Timeline view in VS Code
June 10, 2022
Chromium Developer Tools – Layers
July 11, 2022Would you build a house without building plans? Bake without a recipe?
When you are working on a development project the time invested to make your specific piece of software or website can be immense. The worst thing you can do is invest hundreds of hours creating something only to find that it doesn’t work in the way your users think it should work or you miss a key piece of functionality that requires you to re-create large portions of the app. There is a common phrase in carpentry that is very relatable in software or website planning.
Measure twice, cut once
Planning a project can have multiple benefits that are not easily seen but quickly felt. It allows you to collaborate better than just a verbal discussion since multiple people can see exactly what you are wanting to do. You are able to find holes in the app and prevent costly changes in the future and prevent waste of time and resources.
Where do I begin?
Starting with a plan can be daunting and seem like a mess, but the beginning of a plan can benefit from chaos and disarray.
It allows you to just focus on getting your ideas out to see what you are working with.
The best way to start is to just write or draw anything and everything that you think your project should have. Sketches of layouts, images, text, links to other websites. Put it all into a design software or even just write it on paper; anything to get it out of your head helps.
Analyze and refine
Once you have all your pieces you can begin to lay them out. Often this is a very difficult step since you see everything you have and don’t know entirely how it will fit.
One way to approach this is to look at your design like a conversation. What would you say first? What would you say second? What is the most important piece of information or what are you using to build your argument?
Looking at your content items with this lens can help you begin to see patterns or ways to layout content. Don’t be afraid to go down one road only to change your mind and try something else. This is part of the design and planning process and will occur often.
Design Planning Tools
There are countless tools you can use to plan out your project and how it will function. Below are a number of tools you can use in order to analyze and plan out the design of your app or website.
- Paper and Pencil
- Figma
- Sketch
- Adobe XD
- Photoshop
- Affinity Designer
Create Your ToDo List
The ultimate goal of your planning is to help you get something done. By planning out your software/website you will then be able to create a todo list and timeline by looking at your designs and deciding what you need to make first.
A great way to start is to take one of your mockups and start at the top of your design making a list of each thing you will have to do going down the page. Then grab the next page and see if there is anything new that is introduced that would require you to add a new item to your ToDo list.
Once you have your list add the amount of time it would take to get each item done. Then set due dates for each task. This can give you a pretty good timeline and potential completion date for your project.
Is that all to it?
Quick answer, no. This is a short summary of how to perceive planning in your projects and ways to get started. There are plenty of other blog posts and personal opinions that could fill up your day on how to design things and why certain approaches are better than others, but the goal of this article was to give you some quick skills to start thinking about as you plan.
The next time you start a project take a moment to plan it out and get feedback from your team. You will be surprised how knowing where you are going can both make your life easier, save you time, money, and create a better product at the end.
