___v1-0

As I am starting afresh I will be adopting a much more rigorous approach to the design. With the majority of ideas taken form v0.2’s evaluation, I have compiled a list of primary focuses which should always be at the forefront of any design decision.

- All pages should be accessible from all pages
- Pages should stick to a strict, unique colour scheme to make easily distinguishable
- Setup a space/system in which work can be easily added
- Reference all non-original source material (images, ideas, code)
- Standardise style across all pages
- Certain reoccurring elements need to remain stationary (Navigation & Page Titles)
- Give page names appropriate names for ease of editing

Within this version I would also like to explore some of the extended functionalities that Hotglue has to offer.

Most of the faults of both previous versions of my portfolio can be held responsible due to either their bad production plan or down to me not sticking to the production plan. Either way within this version I will be refining the planning stages down to a finalised version, to which I will abide by at close measures.

Within this version I will be looking at how I can improve my approach to planning by closely referring to the “5 Layer Model Development Plan” (Figure 2)proposed by Jesse James Garret in his book “The Elements of User Experience”. His model looks at development from both a software interface perspective as well as from a hypertextual element side. This dual nature behind the front-and-back-end technologies allow for us to gain a more rounded view of the overall system we are trying to define rather than just looking at one side of the project. Since the components of this model are so specific, we can intensively analyse and define elements which relate to our project within each section to gain a better understanding of what our system requires.

I will be methodically going through each of these 5 layers within the model (from bottom to top) and answer each of the questions asked on each side of the plane in depth, as it applies to my portfolios. This will take a few iterations to full finalise my portfolio plan.

1st Version - Draw up a draft version (Sketch Book - Rough)
2nd Version – Refine & Finalised version (Sketch Book - Neat)
3rd Version - Digital Wire-frame Diagrams (Fireworks - Precise)

5 LAYER MODEL: DRAFT

5 LAYER MODEL: REFINED & FINALISED

5 LAYER MODEL: DIGITAL WIRE-FRAME DIAGRAMS

To begin with its a rather slow process as you do not have the immediate access to create elements within the hot glue editor. during the first rough version I found it difficult to distinguish some of the different category splits per plane but as i continued to complete each of the stages of the model, it become more clear which development points should go under each category. I felt it was difficult to determine what design choices I would make as its difficult to visualize the end product at such an early stage whereas some points I felt I was repeating across different sections.

Only until i started refining the second version did i begin to understand what each of the individual sections specifically required from me. It was also useful to clearly space my ideas into separate categories for future reference. By repeating the initial planning stages, it allowed allot of room for improvement before even starting to build the website digitally. it also allowed for mistakes to be made during the initial stage before rectifying them within the next version
This process of drafting out ideas generates a more powerful internal thought pattern about possible extensions which could be made as well.