It’s no secret that creating a great user experience takes two types of people, each of which thinks differently: designers and developers. Well, how designer’s role looks like when using Expression Studio to design/develop a Silverlight application? As for me, here are some typical steps in a common design scenario:

1. Providing a design brief to the customer

2. Analyzing the brief, understanding the client’s needs and goals

3. Researching similar design solutions

4. Producing a specification or list of design requirements

5. Generating a range of different possible ideas to satisfy the requirements

6. Creating early sketches with pen and paper

7. Producing a prototype by experimenting with ideas in SketchFlow

8. Interacting with customer(s) and developer(s) to choose the best idea

9. Correcting and finalizing the SketchFlow prototype

10. Choosing an application color scheme to the customer’s requirements or corporate identity

11. Designing application screens and control styles in Expression Design and then exporting the work as XAML files

12. Getting the customer’s approval on the design screens

13. Creating Expression Blend test solution and importing XAML files

14. Creating layouts for application screens, transferring and optimizing background graphic elements, skinning real controls, and adding interactivity

15. Connecting to the source control system and getting the developer’s solution

16. Collaborating with the developer(s), stringing design screens, transferring interactivity and binding data

17. Testing the solution

18. Modifying and correcting the solution

19. Helping to deploy the application to the customer’s environment

This is only my possible scenario. The process followed by any given set of designers may be different: some steps may be ignored, combined, or expanded depending on the particular scenario. Designers will also add or change steps based on their specific requirements, habits, and goals.