Contact: lynn (at) vividthink.com

> planning & solutions design > strategy > evaluations > tune-ups & redesign > workshops > team-building

Planning & Solutions Design

Types of Solutions: e-business solutions: web sites (Internet & intranet), sub-sites & mini-sites, e-learning, online training, other web-based products, software applications.


	Tasks may include:
Discovery Requirements Gathering Strategy development Project concept definition User needs assessment Schema design Workflow analysis Process analysis Site evaluation Usability analysis Information Architecture review Articulation of measurable metrics to assess success of project Training Train the trainer Workshop facilitation
	Deliverables may include:
E-business strategy brief Strategy tactics schema Creative brief Concept brief Summary of Discovery report Summary of Analysis report Customer profiles / personas User task scenarios Work flow / Task flow diagrams Interaction scenario diagram Content inventory Wireframes / Storyboards Site structure models Style guide Training documentation Benchmarking & best practices brief

When you need us:
Whenever you're starting a new web site, devising a new web-based product or software application.

Let's say you've got a problem (with customer service, communications, sales fulfillment, information supply chain or design of a physical product). You're sure the web has ways to help you solve the problem. But you don't have the time or trained resources to figure out how best to link the elements into an effective solution. You need some help putting it all together.

Let VividThink help. You bring your knowledge of your business and your customers to the table and let VividThink bring our multi-disciplinary experience, expertise on human behaviors, web project planning and online solutions design skills, our highly tuned sense of customer service, and our valued approach to customizing solutions.

What we do:
We'll help you lay the groundwork and articulate requirements in a way that provides a foundation for structuring the customized web site or web-based application you require. Our goal is to help you design the solution that most effectively and efficiently meets your user's needs, your business goals, and your budgetary or technology constraints.

We draw from a diversity of experience in a variety of industries, but we'll never cram your needs into the last solution we developed for another client. Instead, we'll develop a design for a customized solution - one that meets your requirements & that works within the constraints of the technologies in your existing system or your existing budget. We'll work with your business expertise to create a solution that meets the nuances and needs of YOUR particular situation.

We'll help you think through & document all aspects of a solution design - to help you save money by working out most snags and problems in the planning phase rather than discovering them after you've paid for hours and hours of development and programming time.

How it helps:

Saves money: It saves money and time to work out solutions carefully before you start graphic prototyping or building them. As most of you know, making revisions after prototyping or programming begins can quickly (and exponentially) increase costs. Taking time to do a full solutions design phase can greatly reduce the number of revisions necessary once prototyping or development begins.

Improves usability: A trained information architect & user experience designer can help anticipate problems related to the usability of a web site or other project. Knowledge of usable design best practices can help provide a design which, from the start, is easier to use and understand.

Produces team cohesion and improved knowledge: An experienced solutions designer can take your team through a careful planning process that produces stakeholder consensus and buy-in, illuminates multiple case scenarios (therefore aiding with concept or process trouble-shooting and designing to avoid user errors), and clearly outlines requirements. She then documents all the findings and planning in ways that allow prototyping, graphic design, and development / production to estimate time and resources far more effectively. This kind of work can save you both time, money, and headaches - because you whole team knows the solution you're seeking, you can select the best partner to build that solution.

Puts you in the driver's seat: When a project is worked out with your interests solely in mind, you walk into the coding / development stage in control of the project. You understand what you need and how it should work. This reduces the chances that you will be swayed by the smoke and mirrors some development firms produce in their presentations. You'll know what you need and be able to speak & negotiate knowledgably with vendors. (This can also save you time and money).

Tasks & Deliverables:
Depending on the scope and type of the project, VividThink's tasks & deliverables for a Solutions Design process include: conducting meetings and producing documentation that covers strategy development, concept planning, requirements definition, user needs, use case scenarios and information architecture; providing documentation for graphic design and programming; evaluating existing or competitors' solutions; authoring Requests for Proposals; overseeing user experience as the project moves from concept design into production; conducting a Quality Assurance review of user experience and evaluating the final execution of the project vis-à-vis initial documentation.