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Case Study 03

The One Week Website for
Mission Matters Group

A rapid design sprint with an insane
deadline to save a client relationship.

he agency I was freelancing for had hit a deadline only to have their contracted designer drop the ball with a sub-quality set of designs that threatened their client relationship. They were going to have to eat the additional hours to fix it.

nlike most of my projects where the majority of the heavy lifting happens around strategy, positioning & content, this was purely a design speed exercise. Based on their timeline, their question to me was, “what can you do with a week?”

equiring 12 unique page templates plus competing homepage comps and nav schemes, I spent 4 days on initial designs, a day on prototyping, specs, & a client dashboard, and one final day on client revisions and handoff.

InVision Prototype

LAUNCH PROTOTYPE

VISUAL DESIGN

As I discuss in other case studies, I always use InVision App to create click-through prototypes. For example, this project still required 46 screens throughout the design process even though there were only 12 unique designs and 23 final mocks delivered. I can also make rapid updates that allow for multiple rounds of feedback in one day. Finally, this allows me to show interactions and flow through pages. Being able to simulate movement through a site is immeasurably different than presenting flat mocks. Click the above launch button to check it out!

Client Dashboard

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

My projects almost always have a launchpad where I provide links to relevant resources, specs, and a starting place into different flows. When working with an external client, I turn it into a Client Dashboard structured as a mini-site. Here, I also include project updates and instructions such as how to use InVision and give feedback as well as helpful brand or style information.

Project Outcomes

MANAGING FEEDBACK

InVision has an additional tool that allows stakeholders to tag comments on each screen and give feedback to each other. In our case, we learned that there were differing opinions about use of imagery, but just as importantly, the different members on our client’s team learned how varied and strong those differences were. This allowed us to reference examples of best practices & reduce the number of unilateral change requests.

REVISIONS

Facilitating a quality conversation enabled the client to narrow their focus to what was most important for launch on day one. Recognizing their limited opportunity for change requests, they asked for minimal style changes and a redesign for a repeating content block. It not only defined their brand with a custom icon set and associated with identity statements, but could be reused in future advertising and collateral.

RESPONSE

The original work by the previous contractor before I joined had nearly cost the agency their client. It was redesigned within a week, and I was told that their founder / CEO cried upon seeing it. I was also told he’s a passionate man with a big heart, so that isn’t unheard of from him. And the previous design was really. really. bad. Still, that was probably the only time in my life my design work has made someone cry. So that’s something.

Final Designs

Timeline

DISCLAIMER

Everything here happened in a week, including design, change requests, client meetings and handoff of final files. It was still more like 70 hours over six days.

.

I have to charge more for this kind of rushed work, so I don’t recommend making this your plan A. Besides, for the same price over several weeks you can

.

have collaboration, a round of user testing, a round of iteration and a much higher degree of collaboration! However, sometimes your back is against the wall.

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About the author:

Jacob Cotten

A product designer with insatiable curiosity and an addiction to learning, Jacob often
participates in every phase of the design process –––from strategy to execution. He is currently
working for Gloo, a venture funded startup in Boulder, Colorado, that is building cloud-based
software that is centered around personal growth.    Learn More

Recommended case studies:

Website designed, written and coded by Jacob.
© 2018 Jacob Cotten.  Legalities

I was the principal designer for all of the work shown unless otherwise noted, and I am the author and creator of the case studies within this portfolio. This website exists as a digital resume for the purpose of providing proof of experience in order to gain future potential work. Many of these projects were completed collaboratively in a “creative for hire” agency, freelance contract, or software company with copyright assigned to that entity or client.

I always have language in my creative contracts that I discuss with clients and employers that specifies my ability to display my work publicly. This includes concepts and processes as well as final deliverables, given that all of these are necessary to display my competence as a UX and Product Designer. I follow best practices to the best of my ability to assure that my work for clients is in compliance with copyright, either through open licensing or purchase of stock photography, mockups, icons, and other creative resources. However, I recognize that digital ownership is sometimes disputed on the internet. I do not assume legal liability for work completed in good faith on behalf of corporations and organizations, even if it is displayed here in my Resume. Even so, I take copyright and intellectual property seriously as a professional designer and photographer.

If you have any questions or concerns about something displayed here, please contact me and I will do my best to resolve them as simply and expediently as possible. Thank you!