For nearly a year, I have been working as the User Experience Lead for the Microsoft Evangelism Network which consists of five community-based web sites each targeting a unique audience.

Channel 8 - for students  | Channel 9 - for developers  | Channel 10 - for technology enthusiasts | TechNet EDGE - for IT Professionals | VisitMIX - for web designers, developers and business decision makers.

My role has been to oversee the "experience" visitors have on/across these sites with a focus on the overall visuals (look and feel), the way information is displayed and the functionality/interaction that visitors experience when navigating the content. I consider myself a generalist who takes on the roll of creative director, information architect and interactive designer depending on the task at hand. I am simplifying this but, most important is the amount of work that we as a small team have accomplished over the 10 months.

The challenge collectively has been to create a platform capable of supporting all sites. What this equates to is the ability for incremental changes/improvements across the entire eco-system. When one site is improved - they are all improved. For those familiar with the development process, this has involved many hours of planning, coding, designing and stabilizing. We utilize "building blocks" for hosting a variety of information types and rely heavily on CSS to create a unique look for each property. While some visitors are critical of our process, the result has been the publishing of 3 beta sites, 2 new sites and 3 re-launches of existing sites. Never mind the countless administration tasks that have been completed. The three guys that make up the development team are amazing to work with and it is truly exciting to see my designs come to life.

Last week, I found myself on the wrong end of a video camera being interviewed where I described briefly my though process behind the new design (and re-launch) of Channel 8 and my approach to design in general. What follows is the interview.

 
The NEW Channel 8’s Designer Speaks Out

If Andy Warhol was right, it appears that I have about 22 seconds of fame left, better make them count!?!