Speaker: Mayeda Khan As a developer, have you ever received designs for a Drupal site that make no sense or need to be hard coded due to the lack of a contributed module? As a designer, have you ever gotten lost in the jargon of it all? Do both teams ever felt the need for better site planning before embarking on a Drupal-based project? When we think of Drupal, we automatically think of web development. While this is true, we often overlook a very crucial step of the process - design. In a world where human-centered interactions lay the foundation for all decisions we make on a product, it is crucial we also include designers in this conversation. Speaking each other’s language and having an understanding of the design AND development phase is vital to the success of any web development project. This session will highlight the design and development process from a designer’s standpoint in hopes of breaking down the silos that exist between both teams and the barriers of communication. Some of the topics we will discuss are the Drupal site planning phase during discovery, user experience within Drupal frameworks, content creation and entities, visual design and templates, Drupal development vocabulary for designers, and CMS usability. Depending on your team, project needs, and budget, these steps can vary. However, the one thing that remains true to both is that we must understand Drupal fundamentals along each step in order to be successful designers and work effectively across teams.