Project Planning: Task Lists, Deliverables, Etc.

My graduate school program recently interviewed Kyle Schultz, the Creative Director at Dedo Inc. Dedo is a creative technology company that specializes in creating interactive installations to heighten the experience of a place or product.  Dedo is a small team, but they work with some pretty large companies.  Their deadlines can be very strict at times, but they produce these great projects time and time again.  

How do they do it? The answer is that they plan well.

Create Team Members

Like with any team, players are assigned certain roles.  For Dedo, a team may include graphic designers, developers, strategists, analyzers, and directors.  While the team is working on different parts of the project in their own specialties, the team is constantly in communication with each other.  Constant communication is key in producing a cohesive and realistic idea.

Task Lists

During the interview, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Dedo uses tasks lists for their projects.  I’ve been doing the same thing for a project I’ve been working on!  In my Interactive Media program at Elon University, students are required to produce a capstone project in order to graduate.  This project is supposed to be a representation of everything we have learned through Interactive Media.  My advisor  recommended that we use task lists in order to get ourselves on track.  These task lists can be created however you want, but each task is usually assigned a deadline. You can divide your work into stages or by category, but the main idea with task lists is that you do not want to be working on every aspect of the project at once - such as working on the design, development, and content all at once. 

Example Task List

Deliverables 

Another important aspect of task lists is the constant creation of deliverables.  Kyle explained how his team completes a lot of paper prototypes, wireframes, and eventually some high fidelity mockups through InvisionApp.  I was really stoked because my capstone advisor has encouraged us to do the same. I just recently completed all of the above for my capstone.

Creating deliverables is a great way to stay on track, but it also produces something that you can hand over to your client.  It is better to have feedback earlier than later in case you need to change something. Producing deliverables is just a great practice to pick up.

Paper Prototype

Write

Kyle also encouraged us to provide some written feedback after each task is completed.  For example, if a graphic designer just completed a logo mockup, he or she will complete a write up explaining if the logo worked and how they might improve it.  Kyle stressed the ability to talk about your own work.

Free Task List Template

If you want a nice task list template, here is the one I am using: Task List Template - Created by David Holland.  Custom it to your project.

Front End Development

Encourage your team to use task lists if they don't use them.  You can also use them if you are working solo.  As a front end developer, a majority of your work comes near the end of the project because people hand you content, but make sure to keep in touch with your team members; tell them if something isn't possible to make.  Make yourself produce deliverables, even if it is just for you. Make your own paper prototypes and wireframes.  Get your hands on as much of the project as possible.  Create deadlines and don’t let yourself get too behind.  I guarantee you will produce a better project in the end.