deep gray sea
design: twisted pair design annual 2006
December 23, 2006 I'm the user experience designer in the product group at Twisted Pair Solutions. They keep me busy doing interaction design, writing user interface specs, doing usability testing with paper prototypes, creating production graphics, and other odds and ends. I think I've got the best job in the company. Here are peeks at some of the more interesting design work I've been asked to do this year:
This is a portion of the main screen for a Hoot-And-Holler-Over-IP intercom system. We started with our Dispatch Communicator software as a baseline.
Our client, a global communications firm based in the U.K., asked for eight fixed channels plus a point-to-point intercom, with access to an LDAP directory for lookups. The software needed
to show our client's brand and look like their existing hardware and software. After the requirements were worked out and we had a solid
spec, I created the new skin shown here in Photoshop. Just giving you a peek at it since the product is still evolving and I don't want to
lessen any big public splash.
Another client had special requirements for the phone dialer in our Dispatch Communicator software. They had custom systems to integrate with and
needed our help to make it all work right. We again started by solidifying the
requirements, which took special care and coordination since our client was located in Australia. We then started working through rough sketches and
wireframes, drafting a UI spec as we went. After we had an early spec, I started paper prototype testing (my friends at work laugh and
call it "playing with paper dolls"). After several cycles of testing, prototype refinement, and catching up the spec, we were
ready to hand off to the dev team. I created the new controls and layout in Photoshop to match the rest of our Dispatch Communicator UI.
This custom work was for a large system integrator specializing in defense systems. They needed to integrate several different chat systems
within a single command and control interface. Our client had access to a skillful development team but asked for our help with interaction and
UI design work. They started out with a very clear idea of what they wanted and were patient as we worked through many different possibilities
on the whiteboard. I guided the whiteboard sessions, wrote the spec, and created the control graphics in Photoshop. The application, which is
now in beta at our client's customer, is also an extension of our Dispatch Communicator code base.
And here's a portion of our WAVE Dispatch Communicator production interface. Much of the interaction design and coding was already completed
when I was asked to buff it up a little. My work on this application mainly dealt with control graphics and pretty lights. They already
had the colors picked out. We'll have more opportunity to revise the interactions, layout, and look of this software in
future revisions.
For tools, I mainly use Adobe Photoshop, plus filters from Alien Skin. Adobe Illustrator comes in handy for drawing icons.
About Twisted Pair Solutions
Twisted Pair Solutions is a gigantic worldwide firm with about 40 employees scattered across the continents. We create software that uses standard IP networks to solve communications interoperability problems. I'm the user experience designer on the product team. Pretty fun place to work, right on the Seattle waterfront, with a ping pong table and a BBQ on the deck.