Synopsis
In 2017 I had my first experience working with a client. During a class at Utah Valley University, I worked with an eight person team to redesign and develop a website for a non-profit organization. This allowed me to further enhance my interpersonal skills as well as work for a client as part of my coursework.
Time Frame: 4 Months (2017)
Challenges
Information Architecture
The toughest challenge I had to overcome on this project was containing a lot of information on the Provider’s page shown below. The purpose of the page is to showcase all of the doctors that volunteer their services to Community Health Connect’s low-income patients so that CHC can recruit more doctors.
Lots of Info to be Displayed
There are three main categories on the page. Within those three main categories there are 34 sub-categories of specialty doctors. Within those categories there were over 200 names of medical providers. I started to organize all of this information by creating an Excel sheet.
Excel Sheet of The Info
Solution — Progressive Disclosure
My solution was to use progressive disclosure and categorize the medical providers into individual cards. Within each card only three names were visible before expanding. When the viewer clicked on the “View More...” button, a pop-up would display the remaining names in that category of providers.
My solution was to use progressive disclosure and categorize the medical providers into individual cards. Within each card only three names were visible before expanding. When the viewer clicked on the “View More...” button, a pop-up would display the remaining names in that category of providers.
What I Learned
Communication
I learned a lot about communicating with a client and communicating with developers. I had to be clear about different aspects of design that both parties weren’t familiar with.
I learned a lot about communicating with a client and communicating with developers. I had to be clear about different aspects of design that both parties weren’t familiar with.
I also needed to effectively communicate with fellow designers, exchanging ideas and being willing to go with their solutions when they presented a better one than I did.
Information Architecture
I also practiced problem solving through a challenging exercise in information architecture. These skills come in handy in my freelance work today.
I also practiced problem solving through a challenging exercise in information architecture. These skills come in handy in my freelance work today.