Week Three :: Videos

UX and UI, Chicken and Egg

http://youtu.be/2wZUTe70w1Y

What the heck is UX Design?

http://youtu.be/Ovj4hFxko7c

User Personas

Read more about the importance of a developing Personas on page 33 in Designing for Emotion

**Each team member is required to submit one User Persona to be included in the group’s creative proposal. How the Personas are designed is up to your group to determine.**

User Persona: Used prominently in the design industry, personas allow designers to create a report that outlines a member of a larger group. By creating this document, we are able to remain aware of our target audience and their specific needs.

When we design, we research, plan, and create with our audience’s attitudes and motivations in mind. Designers will often interview their audience, then create personas—a report on an stereotypical user who represents a larger group. Personas are the artifacts of research. 

Through this document we learn about our audience’s demographics, interests, their expertise in various subjects, and what influences their decisions on subjects germane to the project.

The user persona should include the following sections
(remember this is a fictional person):

1. Picture of individual

2. Name

3. Age // Career

4. Personal Goals

5. Short biography or description of the individual: These paragraphs should give the reader a solid idea of who is this person.

6. Knowledge

7. Activities and Interests

8. Influencers: A determining factor(s) known to affect an individual’s tendencies and characteristics.

Below is an example of how your user persona may look like when completed.

You should be able to fit all the information required onto one page:

Reminder :: Read Carefully

Just a quick reminder to have carefully read Chapter 6, Site Planning and Chapter 7, Elements of Usability in your text “Above the Fold” by Wednesday, September 18. You will have a 20 question (multiple choice and true/false) quiz at the beginning of class.

Project 1 :: Points

Your first project, redesigning the Artwalk website, is broken down into different segments that result in 140 possible points once the project is complete. The information below shows how these points are dispersed among all the different items you have and will turn in.

1. Presentations (10pts)
2. Creative Brief (20pts)
3. Digital Concepts (10pts)
4. WIP Critique (10pts)
5. Final Presentation (30pts)
6. Final Group Grade (20pts)
7. Final Peer Review (20pts)
8. Final Individual Grade (20pts)

Unless I am aware of a situation that a group member has not pulled his or her own weight on a specific part of a project, team members will receive the same grade for items 1–6.

Your final grade will be determined by dividing the total number of points you earned by 140. This percentage will then be entered into my grade sheet and will count for 30% of your overall course grade.

Project 1 :: Teams

Team 1

Diana Caragan

Becca Allen

Brianna Andrade

Trang Phan

Team 2

Sarah Bracken

Christina Elizondo

Carlos Villarreal

Allison (Nga) Le

Team 3

Tuonz Nguyen

Alyssa Garza

Clarissa Ortiz

Brooke J. Ostrom

Team 4

Starr Renteria

Kitty Thompson

Daniel Vargas

Veronica Anguiano

Project 1 :: Website Redesign

Redesign for the Artwalk-Corpus Christi website artwalkcc.com
Due Wednesday, October 16 (Week 7)

Solving any problem is more important than being right.
— Milton Glaser

Objective
Collaborate with your team members to redesign the current user interface (look) of the Artwalk-Corpus Christi website. Your solution should be complete and professionally presented. This will not be a functional site, but a study of design, layout, structure, and organization in a web environment.

Teams
You will be assigned to a team at the start of Week 2.

Team Dynamics
The dynamics will take shape with how the individuals in of the group interact and communicate. To help this process along, however, I will be providing guidelines that must be followed. How a team decides to handle these requirements is completely up to its members.

Guidelines
1. While the team should determine the aesthetic of the design as a whole, each student will be responsible for finishing the design of at least three pages of the final website. 
2. Each team member will have an opportunity to grade the other.
3. If a single member feels that the team dynamics are not working, you must contact me and I will set up a meeting of all the members of the group and act as a mediator to discuss the issues you are having. At the end of our discussion, I will offer some suggestions to alleviate the issue. If the issue continues to exist I will address and take note of the issue with each individual from the group.

Part I (due September 16)
Pick a name for your team, write a proposal, make a presentation
Conduct any research you deem necessary including visiting and using the current site. Note any visual or user related items that you see as faults and could be improved with a new design. Summarize your findings and state your goals for a successful redesign in a project proposal. Your proposal should follow the outline below and be no shorter than two full pages in length not including the title page:

• Title Page with the name of your company, the client, date, course, quarter, and instructor name. 

• In your own words, write a brief assessment of the current site design. 

+ What is the use of the site? 
+ Who is the target audience?
+ What would be the impact of a new design?
+ Can social media be incorporated to make the site more user-friendly? 

• What are some of the challenges that you might face when creating this application? 

Create a Survey
Create and administer a survey to gather information from your peers and others outside the Corpus Christi community (friends, family, co-workers, etc) as to what the like and dislike about the current design and what they would want to see improved. http://www.surveymonkey.com/

Part III (due September 23)
Develop two (2) visually unique digital concepts for presentation and critique from class. Each of these concepts should consider how the website is developed beyond the first page. 

Part IV (due Wednesday, October 16 Week 7)
From your digital concepts and our discussions your team will complete the redesign of the Artwalk website—at least 12 pages depending on team size. 

Welcome to Interactive Design

Interactive Design

More detailed information can be found within the links above. Future links on the left will contain additional information as it pertains to the course.

Course Description
This studio course will teach students how to develop creative strategies for problem solving in a client-based environment. This studio explores the use of the world wide web, blogs, social media and other interactive media as a creative outlet for portfolio development.  

Learning Outcomes
• To learn and practice the history of web design, its purposes, uses and where it is headed.
• To create with and learn the software necessary to create web pages.
• To create pleasing design techniques for the web.
• To practice the above principles in practical projects.
• To create blog sites and social media outlets

Required Texts

Above the Fold: Understanding the Principles of Successful Web Site Design 

by Brian Miller* 

Designing For Emotion

by Aarron Walter

Please join our Facebook group for this class where you will be able to ask questions, have discussions, and share information that is pertinent to the course: facebook.com/groups/arts3362

If you would like to know more about me, my work, and my past student’s work, please have a look through my website: nicholasmcmillan.com.

Get more information about design, education, and other interesting articles by “liking” my Facebook page: facebook.com/profmcmillan.

Check back soon for additional information.