Linear Web Design: info - design - code
sitecollab.com
sitecollab.com
"Adjusting round corners for a button in photoshop is easier then[sic] adjusting border-radius in css"
Actually, in CSS it couldn't be more simple... border-radius: 5px;
This makes me wonder if the author thinks we should be chopping images for rounded corners?
"This process is executed in a linear fashion starting with information and ending in code, but requires iteration loops at each step."
A good web design process is an active collaboration between designers and developers, not hand offs. I'm a firm believer that design should be coded early and often in order to uncover design issues that can't be detected on paper.
It's fine to break things out into steps, however, they should be iterated as a whole instead of individually. This way issues found in one step have a chance to feedback into previous steps.
The article is written by an account manager and directed towards web design agencies who juggle lots of projects. It may not make sense for freelance or smaller shops. I didn't really establish that - but its saturday :)..
Yes, I got to that, and gave up. Anyone who can write that seriously is clearly at best a beginner skill level in both Photoshop and modern CSS. Anyone who can advocate a waterfall model is, as you say, severely out of date in their understanding of effective development processes (or building the software for very specific types of project where it actually works, but real web development projects are unlikely to ever be among them). And in particular, anyone who advocates mocking everything up in detail in Photoshop before writing any HTML/CSS if you need to produce fluid/responsive designs is simply having a laugh.
Try implementing an agile strategy with a sushi restaurant owner, or for that matter an attorney, dermatologist, or chiropractor. That would be a laugh.
B2B web design services struggle with showing tangible deliverables, a waterfall approach is the best way to keep the client satisfied and scope within your spec.
Meanwhile, you can show your clients a static page using HTML+CSS just as easily as one using Photoshop, and they will see how it actually looks. And you can still change border radius in CSS more easily than the hassle of working on rounded corners in Photoshop, which still defeats the entire premise of that part of the article.