What is Workflow?
Work•flow /ˈwərkflō/
“The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.” – lexico.com
What is a quality workflow? How do we develop it? Below are elements of the production cycle that most creative people move through as they create something. First, we must identify the stages of project production. What is each stage and what are the quality checks for each stage. Read on and find out!
Stages of Creation Development
Inspiration
How do we find ideas to develop?
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? When trying to find new ideas to develop the main thing you need is your brain. Trying to find inspiration for something is easy because of all the information available to us nowadays, but not everyone knows how to work with that inspiration. Your brain is the biggest part of this, as an example, I play Dungeons and Dragons a tabletop pencil and dice game where you play as someone else in a different world and different rules. Now in DnD not everything is set in stone it is mainly just an outline for people to create there own stories which allows for a lot of creative ideas to come from the people playing them, but how? They use there brain and work things out if you aren’t in the right mindset it can completely ruin you if you are not careful. But don’t use just your brain, you need to bounce things off others keep the thought process moving until you are satisfied with an idea that you can move forward with.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? When it comes down to the process, it mainly is just whatever works for you. If you want to really go deep into the idea then ask somebody about it and make changes from there go ahead. Or you might want to go in steps, only go so far than talk to someone then go farther and repeat. You might want to write things down, recorder yourself talking about it or something of the like. You’ll think about where you want to take this idea what you want to make of it. What you want to accomplish with it. And how you may just do that. And if you can’t do it yourself find people that will help you. I can say that if you get others to help it won’t be simple everyone has their own opinions and thoughts that have to be taken into account when it turns from a one person project to a group project it has become more about the group than you.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? Quality is measured by if others and yourself like the idea where it could head, where you want it to go, what you have planned for it, and how much it has been thought out. At least for the most part it is, but everyone sees quality in a different way even if just slightly, you also have to think about who this idea might end up taking the attention of and how they may perceive quality. If you plan to make a game for the gaming community, think about what makes a good game and what the people that play those games may think about this idea for a game. Maybe you are writing a story, well then think about the people that may read your story and think about how they might feel about this idea how it might play out and if it will be enjoyable.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? You and the other people you are working with, at this point in the process it is you and your group mates that determine how good the quality is because as of right now its just an idea you haven’t begun to fill it in yet. But you can’t just think about your own view of quality if you are making something for someone else or for others, just because you are happy with it doesn’t mean the people receiving it will be.
Intention
How do we clarify our specific goal(s) for a project?
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Again your brain is a big part here, this is where you start really building up what you want your idea to become and how you will make it that. You may want to write it down, recorder yourself talking about it or some other form of being able to keep track of things. You also need communication if you can’t talk to others it’s going to be rough you can do it without others possible but it is always nice to have help so you don’t over do your systems. There are a lot of people that try to take something on themselves and then crash and burn and then don’t know how to recover and may end up abandoning the entire idea, but with others they can help you and each other from doing that and if it happens they are there to pick you back up and help out.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? Some people like to figure out how its going to start out others like to figure out how it is going to end. Either way the hardest part is going to be finding out either where you go from the starting position or where you came from to reach the end. It doesn’t have to be a lot just something to get started with. First find what you want this idea to become how you want it to end, and then from there you can either move one or go a little deeper just so you have little more information or a more stable ground to stand on.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? Quality is measured at this point by your end goals, do they seem enticing, are they enough to grab your attention and want to get, or do they make you want to figure out how you got to the end goal what made you go that way.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? You and your group measure the quality at this point but don’t forget to think about how others outside of the group may measure quality and if they would agree with you on your conclusion.
Pre-production
How can we brainwrite, brainstorm, storyboard, and plan our ideas at this phase?
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Of course your brain, creativity, processes, flow charts. You might want to take things in steps or chunks, like a puzzle build each piece then put them together.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? You could start by building puzzle pieces one at a time, it sometimes helps people to work on one thing then move on to the next, instead of trying do it all at once. And then when you have all the pieces built figure out where you want them to go, or where they may make sense to go. You want to go in-depth of the topic/idea you don’t have to figure out everything at this point just take it slowly and start filling things out.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? Quality at this point is measured by how well the storyboard and planning goes and/or looks. Also how interesting the concept is now that there is more to it, and how much it gets your attention the more you are into it and like what you are doing the better it will turn out.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? The people making it and anyone else that is involved, if you are up to this point you are trying to make something and there are plans for it to be published, then it’s the people working on it, the reason you are up to this point is because people are interested in it but you also have to talk to others outside of the group making it so that you can get more input. If you don’t have input from your consumers you are taking a shot in the dark on whether it will be well accepted or not.
Production
How do we communicate with each other and execute our plan for this phase? This is where we actually make the project.
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Still use your brain, but also use your words and communication skills to talk with the others that are working on the project to make sure that you are all on the same page and so that certain roles don’t make it to hard for the other roles and people that are in the process of making your project. Communication is key at this point if even one person on the team is not on the same page things can go haywire and will take a huge time to fix whatever got messed up.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? Split people up into roles so that people are not overwhelmed by the amount of different work that they have to work through. Having the different roles interact with each other and to let the others know what they are doing or if there are any problems with a certain aspect of the project so it can be fixed.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? You measure quality by taking in feedback from people and how you and your team feels about your work. You got to enjoy what you are working on otherwise you wont want to put your-all into your work.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? You and your consumers, the feedback you get from what you are showing the consumers, is critical in most cases, but there are times that you are making a project that is personal and you want to make it no matter what anyone else says.
Post-production
How do we communicate with each other and execute our final stages of the project for this phase? This is where we publish the project.
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Your brain, communication skills (or lack thereof), and everything else you think is necessary for this step.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? Talk to the others work out the little bugs that may still be there and continuing to polish the project so that it is more presentable and can be sold easier or published easier.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? How well it is received, and the overall response from the consumers, and if you are satisfied with your work and if you still enjoy the project.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? You and the consumers, mainly consumers because if the consumers don’t like your project it will bomb and won’t go anywhere even if you think that it is great and you are proud of it.
Presentation/Performance
How do we share our project with our learning community, advisory members, and the world?
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Social Media, News sites, and other places were information travels fast and a lot.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? Post on social media, create something promotional like a trailer or a promotional photo. Generate hype and interest without lying to your consumers.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? How well it is accepted and received, and if the consumers like it or not if it sold well or is being published in other areas.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? Consumers mainly they will be your main source for whether or not what you made was liked, or have good quality, then again don’t forget about your own view of your project.
Feedback
How do we conduct a feedback session at the end of the project development cycle?
- WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? Communication skills, feedback from consumers, statistics and overall production work.
- WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? Talk to each person and figure out how they feel about the release of the project and the lead up to publishing. Take into account of the consumer feedback and how they liked the project.
- HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? How the overall project went if people enjoyed making it and if the consumers liked it.
- WHO MEASURES QUALITY? You and the people that made it at this point now measure quality because the consumers have already put in there opinions and will continue to do so but this is your time the people that worked on the project.
