Wednesday 10.4.06 6:00pm (Resume Due)
Wednesday 10.25.06 11:00am (Site Comparison Due)
Wednesday 11.15.06 11:00am (Site Redesign Due)
Wednesday
12.13.06 12Noon (Original Site Due)
Note: All assignments except for the resume can be done in teams of up to 3 people. All members of the team will get the same grade, I will not mediate any issues...pick your team members wisely. I will want to know ahead of each assignment who teams are.
Resume (Checklist)
Weight: 10pts of final grade
Create a web-based resume using basic XHTML/CSS. You must include:
At least two external links to documents you do not own
At least two
links to other documents you have created for this assignment
At least two images with all proper attributes
Internal (anchor) links
allowing navigation to different sections of the same page
All style/presentational elements must be controlled with an external style sheet
Post your resume files to: eden.rutgers.edu/~username/347/assn1/
Web Site Comparison (Checklist)
Weight: 20pts of final grade
Sites to review to be submitted by 10.18 (all sites must be approved by Instructor)
Use of the Williams' book and Nielson's site recommended (remember to cite your sources)
Write a detailed comparison of two similar web sites of your choice (i.e., sites that serve the same general purpose, such as two retail store sites, two travel sites, two news sites, etc.). Which site does a better job in each area? Overall?
Use the evaluation criteria discussed in class and below to address all questions. Incorporate your own insights and provide specific examples to show that you understand the issues addressed by each question.
Create a main page that contains a brief summary of your evaluation, links to the sites you are evaluating as well as a link to the page for each of the evaluation areas.
Publish your evaluation as a set of web pages, at least one for each area. Keep your text brief; used descriptive screen captures and selective linking; make all links to internal documents relative.
Evaluation Criteria:
Audience
Who are the sites for?
Who are the intended users?
What do users want to accomplish? (think about it...)
What are the skills needed to use the site? (Basic click/scroll? Fancy menus? Downloading?)
Good fit with skills of intended users?
Can users instantly understand what the site is about?
Understand what they can do there?
"Look & feel" entice you to stay and explore?
Navigation/Functionality
Page answers the three principal navigation questions:
Where am I? (What indicates "You are here"?)
Page Titles/Headings...Relationship to other pages on site...
Where can I go? (How do you know?)
Section titles, Navigation elements...Organized? Clear? Good Terminology?
How can I get back?
Can you easily find your home? back? (back button works?) other sections?
How can I search? Does the search work? Search options?
Is the page "optimized" for Search Engines?
Download times reasonable?
Visual Design
Review the sites along the lines of Williams’ design principles…do the sites make good use of:
Contrast?
Heirarchy? Readability/Legibility? Scanability?
Repetition?
What elements repeat? How does site brand?
Alignment?
Clean/Good lines?
Proximity?
Like items grouped together well?
Post your files to: eden.rutgers.edu/~username/347/assn2/ (if working in teams each team member should link to one site)
Site Redesign (Checklist)
Weight: 20pts of final grade
Your assignment is to take a site and redesign the main page and create a template of a 2nd level page (which must contain enough information to scroll). I'll act as client for this assignment so if you have any questions about what you can do please ask me, do NOT contact this organization. Again you are only redesigning the main page and one 2nd level page, but you can take information from within the site to add content if you need it.
Your "deliverables" (what
you need to hand in):
- The URL -
eden.rutgers.edu/~username/347/assn3/ (if working in teams each team member should link to one site)
- A quick (less than one page) description of what you changed and why you did
so. This should be done in the form of a short proposal and should "sell"
me on your web design services. (This should be a link to a .htm document from the page you designed)
Essentially to do well on this assignment all you have to do is show me that you worked on this with thought and effort. If you just change the background color and font, that's not what I'm looking for. I want to see layout changes, informational changes/enhancements, use of images where applicable, css incorporated, etc. and I want a good "pitch" on your design services, so make sure you tell me WHY you did what you did and what your thought process is.
Feel free to use whatever knowledge you have up to this point. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, anything you learned on your own, etc. are all acceptable (but I will expect you to code the site). Additionally, I'll be reviewing your sites based on the criteria you reviewed in the Web Site Comparison Assignment
Site to redesign:
You Pick and tell me
Original Site Creation (Checklist)
Weight: 20pts of final grade
For this assignment you’ll be creating a website from “scratch”. The website can be for an organization (e.g small business), a hobby/interest, an outside project, just about anything you like. You will need to clear your choice with the instructor by 11.15
Final Project Requirements:
A minimum of 5 main .html pages with actual content
2 of those pages must have at least 2 sub pages for a minimum total of 9 pages to your site
Minimum of 4 images
An external style sheet must be used for design/presentation.
Interactive navigation structure (CSS rollovers/menus, JS rollovers/menus etc.)
In addition to the specifics above please ensure the following:
Mechanics / Technical Competence
Page at correct URL
Proper file types used
All links work
Navigation is functional, consistent and clear
Consistent page layout structure
All pages are uniquely titled
At least two pages scrollable length
Page works in IE and FF (or FF and Safari for you Mac users)
All pages printable (by using print style sheet)
CSS pages validate*
Meaning
Site serves audience effectively
Every page has purpose
Message is clear and consistent starting on the home page & throughout site
Concise but effective use of text (less is more when it comes to text)
Design / Creativity
Visual Design/CRAP principles applied
Accessibly and usability maximized through use of ALT tags, use of height/width tags, bandwidth restraints kept to minimum, no duplicate coding
Creative presentation of site
Use of images consistent with site's theme
Post your files to: eden.rutgers.edu/~username/347/assn4/ (if working in teams each team member should link to one site)
*bonus: +1