September - November 2006

Known as the Government’s advertising agency, the Central Office of Information (COI) needed an interactive tool to help them gather data about, and then run simulations on, stakeholders involved with their current projects.

Transferred-in midway through, it was clear to me that the project had lost its way. The client was on the brink, and I took over under considerable pressure to sort things out.

A tangled knot

A review of what we’d done so far helped me understand why the COI were nervous. Features in the product were far from watertight, or simply not there; designs predated wireframes and were confused and inconsistent as a result. It was a tangled knot.

I needed to work at light speed to get it done in time

I settled into untying it with my customary methodical attitude. First job was to plot workflows for every process. This placed boundaries on the scope of the project and allowed me - and the client - to see it’s full shape for the first time.

Then I started rapid prototyping - wireframing directly in HTML. The COI needed to have a clickable prototype to demonstrate the system to other Government agencies. At nearly a hundred pages, constructing it was no trivial matter.

Government wonks

With deadlines pressing I needed to work at light speed to get it done in time. But it was all worthwhile: come the demo, the Government wonks loved the prototype, and wanted in.

And the COI? They were delighted at how smoothly the project had got back on track. Not to mention impressed enough to give TMG the next lucrative slice of work on the project.

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