Assignments

Your grade in this course will be determined primarily by your performance on the following assignments and two exams. (Detailed descriptions for the assignments will be added as we discuss them in class.)

Unit #1: Landing Page and Online Résumé (10%)

Your first assignment is to create a homepage for your newly registered domain, then create an online résumé and link it to your homepage. We will spend time in class looking at different types of online résumés and experimenting with simple HTML and CSS code to enhance your résumé. When are done with the assignment, you will write a one-page memo explaining and justifying your code and design decisions. Read more…

Unit #2: Website Modernization Project (20%)

To strengthen your skills in the areas of “mobile first” and “responsive” web design, you will revise both the content and the appearance of a small, local website. For this project, I encourage you to use one of the various open-source, responsive frameworks; our in-class activities will focus on Bootstrap. Read more…

Unit #3: Client Project (20%)

Your final project should demonstrate your abilities as a writer, a coder, an information architect, and a usability specialist. Working in a small group (2–4 people), you will assist a real client who needs a new website. Read more…

Unit #4: Best Practices Article (15%)

Drawing on the readings and exercises you have completed throughout the semester, you will write a substantive article on some aspect of web design, information architecture, usability, content strategy, etc… Your article should be written for your peers (other beginning students in web development) and modeled after the articles found on sites like A List Apart and Smashing Magazine Read more….