Project management is a skill that freelance designers hardly notice they have. Running your own business means writing proposals and specifications. However, projects never quite conform to your intended schedule. We will have a brief feeling of job satisfaction on launch day, but the real work has only just began. Because our true value is measured from happy users and good conversion rates. We must also be prepared to make changes to the design, to improve usability.
Web teams must put aside internal politics and sprint milestones, because the end user doesn’t care. The driver throughout the process should be user feedback through testing, both with early, low fidelity mock-ups (prototypes) and testing the live website itself. It’s human nature that design problems are only spotted when a website is let loose on the public, which is actually how it should be. We’re human. Don’t be afraid to launch early, to iron out the bugs.
Here’s my free quick guide to product development:
Digital Project Guide for Small Businesses (PDF)
My project framework is very simple, ideal for managing small to medium sized website projects. You should consider regular user testing, both pre-launch and post-lauch. The main focus post-launch is content management, making sure you keep users engaged regularly. You will need to keep search engines happy, design compelling pages and fix bugs along the way.
Improve your UX design skills
For the last year I have been a member of the Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF), the number one e-Learning resource for everything related to modern product design. There’s something for everyone, including designers, developers, marketers and business owners. The courses are great, with lots of variation, including video lectures, multiple choice and downloads.
Once you become a member, you get access to local UX communities, can post questions in the forum and take extended Master Classes. It’s also really good value, considering the wealth of professional training available.