Lesson Plans




4th Week – Six Weeks Four
January 26th – January 30th

Warm-up: Reading Assignment — Iterative Design –(access document from the Google Group for Web Mastering)

Students will meet with clients to develop a Web site. After meeting with the client, each design group will describe the customer for the site. Develop the overall goals of the Web site. Determine the answers to the following questions in regards to the customer:

People/Roles –Who will be visiting the Web site?
Tasks – What message does your client want to communicate from the Web site?
Technology Access – How will the message be disseminated?
Social Issues – Why would customers visit the Web site?
Context/Scenarios –Will stories or scenarios be used to express goals and activities that are personal?
Planning styles, grammar, and reading levels – What is the best way to communicate with the customer?

Review the Client Interview worksheet (handout given in class AND is posted in the Web Mastering Google Group)

Answer the following in a new BLOG POST. Title the POST : The Design Process.

What four methods or tools should be used in the design process? Briefly explain each.What is the primary focus during the Discovery phase of the design process?

 

 

Discuss answers with team members. Document your progress on your Google Calendar.
Remember deadline for topic and client information is Tuesday, January 27.

January 27

warm-up: View the PowerPoint T.6.PP_5.ppt in the Web Mastering Google Group.

The importance of value propositions will be discussed so they can be included in the development process of the Web site. The design teams will be trained to explore various options to use with clients.Various Rapid Prototype tools will be explained so the design teams can create models of the Web site for their clients. The evolution of Web site development will be illustrated using site maps, storyboards, and wireframes.

 

 

Activities: Develop a Value Proposition for your Web Site. Work with your team to answer the following question:

  • What do you see as the benefits to the customer if they deal with your particular company (or class, or club)?
  • Develop an early graphic for your client web site.

Homework/Follow-up: deadline for topic and client information is Tuesday, January 27.

January 28/29

warm-up: Read the Paper Version of a Web Site – http://deeplinking.net/paper-web/.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences in a new POST to your BLOG. These questions must be answered by ALL team members. Base your answers on the site that your group is going to actually create. Title the POST: Prototypes

  • Why would anyone be interested in viewing the Web site that your team is developing?
  • Who are the possible customers for the site?
  • How many pages are going to be necessary to complete the Web site your client wants?
  • Based on the number of pages, what sort of navigational structure would work well for the site?
  • How can this design be shown using a site map and storyboard?
Activities: The team should develop a site map and storyboard for the Web site that is being developed. The information should be based on the initial meeting with the client. The site map can be produced in an HTML editor or in any text application. The storyboard can be created using graphics software or paper and pencil.After the site map and storyboard are complete, the design team should schedule a meeting with their client. Based on the results of the meeting, the team should modify the initial prototypes and create wireframes for the home page and one sub-level page for the Web site.

 

 

Turn in your work to the “black box” when completed.

  • The documenter should be responsible for generating the site map and
  • the designer should create the story board.
    (note: The wireframe will be completed at a later date)
    All members should work together on the assignment.
  • If a member is absent, then the project manager should assume the responsibility for that role.

January 30

warm-up: Open the refinement Power Point from the Web Mastering Google Group. Read each slide and discuss the progress of the website design your team has created so far.

Activities:Introduce refinement strategies that should be used to improve the overall design and functionality of the Web site. Have students pair with someone who is NOT on their design team. Students should carefully read through all prototypes, offer suggestions, and determine whether there are functionality issues. Consider the anticipated audience. Does the design meet their needs? Heuristic evaluation is difficult for a single individual to do because one person will never be able to find all of the usability problems. Consider having two paired sessions.
Discuss and encourage the “Think Aloud” model for the group work. One student can verbally discuss all aspects of the Web site. The other student records the comments and encourages the first student to express any thoughts and questions.

Although it will not be possible to actually perform a usability study at this point, discuss the process. Standard Web server logs are an invaluable source of information about usage patterns, once a Web site has gone live. Such testing can be rigorously structured and quite expensive. Ultimately, the bottom line is the potential cost savings that can be realized through usability studies. Losing users because of a poor design could be catastrophic for a commercial venture. Students will consider these more after the Web site has been published and these results are available.

Work on the storyboard to create links to each page. I would suggest that a separate piece of paper be used to represent each of the pages of the web site. The documenter should be responsible for maintaining a folder with ALL documents.

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