The Art of Discovery: Designing and Solutioning for Higher Ed

The initial Discovery phase of a project can be highly strategic and complex. It’s a collaborative process, harmonizing many disciplines - IA, UI, UX, art direction, content, architects, developers and project management. It’s not always linear, and it’s difficult to get so many people collaborating effectively. How can agencies catering to higher education clients do it, and do it well?

Discovery walks the fine line between reducing risks, managing expectations, generating creative momentum and excitement with the client. For higher education institutions, we have many stakeholders internally, often with competing interests (IT vs. Marketing).

Evolving Web’s design and development team dives deep into the importance of Discovery and how to achieve the delicate balance between the technical and the artistic.

When: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 - 13:50 to 14:40 EDT
Room: Room 325
Track: user experience, accessibility & design

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1) Navigate the discovery phase of a post-secondary web project;
2) Anticipate and plan for potential challenges when dealing with university/college organizational structures;
3) Develop design concepts and technical solutions that will impress higher education institutional clients.
4) Achieve better discovery outcomes through close collaboration of their design and development teams.
 

Prerequisites

Attendees will get the most out of this session by being familiar with basic web technologies and design concepts as well as familiar with the structure and processes of post-secondary institutions.
 

Synopsis

Post-secondary institutions can be challenging clients, but are also clients that are often open to new design ideas and technical solutions, representing a boon for creative web agencies.