If I Only Had a Frame(work): Crafting Experiences Across 3rd-Party Systems

As developers and UX designers, we're rarely afforded the opportunity to realize our vision on a single (Drupal-based) platform. Business needs and the accumulated accretions of history and technical debt dictate that many projects require us to – somehow – create a cohesive experience across multiple platforms, even when those platforms don't provide us with the extensive customization allowed by open source.

It's not necessarily a pretty job, but it's not something we can ignore. Fortunately, there are tried and true ways to streamline the process and maintain as clean a user experience as possible. Yes, even when [Insert Terrifyingly Proprietary Company Name Here] is involved.

In this session, we'll cover:

• Requirements Gathering: What systems are in play?
• Design: How can we create resuable components?
• APIs: Can we hide the 3rd-party systems altogether?
• Compromise: How can we convince clients to put users first?
• Governance: What are the human systems we need to consider?
• Post-launch: How can we prevent fragmentation of the experience after we hand over the keys?

You'll leave with concrete strategies and tactics you can use right away – or adapt for your own needs.