Your personal web site gives you a place to experiment with design, HTML, and CSS; however, to offer a different perspective on communicating through the web, you will build a single web page for an organization that tells a story about it or some portion of its work. You will work in small teams to design and develop this page.
The organization can be any W&L club, organization, or department that performs some sort of specific campus or public service. Your team will make contact with the group, interview key people in the organization, design the page, confirm with the organization that your design is suitable, then develop it in HTML/CSS.
You may continue refining the organization's page through the day following the final meeting of the course.
Details of the deliverables will be forthcoming; however, below is a summary of what to expect from each:
Choosing a Team Leader and Your Client — Due: Friday, September 24
Choose a campus organization with which no one in your group has a leadership role. This is to encourage you to interview the leaders who have influence over the story the organization has to tell.
Interviewing Your Client — Due: Sunday, October 10
The "story" should be either about a specific event that your organization runs or a specific service/function that they provide. You will interview leaders of the organization in order to gain insight into who they are, what they represent, and what event/service/function they would like to highlight. As your deliverable, you will provide a list of questions asked to each subject, a summary of responses, the event/service/function that is the subject of the story, and a synthesis of how those responses will guide your design.
Client Website UX Proposal — Due: Wednesday, November 10
Based on your client interview, your team will develop a design document that discusses the story that will be told, the elements used to tell it (text, images, video, etc), and how the page will be designed. In addition, two wireframes will give visual representation to the design proposed. One should depict the page as seen on a laptop or desktop, and the other should depict the site as seen on a cell phone. Ideally, your document and wireframes should be presented to your client for comment prior to submission.
Website w/ Full HTML and CSS — Due: Wednesday, December 8
Using your wireframe and design document as a guide, develop the web page using HTML and CSS. Attention should be paid to coding style and adherence to your proposed design. If changes to the design are made, the reasons for those changes must be articulated in a brief supplementary document. The web page should have active links and media. The page should be optimized for viewing on cell phones based on your wireframe with decisions made for how media is displayed differently.
Each deliverable will come with its own set of requirements; however, the following are expectations that apply to the project as a whole:
The websites listed below are from charities and non-profits that demonstrate the design concepts I'm looking for. I do not expect that by the end of 12 weeks you will necessarily be able to replicate the techniques used. There are here to inspire, challenge you, and exemplify what you should be striving for.
These sites were chosen for their design and style. Their inclusion is not intended to imply endorsement.
The following sites were created for JOUR 341: Multimedia Storytelling Design. The style of the stories being told is different (journalism versus promotion) and are significantly longer than expected for our course; however, the designs serve as examples of what I am looking for (and are all worthwhile reads).