Mark Richards: Design Blog

UX Case Study: Alpine Safety Campaign

Mark Richards — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 05:36:28 +0000

At long last, I’m posting the finished case study for my Alpine Safety Campaign. The proposed design solutions were drawn from the following research:

Interviews with skiers/snowboarders of varying age groups/skill levels
An online 17 question survey (click here to view)
Multiple peer review sessions

Download the final case study here

How many spaces go after a period?

Mark Richards — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:17:42 +0000

For those still in the dark ages, learn why not to put two spaces after a period.

Alpine Safety Design Project

Mark Richards — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:39:05 +0000

I’m conducting some research for a school design project dealing with improving mountain safety and would love your feedback! Your answers are completely anonymous and will help shape a proposed design solution to mitigate ski and snowboard accidents.

Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback!

Sustainability in print

Mark Richards — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:49:27 +0000

Printing has evolved dramatically in response to sustainability challenges. Working as an Art Director for the first carbon neutral financial institution in Canada, I was responsible for managing printing with environmental sustainability as a top priority.

To ensure your next press-run is gentle on the environment, here are some tips:

Use vegetable-based inks that minimize smog-causing volatile petroleum compounds (also known as VOCs).
Choose FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Use of the FSC mark requires the entire supply chain (retailers, distributors, manufacturers and sawmills) to adhere to strict environmental and social standards. Fiber from certified forests is tracked all the way to the consumer through the chain of custody certification system. FSC is the next level of sustainability that goes beyond the sole inclusion of recycled content.
Choose papers that are acid free, elemental chlorine free (ECF), or totally chlorine free (TCF).

I want a website—what’s next?

Mark Richards — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:59:40 +0000

Step 1: The Project Brief

Creating a website, or any other sales or marketing piece, takes a fair amount of planning to make it succeed. Start by outlining the aims of the web site (to increase traffic, increase product awareness, generate more sales, offer e-commerce, advertise a new product or service). For a customized boilerplate of the design brief I use, please contact me.

I also recommend you start by browsing sites you like and come up with a short-list of candidates (3 or so) to send to me by way of example. It helps translate your vision quickly and we can discuss specific requirements later.

Step 2: Scope & Estimate

Of course everyone wants an idea of what their site will cost. In order to provide you an accurate estimate, I’ll need to understand the scope and complexity of your project. Here’s a short-list of questions I’ll ask:

Do you have a marketing plan/strategy?
Who’s developing your site’s content (text, images, video etc.)?
What pages/sections do you envision your site to have?
What functionality will the site require (forms, CMS, video, blogs)?
What is your timeline?
What’s the budget range?

The best FAQ is one you get to ask the questions.

Mark Richards — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:58:42 +0000

With the re-design of my website, I thought I’d test the waters of integrating a blog right into the site. Not only did it seemed like a good home for the questions I get regularly, but being based on a blog engine (in this case WordPress), readers can respond & ask questions of their own.

Maybe not rocket science but I anticipate it will come in handy. In fact you may have noticed a fair number of new websites are based on blogging engines as kind of a cheap & cheerful content management system (also known as a CMS).

So, welcome! As I add more articles & tips, feel free to browse and don’t be shy to send me your questions.