3 weeks left

This week we now have a working role of honour to a point, the way in which the results are shown and the pagination of multiple pages of results needs to be added, this is not going to be easy as I understand the principle of pagination within php web pages but the needs of flash are entirely different as I have found out so far and this may present some problems.

I had a meeting with my client liaison within the last week and this went very well, she has provided me with some nice visual content for me to incorporate into the application and she is very happy with the current state of the application and my approach thus far.

Working on this project has been very fulfilling for myself but I have had to fulfil many roles within this project, I have had to liaise with the clients this involves listening to their needs and hopes for the finished piece and I have needed to research, listen and learn the importance that this project has on a personal and emotional level. I have had to empathise with their needs whilst remembering my role as an industry practitioner this means I have also had to consider the technical restrictions, the users needs and experience and the time constraints for the purpose of this project.

This project has also given me great experience of the restrictions and problems that working with a client may present, my clients have been extremely easy to work with but working with clients is different to working with other industrial professionals. When working with fellow professionals you expect them to provide you with information and files in the right format, at the right size, within strict deadlines and if this does not happen you would be within your rights to complain and request the appropriate files or content to be resent in the correct manner but when working with people who may not have a knowledge of technical problems or best practices you must anticipate and over come any problems that may arise. Files may have to be edited or reformatted, information may need to be adjusted for the purpose of suiting you user’s needs etc…

I have had to work as project manager, designer, developer, data inputter and user tester, this has presented its own problems but overall I believe it has helped me develop a greater understanding of the entire process and it has given me a good understanding of the individual roles within designing an interactive project, if I was to be working as part of a team in the future I now feel I would have an understanding of the other team members roles and through this I could have empathy for their needs.

I have been extremely lucky so far but I am still lacking content and with the deadline been only 3 weeks away I need to start putting some finishing touches in order to put the application through user testing.