Taking an example from the world or interior design - sample boards. Can web design folks use the same approach to demonstrate a website design?
I read an interesting blog the other week about a way to demonstrate user experience design from the point of view of an interior designer. Interior designers often create design sample boards that outline how they are going to design a room (or a house or something). I watch enough design TV shows to know that these design boards show drawings, pictures of furniture, material and paint swatches, etc... They give the user a sense of how the room will look, of the feelings evoked such as traditional, modern, warm or sexy.
Can we use the same approach to show a client how their website is going to look? One way as the blog suggests is through a movie format - although that would take a fair amount of time and cost a bit of money. Unless the client has lots of money and is open to new things, I don't see this approach as a regular format.
I've seen some pretty nice website design from a graphic designer I know. His flats (samples of web pages) can really help you see how a site can change its look and take on a completely new aura. Maybe a sample board that shows color swipes (the new web site colors), logos and single graphics (especially photographs of people or landscapes that will be used in the design), font schemes, sample navigation flow, and a portion of a scenario map would help evoke the feelings required.
These website sample boards could be used during creative reviews with clients, giving them more to look at then a series of flats. I am not sure it would work for every client, but I think it would be fun to create one and try it out. You never know if it works until you test it.
