HCI 406 | Web Design
HCI 406 Home Lectures Resources

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  HCI 406 | Web Design
Some of the past students' sites.
Course Description:
  This course covers web design topics, design principles; introduces Web Design in a user-centered context. You will master page markup using HTML and CSS addressing responsive web design, accessibility, and search engine optimization. Studies include hypertext, graphic style information, graphic file formats, digital imaging, and basic computer-user interface issues.

Prerequisites: N/A
Learning Objectives:
 

- Design and develop a web site in the context of a user-centered process;
- Developing and applying creative ideas to web design problems;
- Implement strategies attracting and engaging users to a web site;
- Understanding the web designer’s role.
- Defining New Media Design and understand its pitfalls;
- Developing excellent craftsmanship and professional skills.
- Define the uses of CMS.
- Interaction design fundamentals
- Employ best practices for making a web site accessible to diverse users
- Improving SEO
- Thinking about and discussing visual culture.

Participation:
 

A crucial quality for every designer is the ability to communicate both visually and verbally! Actively participating means speaking up (no, attendance doesn’t mean active). Your participation will help others work out the kinks in their projects and vice versa, the more you talk the more you will learn. Becoming comfortable in a critique situation makes you better able to analyze and discuss your own work and the work of others, an essential skill in almost any job. We will also be talking about “good vs. bad” sites, and are expected to participate.

DL students are encouraged to chat with me via email or Skype.
My user name: "yazilovefish"
Note: you will be automatically delete from my skype list after the quarter, however you are more than welcome to email me :)

Grader info:
 

Ravali Singamaneni
rsingama at mail.depaul.edu
Skype id is ravali.singamaneni

Available via Skype to do Q & A:
Thursday 12:00PM - 1:30 PM
Sunday 12:30PM - 1:30 PM

Class in lab CDM 801
  on 4/11, 5/2, 5/23
Contact me:
  Email is the best way to get hold to me! winny (at symbol) cti.depaul.edu
  Or, meet me before or after class, my office phone is 773-325-4540, cell: 312-206-8342,
Office SAC 259
   
Links for this course
  1. COL (course management system in CDM) https://col.cdm.depaul.edu/
2. Course homepage: http://winnystudio.com/406/
3. Hosting Domain: depaulkmc-webdesign.com/
4. Adobe Online Video Tutorial: http://tv.adobe.com/product/creative-suite-design-and-web-premium/
5. Online Tutorial at Lynda: http://www.lynda.com/
6. Wikipedia, google, gettyimages, flickr… make them your good friends.
   
TextBook: There are no required textbooks. Woo Hoo!
You will be asked to do online or handout readings from time to time.
Recommended books:
  Learning Web Design (4th Edition)
http://www.learningwebdesign.com/
  Above The Fold
http://abovethefoldbook.com/
  HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition
Amazon Link
  Don’t Make Me Think:
A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition, Steve Krug, New Riders Press
http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html
   
Grading:
 
Your final grade will be based on:
30%
Weekly Assignments
30%
Mid-term Presentation
40%
Final Projects & Presentation
  A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F <60%
  Plus and minus scores will be assigned at the high and low ends of each of these ranges at the instructor's discretion. (No A+ or D-)
Homeworks and project will be graded on how well they meet requirements. Specific consideration will be given to the use of color, content, and design of the site.
A file naming scheme that is different from the one specified will suffer a 5% drop in grade.

Assignments that are turned in late without prior arrangement will suffer a 10% drop in earned grade for every day they are late. Assignments that are more than 4 days late will not be accepted, and a grade of F will be assigned.

Assignments and Project:
Assignments will be posted at COL, and should be submitted by the date is due.
Most assignments will be the elements of your final project.

Course Project
You have to build a - A well designed personal or small business web site, (real or fake), which should include at least FIVE well designed web pages interlinked.

Yes, you have to build this website from scratch--from defining the site to design it and execute it to be functional website.

Grading break down:
Content of the site. 20%
Web is publishing and communication tool, content is still the king. No matter you are creating a real site or fake site. Still need to prepare the content for the site. Make sure that if you are borrowing other website’s content, identify the source.

Design and aesthetics 30%
20% of this goes to how well the final result comes out, and 10% goes to design effort.
Please no pixelated images or squeezed image.

Image sliding, HTML, CSS execution. 40%
Those are all work hand in hand, hard to grade on individual portion.
I am going to evaluate on your html structure, the effectiveness of your CSS and image treatment.

Site management: 10%
I will go to everyone’s website and check if your website is well managed, if the images are all in the images folder, media  in the media folder.
HTML pages are in the root folder etc.

   
Tools we are using for this class:
  Paper cards/pencil :)
  Dreamweaver;
Photoshop;
Or similar freeware
School Policies:
Online Instructor Evaluation:
Course and instructor evaluations are critical for maintaining and improving course quality. To make evaluations as meaningful as possible, we need 100% student participation. Therefore, participation in the School’s web-based academic administration initiative during the eighth and ninth week of this course is a requirement of this course. Failure to participate in this process will result in a grade of incomplete for the course. This incomplete will be automatically removed within seven weeks after the end of the course and replaced by the grade you would have received if you had fulfilled this requirement.
Academic Integrity Policy:
This course is subject to the faculty council rules on the academic integrity policy (30k DOC)
Plagiarism:
The university and school policy on plagiarism can be summarized as follows: Students in this course, as well as all other courses in which independent research or writing play a vital part in the course requirements, should be aware of the strong sanctions that can be imposed against someone guilty of plagiarism. If proven, a charge of plagiarism could result in an automatic F in the course and possible expulsion. The strongest of sanctions will be imposed on anyone who submits as his/her own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report, or other assignment which has been prepared by someone else. If you have any questions or doubts about what plagiarism entails or how to properly acknowledge source materials be sure to consult the instructor.
Incomplete:
incomplete grade is given only for exceptional reasons such as a death in the family, serious illness, etc. Any such reason must be documented. Any incomplete request must be made at least two weeks before the final, and approved by the Dean of the School of CTI. Any consequences resulting from a poor grade for the course will not be considered as valid reasons for such a request.