Topics: Process: Project Management and Workflow
Tools and techniques for fighting entropy. Better collaboration through good planning. (40 articles)
Creating More Using Less Effort with Ruby on Rails
by Michael Slater
Issue 257April 22, 2008
One of the main reasons Ruby on Rails increases productivity is that it makes building new applications, adding features, and making tweaks much easier. The combination of the language (Ruby) and the framework (Rails) means you can do more with less code.
Hat Heads vs. Bed Heads
by Keith LaFerriere
Issue 246September 25, 2007
Calm tension, communicate more easily, and run your projects more efficiently by applying the right relationship management techniques.
Get Out from Behind the Curtain
by Sarah B. Nelson
Issue 245September 11, 2007
“When used at critical points in the design process, these sessions build strong, respectful relationships. Since clients directly experience the design work, you don’t need to sell clients on an idea—they were with you the whole time.”
Frameworks for Designers
by Jeff Croft
Issue 239June 12, 2007
Learn to harness the power of tools, libraries, conventions, and best practices to focus on what is unique about the project at hand.
You Are Not a Robot
by Jonathan Kahn
Issue 239June 12, 2007
Learn why machines will never be able to do our jobs, and how knowing that fact can build respect for the profession.
Educate Your Stakeholders!
by Shane Diffily
Issue 237May 08, 2007
If you spend the time to educate your clients or managers at the beginning of the project, it will be repaid many times over by better decisions later on.
Stand and Deliver
by David Sleight
Issue 237May 08, 2007
“The good news is that designers already have what it takes to deliver gracefully under fire. It’s baked right into the job.”
Avoid Edge Cases by Designing Up Front
by Ben Henick
Issue 228December 05, 2006
Better planning and a beefed-up style guide may be exactly what you need to avoid markup derangement or, worse, a dysfunctional product.
In Defense of Difficult Clients
by Rob Swan
Issue 227November 13, 2006
It’s only by being forced to question our beliefs that we can be certain they’re right.
Designing Through the Storm
by Walter Stevenson
Issue 220July 25, 2006
“We’ve all experienced low points, and whether they’re caused by tight timelines, hostile clients, infighting, personal disasters, or something else entirely, we have to find a way to work through them.”
I Wonder What This Button Does
by Mike West
Issue 220July 25, 2006
Update fearlessly with a revision control system.
The Four-Day Week Challenge
by Ryan Carson
Issue 216May 09, 2006
“And then it hit me: there will always be more to do.”
Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason)
by Greg Storey
Issue 205October 10, 2005
“Throughout all these projects, one thing has remained a constant: those with clear, well-written, strategies ran smoother than those without—and ended up pleasing everyone, including the client.”
Use Cases Part II: Taming Scope
by Norm Carr, Tim Meehan
Issue 196March 02, 2005
The use-case model can be a powerful tool for controlling scope throughout a project’s life cycle. Because a simplified use-case model can be understood by all project participants, it can also serve as a framework for ongoing collaboration and a visual map of all agreed-upon functionality. Use it to plan, to negotiate, and to prevent scope creep.
Separation: The Web Designer’s Dilemma
by Michael Cohen
Issue 181May 14, 2004
Presentation separated from structure. Structure separated from content. The foot bone connected to the … what were we talking about? Michael Cohen steps in to examine our assumptions and relieve our separation anxiety.
The Problem, the Balloon, and the Four Bedroom House
by Joe Di Stefano
Issue 177April 16, 2004
Without a problem, there is no project. Where there is a problem, however, there is a stakeholder who is desperate for a solution and who has a delivery deadline — which is normally sometime yesterday. Find out how a good process can tame even the most unruly project.
Tackling Usability Gotchas in Large-scale Site Redesigns
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 163November 14, 2003
Redesigns can solve old usability problems while creating new ones that must be solved in turn. From the lessons of the ALA 3.0 redesign comes this quick study in remapping content without frustrating readers.
A Standards-Compliant Publishing Tool for the Rest of Us?
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 157June 06, 2003
Publishing with web standards is not for experts alone. A new tool hopes to make it easier for anyone. ALA interviews Six Apart’s Anil Dash about his company’s easy-to-use, standards-compliant publishing tool, TypePad.
In Defense of Scope Creep
by Hal Helms
Issue 150September 20, 2002
Scope creep seems inevitable. Our attempts to gather our clients’ requirements early on often seems a futile effort. Scope creep distorts our carefully structured schedules, making project managers weep. Have we run out of strategies for fighting this evil scourge? Is it hopeless? Maybe not. Maybe, thinks Hal Helms, it can even be beneficial.
Time Management: The Pickle Jar Theory
by Jeremy Wright
Issue 146June 22, 2002
Time management theories come and go, and we’re glad when most of them leave. But this one caught our fancy. No charts, no grids, no five-syllable words, just a simple idea that can help you get more done with less stress. Jeremy Wright uncorks the Pickle Jar Theory of Time Management.
Modifying Dreamweaver to Produce Valid XHTML
by Carrie Bickner
Issue 141March 22, 2002
You don’t have to wait for Dreamweaver 5 (or 6) to squeeze valid XHTML out of the web’s most popular visual editor. Carrie Bickner’s illustrated tutorial will show you how to modify Dreamweaver to make it a standards–friendly authoring tool.
Build a Cross-Platform Testing Station in Mac OS
by Paul Sciortino
Issue 139March 01, 2002
Everybody talks about cross-platform testing, but nobody’s shown how to do it on a nuts-and-bolts level. Until now. Sciortino’s comprehensive tutorial for Mac-based web designers will set you up with the testing platform of your dreams.
CMS and the Single Web Designer
by James Ellis
Issue 133January 11, 2002
Content Management Systems free designers from the gruntwork of individual web page production. They may also free companies from the need to retain design staff. How do content management systems work, and what impact will they have on a web designer’s job?
Process, Methodology, Life Cycle, Oh My!
by Meryl K. Evans
Issue 118July 27, 2001
Process, methodology, life cycle. No matter what label you slap on it, if you want to manage your web projects, you need a system that works the way you do. Meryl K. Evans’s overview will help you kick-start your own process.
CSS Talking Points: Selling Clients on Web Standards
by Greg Kise
Issue 116July 06, 2001
Selling your clients on standards-compliant design doesn’t have to hurt. Kise’s four-point CSS Selling Plan helps the medicine go down.
Nipping Client Silliness in the Bud
by Robin (roblimo) Miller
Issue 116July 06, 2001
Slashdot’s Robin (Roblimo) Miller could write a book about web clients’ mistakes. In fact, he’s writing it now – but he needs your help.
The Client Did It: A WWW Whodunit
by Robbie Shepherd
Issue 114July 15, 2001
Shepherd on the fine art of telling bad clients to buzz off.
Cheaper Over Better: Why Web Clients Settle for Less
by Adam Schumacher
Issue 114July 15, 2001
Adam Schumacher investigates why clients hire bad web designers—and what good web designers can do about it.
A Failure to Communicate
by George Olsen
Issue 103March 30, 2001
It’s ironic that, as professionals dedicated to clear communication, information architects and user interface designers are having such trouble communicating with each other. Information designer George Olsen digs up the roots of communication breakdown and explores the three aspects of web design.
From Table Hacks to CSS Layout: A Web Designer’s Journey
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 99February 16, 2001
Redesigning A List Apart using CSS should have been easy. It wasn’t. The first problem was understanding how CSS actually works. The second was getting it to work in standards-compliant browsers. A journey of discovery.
Breaking out of the Cubicle: How a Small, Swiss Company Got its Groove On
by Makiko Itoh
Issue 97February 03, 2001
In the mid-1990s, Makiko Itoh and her partner left New York’s cubicle land for a web shop of their own in the suburbs of Zurich. Learn from her tips on running your own web agency.
The Art of Topless Dancing and Information Design
by Denice Warren
Issue 93December 20, 2000
Creating a web site makes for all sorts of strange working relationships. What does an information designer have to do to get a little cooperation?
Separation Anxiety: The Myth of the Separation of Style from Content
by Bob Stein
Issue 89November 17, 2000
The separation of style from content has long been the web’s holy grail. But is it a myth? Stein claims that when design communicates, style and content are inextricably wed.
The Ins and Outs of Intranets
by Dave Linabury
Issue 88November 10, 2000
Sooner or later, most web designers will be called upon to create an internal site. And will quickly learn that one’s own company can be tougher to deal with than any client. Dave Linabury offers tips on surviving the process (and building something good in spite of it).
Daemon Skins: Separating Presentation from Content
by Mark Newhouse
Issue 87November 03, 2000
There ’s more than one way to skin a website. Newhouse demonstrates creative scripting techniques that give viewers and designers the control they crave.
A Design Method
by Ross Olson
Issue 71July 07, 2000
In a high-powered production environment like the web, a design method can help you get more done faster … and provide you with rules to break. New ALA writer Ross Olson shares his company’s game plan.
Bridging the Gap
by Robert Miller
Issue 66June 02, 2000
How can we work together if we don’t understand each other? Systems administrator Robert Miller describes the view from his side of the cubicle, and attempts to break down the barriers between “creative” and systems professionals.
Fragments (of Time)
by Pär Almqvist
Issue 64May 19, 2000
The best web interfaces take time – the one asset that seems to be in perpetually short supply. Leading Scandinavian web developer Pär Almqvist presents a time-based perspective on web interfaces and the network economy.
The Creative Process
by Mattias Konradsson
Issue 8March 12, 1999
Ideas are like policemen — they’re never around when you need them. Mattias Konradsson sketches a campaign to seduce the Muse.
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