Interview
Ian Lloyd
What are some things you do to help yourself into the state of mind necessary for creative work?
Well, to be honest, I imagine that I have completely free reign over design at work and can do anything then fire up Photoshop. Nanoseconds later, I remember that I work for a financial services organisation, and revert to 'boring and boxy' mode :-) Seriously, though, I tend to see what others in the same business are doing, compare that with high street retailers online offering and will also look through the CSS showcase sites for inspiration. But the marketing team will still go for the 'boring and boxy' design!
Do you follow a strict daily (or weekly, etc.) routine with regard to workflow, or is every day (or week) different?
I have some set habits, like always using DreamWeaver for prototyping (using the site templates), and having DW auto upload changed files from local HD to testing server for an automated backup. In fact, I pretty much stick to DW8 and Photoshop; I no longer use a dedicated CSS editor - if it's code, I'm happy to use just the one tool. But that's my 'Windows mode' - on the Mac at home, I use the same tools, but also use the likes of TextMate and BBEdit a lot.
Do you prefer to work in a closed, private environment free from other people and distractions, or in a more open, collaborative environment?
In my office, it's open plan and I'm surrounded by people. I find it's great for bouncing ideas off people and simply turning around to chat to someone and ask for opinion, but that said, if I have something to get my teeth into, I will plug into the iPod and shut myself off from everything
What do you do to get your day(s) started in the right direction?
Tall Latté and a Danish, check on BBC news, lament the fact that I can no longer access RSS feeds at work and am hopelessly out of touch, then just crack on with whatever is thrown at me.
What task management technique do you use?
Nothing fancy at all - meeting minutes from my monthly 1:1 meeting with the boss outlihne current ongoing tasks, anything else that comes in I say to them "Can you send me an email with the details in, so I won't forget it and also have all the info." If they send it, I flag it up to follow up; if they don't send it, I won;t actively pursue it. Seems to work for me. If the email has a flag next to it, I have to do some work on it. I should point out that this in MS Outlook, ugghh!
What things tend to disrupt your workflow?
The boss's boss coming up with ideas: "Can we have a look at that?" We = me, and can = you will. 2 days later, the reasons for doing task x may have changed. That's a little distracting. Oh, and the couple who were having it away on the hill, stark naked, for 40 minutes the other week. That was distracting ... or rather it would have been if I weren't working the dungeons. Second floor call centre people got a good view, I hear.
What previous experiences have influenced your workflow?
Well, the DW templating thing came about because of restrictive policies on running local servers for development and the difficulties/red tape in getting hold of your own server, so things like using include statements were non-starters; templating was essential when re-working our Internet Banking service a few years ago - it ensured that all the working prototypes were identical in structure, adhering to the standards that we'd set and the CSS rules. That prototype got handed over to the team who built the real system as a CD rom with all the files required and all documentation. It came out the other end (ASP, SQL driven) of the process pretty much identical to the version handed over static HTML version - that really sold me on the DW templating model.
What other disciplines influence the way you work?
Probably my aspergers syndrome! Actually, I don't have aspergers (or don't believe I do, even if the wife does call me that when I'm being too geeky or technical), but I'm definitely a details person. I can end up fiddling with the smallest details, and that can really slow me down. I'm sure that's not an uncommon trait, though.
Is there anyone in particular you have learned from?
Difficult to say really - no one person comes to mind, to be honest, because I've learnt so much from so many sources. I know that I class myself as a developer who can do a bit of design, and a developer who can look at another person's design and see it with the x-ray web standards specs on, and intuitively know how to build it; actually I prefer the latter type of job - being visually creative is harder for me than a lot of the other people you've asked!
What things help keep you focused on the work at hand?
Deadlines. I absolutely need deadlines, and yes I'll always leave things 'til quite late, but I'll get things done, that's a certainty! If I think it's a 'do it when you get around to it' type of job, well, I'll never get around to to it.