Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
show that browses sequentially through the entire collection, or you could just ran-
domly click on individual thumbnails.
No matter how the viewer chooses to experience the samples, it requires very
little user action to tell the portfolio story, and no clicks away from either the menu
or the image grid.
Content
People Design has jettisoned the case study approach to its portfolio. Instead,
they have looked carefully at what a prospective client really wants to know about
them. The portfolio doesn't burden the viewer with content that may not be relevant
to their needs, or require a shift from visual to text processing. It provides a selection
of media projects that emphasize the broad range of challenges the company has tack-
led successfully and gives the viewer the freedom to browse casually, or pursue a spe-
cific theme.
Instead of case studies, People Design emphasizes team, personality, and pro-
cess—the common threads for all their work. Prospective clients can visit the Services
section for a short presentation of People Design's working framework or visit the
Company link to learn more about them as a potential design partner. Some might
even decide to read the Blog, which is a prime destination for people—other design-
ers, company fans, or aspiring employees—who want to stay on top of their thinking
as design leaders. In all cases the nature of the content is clearly defined and well-cat-
egorized. The visitor can clearly engage in whatever aspect of the site most interests
them without distractions or false moves.
Future plans
Portfolio sites are always in flux, and you learn from what works. People Design
is constantly tweaking the back end to improve content organization and flow. As
Budelmann says, “We put a lot of thought into this site, trying to marry print/analog
paradigms with best practices and innovative thinking
online. The structure is intentionally flexible and we
intend for it to grow.” By the time this case study is in
print, the site features will have been expanded to per-
sonalize the experience for existing clients and to
incorporate elements from social media networks (like
Twitter) directly into the site.
We see our site as a living thing
that requires care and feeding.
We have already evolved the func-
tionality since it launched.
—Kevin Budelmann
