Course Syllabus
Assignments and plans will first be posted to the Web Design home page and then moved to this page as the course progresses.
Tues 28 Aug
Thurs, 30 Aug
- News: I'll distribute the first pdfs of Dreamweaver Essentials CS3 next Tuesday, 4 Sept. You'll have until the following Tuesday to work through them.
- Have sketch paper and pencils/markers
- How the Internet works (notes)
- Example pages on delicious
- Describing websites: using neutral language, taking a balcony view
- Describing websites: making wireframes and naming the parts: Web Design Handlist
for Tues, 4 Sept
* Boston University:
http://www.bu.edu/. Sketch and annotate the common elements of the category head pages: Admissions | Academics | Campus Life | etc
Tues 4 Sept
- Bring a flash drive!
- Pick up pdfs of chaps 1 - 4 and files for Dreamweaver Essentials CS3.
- Work thorough mods 1 and 2 for Tues, 11 Sept.
- Mod 1: Print out your index page with your email address on it at the end of the chapter.
- Mod 2: Print out the table you worked on at p. 48
- Mod 2: Print out the button bar layout at p. 60
- If you run into problems with the DW Essentials text, check NotesOnDreamweaverEssentialsCS3. If there's no solution or note about the issue, leave one.
- We'll look at page wireframes
- We'll look a some more sites with a focus on usability.
Thurs 6 Sept
- a little more on usability
For Tues, 11 Sept
Tues 11 Sept
- Put up wireframes, part 2 and discuss
Thurs 13 Sept
Amnesty
Hand in wireframes from both exercises
- Hand in print outs from mods 1 and 2
- Start mods 3 and 4. Due next Tues.
- Mod 3: p. 81. Print any page using the template.
- Mod 4: p 112. Preview page in browser and print. The background might not print, depending on how you have your browser set.
- Review / discuss chap 1 to start the first project: PortfolioSitePrototypeProject
Tues 18 Sept
On the Dreamweaver mods
- Read the chapter intro text - it gives some concepts.
- If somethihng doesn't work, delete, back up, try again.
- Watch for problems: the text IS is in draft
- Alert: Some of the F-keys used in the Dreamweaver text conflict with the F-key assignments on the Mac. When the Dreamweaver text refers to using any F-keys ([F8] or [F12] for instance) use the menu open given instead.
- The [Cmd] key equivalents work ok on both platforms.
- Mods 3 and 4 due. Start Mods 5 and 6.
- Print Mod 5: p 137. When you complete the form, preview it in a browser, fill it out, and then print it.
- Print Mod 6: When you complete the mod, you'll have created a quiz. Take the quiz and print out the last frame, the one that says "I'd like to take this test again." This might be tricky to print out; frames often are.
- Part 1 of Portfolio Site Prototype Project due. Hang them up to discuss / revise.
Thurs 20 Sept
Tues 25 Sept
Thurs 27 Sept
- Class canceled: family emergency. Meet as usual on Tuesday, 2 Oct.
Tues 2 Oct
- part 3 of PortfolioSitePrototypeProject due. Visual design and page mock ups. pp. 8 - 10. Review and discuss how your visual design choices connect with your goals.
- Mods 5 and 6 due/
Thurs 4 Oct
- Part 4 due: Content: nomenclature, introductory text, blurbs, etc. Add typed content to page mockups. Usual procedure.
- New mod pdfs and new Dreamweaver files available. Replace your current files with the new set.
- Mods 7 and 8 for Tues, 9 Oct.
- Mod 7: Print a page - any page showing the Spry menu you created.
* Mod 7: Possible error on the Mac side. p. 165: Student Activity: Edit the Menu Bar CSS.
- Before step 1: There are three buttons at the bottom left of the CSS Styles panel. One looks like a bullet list, the next has A B and a down arrow on it, and the third has two ** and a down arrow. Click the third one (the one with asterisks) to show the Show only set properties. The rest of the mod should be ok.
If you can't figure it out, don't worry. Just skip that activity. Preview the page and print.
Chap. 7 is shorter than others, and seem to end suddenly, after a confidence check. It does end on p 166.
- Mod 8: Print at the end of p 199
Tues 9 Oct
Thurs 11 Oct
- Groups, intro wiki, getting organized
- GettingStarted
- SiteEditingGuides
- Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project develops.
- Expect to be working on the project outside of class - both face to face and on the net. Figure 2 hours for every hour of classtime.
- Bring your copy of Summer and Summers to class each day. You'll need to refer to it.
for Tues
- Mod 9: Print one page at the end of p 219 (cropped images)
- Mod 10: p;. 227. Arrange the elements on the page and print. p. 235. Print with the logo on the right hand side of the page.
Tues 16 Oct
All four of these practices occur together:
- ID the goals
- Develop your two sentence concept statement into a first draft of a purpose statement.
- Look for and critique related sites: see what others have done, how they do it, and find your site's niche.
- Plan who to interview/visit, questions to ask, how to take notes, how to get those notes on the wiki, how to divide up the work.
Thurs 18 Oct
- Use your main group page as you need to: to plan, make connections, set schedules and make assignments. Update it as your project develops.
- Workday: continue Site Project: Requirements Gathering
Deadline: By Saturday 20 Oct midnight
You should have your site positioning research posted (including critiques of related sites), user groups selected, and interview questions posted.
- We'll look at interview questions in class on Tuesday, 23 Oct.
- Interviews should be finished and notes posted by Tues, 30 Oct. Develop personas.
for Tues 23 Oct
Mod 11
- print the privacy window at p. 258. Printing works on both Mac and Windows side.
- print at end of page, showing scrolling text
- Scrolling text does not appear using Mac Firefox v. 2. Mac side, use Safari.
Mod 12
- In this mod, you create a set of rollover controls for images and text. Print at the end of p. 296. Preview the page in a browser, point to a number to show an image and text, and print. The rest of the mod has you create a slide show from the same images and texts.
- layers are now called divs
Tues 25 Oct
- review and refine interview questions
- decide who to interview and split up the work
Thurs 25 Oct
- mods 11 and 12 due
- all Site Research (site reviews and connections) due. Refined goals.
- workday
- start the session with refined questions, who to interview and how to split up the work
- Decide how to collect and where to post interview notes. Other groups have posted interview notes at the bottom of the questions page, listed by who interviewed. Eg: JustinsInverviews ...
Thurs - Tues
- Interview and take notes on your interviews: taking notes (33) and recording key findings (34) for each interview. Post interview notes to wiki.
Tues 30 Oct
- In class: review your goals, positioning, land (speculative) user goals.
- Chap 3: Experience Design. Review: user personas and task flows
- Start to develop personas from interview notes: Site Project: Personas and Content Inventories.
- Substantial development of personas by Thursday, end of class.
Thurs 1 Nov
Tues 6 Nov
- review persona for each group
- review goals for each persona
- review content inventory
- Chap 3: Experience Design
- SiteProjectExperienceDesign
Thurs 8 Nov
- work day: all present.
- work on site maps - navigation - wireframes -
- ready by Tues 13 Nov
- for Tues, 13 Nov, read chap 4: visual design, especially designing with grids
Tues 13 Nov
- review maps, nav, wireframes
- determine number of templates, review grid layout
- set up on server?
Thurs 15 Nov
- assign tasks: translate wireframes, create templates, draft content
- review some elements of visual design, chap 4: content and nav elements
- BFA Writing Promo
for Tues, 20 Nov
- chap 4: Visual Design
- visual hierarchy
- showing relationships: emphasis and meaning
- using headings, fonts, and styles
CourseSyllabusF2006