#AIM6
The On-Ramp to a Successful
Responsive Workflow
Peter Anglea
@peteranglea
Bob Jones University
Slide 2
Slide 2 text
#AIM6
About me
• Web Developer for
BJU Marketing &
Enrollment
• Part-time social media
coordinator for Twitter,
Instagram, & Facebook
• Dabbler in design,
content, UX, etc.
• Oh, and I have a M.Mus.
Slide 3
Slide 3 text
#AIM6
A Brief History of RWD
2010
RWD
is born
2011 2012 2013
RWD is slowly
adopted
RWD all the
things!
RWD best
practices
Slide 4
Slide 4 text
#AIM6
RWD is the biggest
paradigm shi! in web
design in the last decade.
This requires a re-thinking of
how we do web design. The
old practices just don’t work.
Slide 5
Slide 5 text
#AIM6
Slide 6
Slide 6 text
#AIM6
So, what’s the solution?
Slide 7
Slide 7 text
#AIM6
So, what’s the solution?
Slide 8
Slide 8 text
#AIM6
So, what’s the solution?
• No two workflows look exactly alike.
• Your workflow will be as unique as
your people.
• Implementing a workflow is hard
because working with people is
hard.
Slide 9
Slide 9 text
#AIM6
“ If I were on a team organized
around fixed-width desktop-centric
production I wouldn’t want to be
expected to immediately start
building responsive sites at the
usual pace…
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/
Slide 10
Slide 10 text
#AIM6
“ Giving teams and individuals a
cushion to get back up to speed
a"er taking a new direction helps
instill a sense of purpose instead of
panic…
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/
Slide 11
Slide 11 text
#AIM6
“ This cushion could be in the form of
extra time for reading and research,
extra time budgeted into a project,
or even better, a responsive hack
week project.
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/
Slide 12
Slide 12 text
#AIM6
“ What I’ve learned is that being
successful on more complicated
projects (like a single site that has
to work on any device) is more
dependent on having great people
than great process…
Ben Callahan, Sparkbox
qcatpro.com/blog/ben-callahan-responsive-
web-design-broken-process
Slide 13
Slide 13 text
#AIM6
“ So, my short advice would be,
"Invest in your people and let them
solve the problems you pay them to
solve."
Ben Callahan, Sparkbox
qcatpro.com/blog/ben-callahan-responsive-
web-design-broken-process
Slide 14
Slide 14 text
#AIM6
Change Management
• Awareness
• Desire
• Knowledge
• Ability
• Reinforcement
ADKAR is a registered trademark of Prosci Research. (ugly clip art… noooo!!)
Slide 15
Slide 15 text
#AIM6
Change Management
• Awareness: Are my co-workers aware of RWD?
And do they perceive it as a good thing?
• Desire: Are they willing to give up their
comfortable, familiar workflow to
accommodate RWD?
• Knowledge: Do they know how to write/
design/code for RWD?
• Ability: Are they capable of applying their
knowledge to the task at hand?
• Reinforcement: How can we keep up to speed
with the ever-changing web?
Slide 16
Slide 16 text
#AIM6
“ I could see the web changing. And I
was ready to take the next steps,
but I wasn't sure what all was
involved…
Will, Creative Director
Slide 17
Slide 17 text
#AIM6
My o∞ce’s score…
A D K A R
5 3 1 2 4
Slide 18
Slide 18 text
#AIM6
Awareness
“Are they aware of RWD?”
• “2013 is the Year of Responsive Web
Design” – Mashable
• “Why You Need to Prioritize
Responsive Design Right Now”
- Forbes
#AIM6
Desire
“Are they willing to change their
familiar, comfortable workflow?”
• You could show numbers…
Slide 21
Slide 21 text
#AIM6
“ Our mobile traffic has increased
16.61% since last year, and our
tablet traffic has seen a 135.18%
jump. All while our desktop traffic
dropped 24.77%. This effort was a
MUST.
Jeremy, Senior Manager
Slide 22
Slide 22 text
#AIM6
Desire
“Are they willing to change their
familiar, comfortable workflow?”
• You could show numbers…
• You could show case-studies…
• Or you could do show-and-tell.
Slide 23
Slide 23 text
#AIM6
“ This cushion could be in the form of
extra time for reading and research,
extra time budgeted into a project,
or even better, a responsive hack
week project.
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-‐to-‐start/
#AIM6
“ I was very surprised by how seamlessly
the project went from design to web.
Laying a basic wireframe foundation to
build on really helped to iron out
possible coding and design issues
ahead of time, facilitating a smooth
transition.
Kaylee, Art Director
Slide 27
Slide 27 text
#AIM6
“ Working closely with the developer
from the very beginning of the project
helped me understand how the
elements I had designed would
translate to the web. It was a great
learning experience!
Kaylee, Art Director
Slide 28
Slide 28 text
#AIM6
Knowledge
“Do they know how to work
responsively?”
• How best to teach them?
– Books?
– Conferences?
– Self-education?
Slide 29
Slide 29 text
#AIM6
“ This cushion could be in the form of
extra time for reading and research,
extra time budgeted into a project,
or even better, a responsive hack
week project.
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/
Slide 30
Slide 30 text
#AIM6
Responsive Academy ™
• Reading lists
• Video classes/tutorials
• Example sites and demos
• Information sharing sessions
Slide 31
Slide 31 text
#AIM6
Responsive Academy ™
• Three weeks, three basic topics
– “What is RWD and why do we need
it?” (ADkar)
– “What is my role in RWD?” (adKar)
– “How will this look in
practice?” (adkAr)
Slide 32
Slide 32 text
#AIM6
“ We emerged with a more
structured, clear plan for tackling
responsive web development by
considering the mutual needs of the
designers and developers….
Greg, Graphic Designer
Slide 33
Slide 33 text
#AIM6
Ability
“Can they put their newly-acquired
skills into practice?”
• This means creating a workflow!
1. Adheres to the principles of RWD
2. Input and consensus from all teams
3. Tackles the big problems with the old
workflow
Slide 34
Slide 34 text
#AIM6
“ RWD doubles as a conflict
eliminator because it forces
everyone to evaluate and adapt
individual workflows in order to
create a better final product.
Jon, Copy Writer
Slide 35
Slide 35 text
#AIM6
Workflow
Problems to fix
• Who owns/runs point on projects?
• How to avoid the “big reveal?”
• How/where to get sign-off(s)?
• How best to collaborate?
• How to inform clients about RWD?
Slide 36
Slide 36 text
#AIM6
Workflow
• Our workflow creation process
– Invited all team leaders to brainstorm
(giving time for advance preparation)
– Conducted a series of a few hour-long
meetings to get feedback and input
from all parties
– Presented final workflow to everyone
Slide 37
Slide 37 text
#AIM6
Workflow
Discover Define Design Develop Deploy
(bask in its awesomeness)
#AIM6
“ 'Thinking Responsively' meant lots
of time… communicating with
designers, developers and content
specialists. The final product
marked a change in our mentality
and our level of output.
Will, Creative Director
Slide 45
Slide 45 text
#AIM6
“ Integrating a process through
which our design, content and web
teams were collaborating much
earlier in the process helps avoid
the web team having to “work their
magic” on the design when coding.
Jeremy, Senior Manager
Slide 46
Slide 46 text
#AIM6
“ Instead of moving forward through
specified tasks with assigned users,
the workflow was much more
organic. I enjoyed constant
communication with the writers,
creative director, web developers
and clients.
Kaylee, Art Director
Slide 47
Slide 47 text
#AIM6
Reinforcement
“How can we keep up with the pace
of the web? And not go
backwards?”
• Stick to the workflow! You will have
to modify it, but don’t budge on the
non-negotiables.
• Don’t stop the information sharing.
Slide 48
Slide 48 text
#AIM6
RWD is a game-changer.
Game-changers require a
fundamental change in
our workflow.
Change means investing
in people.
Slide 49
Slide 49 text
#AIM6
“ Above all, the key is to not get
frustrated if the process gets sloppy or
less efficient than we’re accustomed to.
While projects may take longer at first,
the effort put forth to ensure that teams
are headed in the right direction will
pay off exponentially.
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/
Slide 50
Slide 50 text
#AIM6
“ And remember, it’s less about how
we start than where we end up.
The trick is simply to get going.
Trent Walton, Paravel
trentwalton.com/2013/02/07/where-to-start/