Photoshop. I'll draw a few boxes in Photoshop, place some text and then jump back to sketching after getting K.O.'ed with a serving of designer's block. For the brief time that I've remembered to count, this happens about 10-15 times for a given mockup.

However, my brain doesn't discriminate as this'll happen while I'm coding or programming as well. I don't know how most programmers flesh out their more high level (for lack of a better phrase), but I'll write out what I wish to code in plain English, much like Behavior-Driven Development, but I dislike the concept of actually coding that way. Also, Gerkin.

So there you have it, my circular (maybe ovacular?) process. Whatever gets the job done, am I right? ;)