Setting Up the - - Scaffolding - -

scaffolding: a system or framework of support provided by an instructor to help a student reach the next level of learning

The hardest part about this work is understanding what the scaffolding should be. I’m wrestling with what to put into place to hold all of this information together and create the right environment for action while learning.

Scaffolding is a good word. But the better word is really wireframe.

Photo by Faizur Rehman on Unsplash

It’s not likely something in your everyday vernacular unless you build websites. A wireframe is basically a blueprint that you use on the internet. When designing a website, you need to know what content will go where, what is a priority, what are the norms, where you want to be unusual, etc. In the early days of website design, specific standards were established: The search bar is in the top right corner. The logo and home return link are in the top left corner. The menu bar is along the top. Etc.

You are allowed to break the design rules, but you must understand them before you do - can your audience handle the break? Are they willing to adapt, or will they leave in frustration? How much time are they planning to spend on your site to begin with? Etc. Nowadays, you can build a website using a variety of templates with no prior training in user-centered design. I think that’s a good thing, but it does mean that the WHY of the work has been lost in exchange for the ease of use for a population that doesn’t care to know why. So they often break the rules for a frustrated audience unintentionally—out of ignorance, not design.

To put it another way, I believe that understanding a wireframe and its role in user-centered design is actually the best scaffolding to set up for … whatever this is that I’m working on.

And that’s a little annoying. I had hoped that my days as a communications strategist were behind me - not because they are irrelevant or useless, but because I wanted to explore something new.

And yet, I’m right back in the thick of it again. I shouldn’t be surprised. Communication is the foundation of community. Knowing the tools at our disposal is only one small part of being an effective communicator and building a strong community. So, wireframes it is.

I think I’ll also explore how different forms of communication have played a role in shaping community norms (and breaks) across various timelines of civilizations and communities. What was the version of a wireframe for television and the movies? How about the radio? What role does the telephone play? The newspaper? Or the printing press? What about parchment and scroll? What do we know about petroglyphs or cave drawings? How about oral traditions?

Plus, wireframes are really an early 2000s medium established before email, smartphones, social media, mass texting, etc. It’s possible there’s a more modern scaffolding, but a wireframe is a good fit for me. It’s the one I know best. I’ll spend some more time in the future explaining the why of wireframes.

Now that I know I’m looking through the lens of a wireframe, I guess I just need to figure out the WHAT of my work. Yikes. Maybe I shouldn’t have said the hardest part is understanding what the scaffolding would be?!