In-Progress
As part of my practicum, we were assigned to work with a client to put our knowledge and practice into a real life scenario. Amore Decor, an event decorator business in Edmonton, has wanted a website to showcase their business, allow people to book services, and rent items for events. The target audience was for anyone who had an event coming up and didn’t want to go through the hassle of organizing it. There were certain requirements that the client had, such as having a portfolio of her previous events, having the website be “luxury" without actually saying the word, and a modern website, among other suggestions.
No Prior Website
Completed flowchart, sitemap, and storyboard
Client gave content and media
Completed low and high-fidelity wireframe
Interviewed user testers
Discussed client's vision
Haven't build the site on WordPress
One of the main challenges for this project was accomplishing the client’s vision for her website. I got the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and adopt a different design style, since her vision was different from my typical one. There were times when the client had a general idea of the website design, but nothing concrete. As the team lead, I had to make sure we were on track even when the client changed her mind about a decision she had previously made. I was responsible for delegating the tasks to my colleagues as well as liaising with the client.
We initially had a meeting with the client where we introduced ourselves and took note of her expectations for the site, as well as discussed the plan for the entire project, and her responsibilities (i.e. content, web hosting, web domain). Once we understood the goal of the website and the client’s needs, we curated a mood board and got her feedback. Afterwards, we had a brainstorming session where we looked at other event decorators’ sites and did brainstorming exercises like the Crazy 8. Once we’ve gotten the client’s approval for the low-fidelity wireframe for both mobile and laptop, we moved on to the user testers.
With the feedback of the user testers, mostly having to do with the booking form, a contact us link in the footer, linking the entire card of the rental item, and the naming of the portfolio navigation link, we implemented the improvements and moved on to the high-fidelity wireframe.
To keep in touch, my team and the client had a group chat, so that we can all easily communicate among each other. My team and I would often meet throughout the week to touch base and keep each other updated on our progress. In the team, there were two people who were responsible for the design - me and the designer. We’ve kept each other in the loop and would ensure that the design decision came from both of us.
I’m thankful for this project, since my leadership was developed as well as my time management. On the other hand, my collaboration and communication skills only strengthened.
Overall, I’m happy I was able to help a business thrive in my community and allow Amore Decor to gain more exposure and a smoother user experience. The client is satisfied with how the project is going thus far, and we’re 80% done with the project as of date.