Lessons

This page contains lessons for you to follow in or outside of the classroom. Its purpose is to act as a supplement to, //__**not**__// a replacement of your classroom experience. toc After the review, please take this short survey:

[|http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/745103/Formative-Assessment]

= Lesson 1 =

When meeting with the client to discuss their needs for the web site, please remember some things:

**What type of business are they?**
Depending upon the business, there may be a standard design or template that other companies like them use. If this is the case, you may want to find out whether or not they want to go completely out of the mold to set themselves apart or stick to their industries standards. Also, knowing the kind of business will help you determine things like products, services and the kinds of clients they serve. Don't be afraid to ask these questions of the client. If they don't know, offer them the opportunity to come back at a later date and give you the information, while pressing the point of timing in the design process. Having to go back and redesign the shell of the site after its completed is not desirable. Let them know that the sooner they can get back to you with the information, the sooner you can get them what they want...their website! = =

What kinds of services do they offer?
Again, knowing this is important to the structure of the site. Do they offer something tangible like a physical product for sale or are they a company that provides a service to someone in the community. Each service they offer or product they sell can increase the size of the site by a separate page for each. Its your job to not only make the site look good, but run smoothly. More pages means a larger site file size. Something to consider...

What does the client want the site to do?
This is probably the most important question to ask. Don't assume you know what the client wants...EVER! You need to ask them specifically what they want the site to do. If its deliver information about them, their product and/or services then the performance of the site is directly dependent upon this. Whether or not the site works is not up to you, its up to the client and how well they explained to you what they need. That said, its also important for you to guide the client in giving you this information. Most of the time, your client will not know how to explain what they need the site to do...but they know what they want. Your task is to help them break it down into simple terms, and simple functions.

//**NOTE - don't try to educate the client about technical jargon and terms when you meet with them. It will prove to be an exercise in futility and you'll probably confuse them more then they already are. Keep your ideas to yourself until you get into your creative brainstorming sessions.**//

Will this site be an e-commerce site or an informational site?
E-Commerce is defined by [|wikipedia]as the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Unless you are designing a website for a company with a specific, tangible product, you are going to be designing an informational site. For example, if you are working with an area non-profit organization that specializes in helping youth find employment, you're going to focus on three basic things in the design: >> Examples of a web sites for a non-profit organizations are: []
 * 1) informing the community who they are
 * mission statement
 * vision statement
 * 1) services they provide to the community
 * 2) how people can use their services
 * contact information
 * volunteer opportunites

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Does the company have a logo? or a Brand identification?
This is important because it sets them aside from all of the other "basic" sites out there that just have a plain, generic look and feel. People take companies more seriously when they have a professionally designed logo. A logo is extremely vital for a small business…gives the business more credibility. Logos provide the customer with their first impression of a business. First impressions are everything. When acquiring the logo from the client, make sure you are using optimum size and resolution for websites.

View this file on image resolution

What color scheme does the company want to use?
If the client doesn't have an idea of what color scheme to use, its up to you to find one that suits them. If they don't have a specific theme in mind, try asking them questions about the feeling or mood they want the end user to feel when visiting the site.

The following are some examples of colors and their meaning:

Red is mostly associated with boldness, excitement and desire. Red is the color of love, strength, power, energy, leadership and excitement. It is a strong color, and you should be aware of some its negative associations, i.e. danger, alarms, traffic lights, etc.

Blue means patience, peace, tranquility, trustworthiness, love, stability. It is one of the most beloved colors, especially by men. It is associated with stability and depth, professionalism, trust and honor.

Yellow
is the color that mostly associated with liveliness. It is energetic and gives the feeling of happiness. Also, it associates with curiosity, amusement, joy, intelligence, brightness, caution, etc.

Orange
means cheerfulness and creativity. It can be associated with friendliness, confidence, playfulness, courage, steadfastness, etc.

Purple
traditionally associates with power, nobility and wealth. Wisdom, royalty, independence, nobility, luxury, ambition, dignity, magic and mystery.

Green
is the color of harmony, nature, healing, life, food and health. Also, it is often associated with money.

Brown
is the color of relaxation and confidence. Brown means earthiness, nature, durability, tribal, comfort, reliability, etc. It can be thought of sophisticated, solid and conventional.

Grey
gives the sense of seriousness, conservatism and traditionalism. It can provoke the feeling purity and innocence. It can be associated with security, reliability, intelligence, modesty, dignity, maturity, solid, practical, old age, sadness, quality, boring, practicality, professional, durability, quiet, gloominess. In combination with orange, grey looks fantastic and awakens the sense of perfection.

Pink
expresses tenderness, romance, femininity, truth, passivity, good will, emotional healing, care, peace, calming, affection, emotional maturity, nurturing, sweet tasting, sweet smelling, ethereal, delicacy, etc.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Black
<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">is a stylish and elegant color associated with power, sophistication, formality, health, etc. Black is an excellent technical color and helps to add some mystery to your design. But if you don’t want your website provoke depressing feelings, avoid using black over a large area. On the other hand, if you make a black background, it can enhance perspective and depth. Black is great to use for art and photography websites to help other colors to vibrate.

<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;"> White is associated with purity, simplicity, fresh, goodness, innocence easy, cleanliness, etc. This color is great to use for a background or accent color, because it highlights other colors.

= =

How many pages do they want the site to have?
The amount of pages is determined by the type of content they want. If they intend on selling products, then they need more pages. Do they want a gallery of images? More pages. Remind them of the basics if they aren't sure what pages to put into the site: Home page (index.html) About Us FAQs Contact Us

Remember the [|KISS]Principle??

NO! Not THAT one!

According to the folks at Wikipedia, the KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complex, therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

Does the company have a social networking site?
If not, would they want one created as a part of the project? This opens a whole other kettle of fish. Ask if they've considered a social networking site. If they say no, might be best to let it go or say nothing to them, but create one anyway. When you unveil it, they will be pleasantly surprised. If they don't like it, you can always take it down. Point is, social networking is a HUGE part of being online, and most companies want to stay current.

These lessons are available for download in PDF format.

= = =Lesson 2=

Design Questions
When designing the website for the client, consider the following questions What is the goal or intended goal of the website you are creating?

//Do you have a site map or flow chart created?// A site map is a visual diagram that lays out the web site and how it will flow together. Site maps take the site content (pages) and group them into a logical order

//**Navigation**//

Is it easy to learn? Can the end user use it without having to go through a series of steps?

Have you (the desginers) clearly differentiated between the hyperlinks/buttons and the rest of the content?

Are there minimal clicks to arrive at the desitination? Can the end user arrive at specific points in the site without having to go through a series of steps or clicks?

//**Let's talk about Design Principles**// //**Is the Hierarchy of information clear?**// Is there a dominant image that draws your eye from left to right and top to bottom or does the site contain images that will be in conflict with each other, vying for the end users constant attention?

//**Is the text legible?**// Keep the font size consistant throughout the site on each page. Headings should be the same size and body text should be the same from one page to the next. Consistancy is a key factor in going from the relm of the layperson to the professional level.

Each design team will be working on separate pages, but need to make sure their use of color is the same as everyone else in the course. Take the time to talk to each other through this process. You're NOT in competition, you're working as smaller parts of the larger design machine!
 * //Is the color scheme consistant from page to page?//**

=Lesson 3=
 * Adding a feedback page to your website.**

Feedback is a way for the end user to tell the site owner how they felt about their experience on the website. This is important for the site owner to know because if they are attempting to reach a certain [|demographic] they will want to know whether or not their efforts are effective. This page also allows for the end user to suggest changes to the site, and remain anonymous.

Please go to the Tutorials page and follow the two tutorials for this lesson