The Last Silo

For years, we've preached that cross-functional teams are integral to successful software projects. Despite all this, it is still depressingly common for a website to be *designed* in isolation before anyone involved in the final construction is involved. At best, the result is frustration. At worst, the result is a design that simply can’t be implemented. It's time to tear down the wall between design and implementation.

First, we'll look at an overview of the problem, including some discussion of the reasons why this is still pervasive, and the kinds of projects it impacts the most. Next we'll go through a set of examples showing how this surfaces. These examples will highlight the major places where things fall apart with special attention to editorial experience, content architecture, and mobile implementation. Finally we will talk through some red flags people can keep an eye out for if they find themselves in one of these projects, focusing on the potential problems and some questions you can bring to the designers to push them in the direction of a more implementable design. This talk will rely heavily on screen shots and examples that are based on real-world client projects.