Codename TED: Custom Production Management Platform
The Challenge
A video production agency couldn't find project management software that fit its industry; Salesforce, Basecamp, and MS Project all fell short. They handed me rough reference wireframes and a brief:
"Make this garage full of tools feel more like a Swiss Army knife... We want TED to be an assistant, and never an obstacle."
Goals
- Keep every useful feature; no oversimplifying
- Easy to use and easy to train others on
- Friendly and approachable, more pleasant than Excel
Approach
- Competitive product and market research. Creative direction driven by mood board (instrumental in this project's success).
- Ran UX and visual design in parallel (very atypical process), to compress the timeline, per client's needs.
- Built the entire system as SVG assets, renderable in code for an efficient, lightweight UI, easily white-labeled. This approach also pre-dated the trend of flat UI.
Outcome
The final product exceeded client's expectations. That's what I like to hear.
1 of 2 Mood Boards: "Dark Digi-Tech"
Selected Mood Board: "Fresh n' Juicy"
Client felt this was much more engaging and would create a more inviting approach to the interface, considering the end users would be spending many hours a day in this tool.
UPDATE: My moodboards got a bit of press recently @CANVA: "How to Create a Moodboard"
Final Visual Toolkit & Style Guide
Grid used for entire application.
