[thelist] process question: hi-end multimedia sites

[Erika Meyer]

I have a tough time with job-hunting because I seem to fall somewhere in 
between the "programmer" and "designer" pigeonholes, plus I have some 
knowledge in other general areas (usability, accessibility, IA) but not 
enough to go around calling myself an expert & certainly not a specialist.

So I work with these two recruiters: one mainly works with employers 
searching for backend programmers, the other with employers seeking graphic 
artists.  I'd be fine with the first recruiter if I'd buckle down & learn 
ASP, but I'd rather spend my time playing with front ends: 
graphic/UI/flash/javascript, leaving the databases to others.  The second 
recruiter says her clients are looking for "high end designers who work on 
sites like nike.com or adidas.com."

This leads me to ask, since I have never worked on sites as ambitious as 
either nike.com or adidas.com, what is the process that goes into creating 
them?  I simply can't imagine there is a single sole web genius putting 
these things together... or that the marketing director dictates ideas to 
one person who builds the movies...  how do they divide up tasks?    What 
is the process for designing, building and testing?

I've tended to build sites that are low-bandwith, usable on all browsers, 
text-heavy.  But I'm fascinated by these high-bandwidth, high-end media 
sites, and I'm fascinated by design process in general. (I tend to think 
many businesses divide up tasks the 'wrong' way, but that's another 
discussion.)

  I would like to know more about how hi-end multimedia sites are put together.

Anyone have some insight?

Erika