Thurs, 4/17 - Main Points to Glean from Design 5405 - Web Communications

Final Project Presentations Continued

Here are the final clickable color prototypes:

614 After Hours

Fisher Collect

Flip Side

Food For Thought

osUdate

Oval Portal

Wut the Fork

Main Points to Glean from Design 5405: Web Communications

Creating the web is a Collaborative process. Creating the web in teams of specialized individuals who each have specific technical or content knowledge is vital to the success of a web site. Creating a professional web site or software on a broader scale requires a project manager or director, art director, front-end UI/UX designers, graphic designers, programmers, admins who specialize in security and servers or systems analysis, copywriters, etc. Even motion designers and choreographers are hired on projects as the animations/motion of elements becomes important with the advent of touch screens.

User-centered design is the design process vital in creating the web. Idea generation, information architecture, research, competitor analysis, creating personas, wireframing, usability testing, and prototyping is vital to creating a finished product.

Here are some diagrams which illuminate the user centered design process in their specific workflow/projects:

The web is constantly evolving. It is important to keep up on current web practices as new practices are made standard, as technology progresses as far as computing power, availability of web access and web devices, graphics and the technology used to create graphics are improving, and as new web languages are born. Thus it is a different type of animal - it requires keen sense of design, technical skills (coding), logic, insight/research/analysis into what prior examples and web practices already exist, creativity, and an eye for business.

The ultimate judge of your web designs and work should not be for a grade in a class, but your portfolio, which is what employers will be looking at. I encourage you to keep tweaking and progressing your designs, as well as learning some coding! You may even enlist or hire outside help such as programmers to help create the back-end of your product and realize it! Creative skills and technical skills are valuable assets in the workplace, even if you're not becoming a web designer. It's good to showcase these skills you have learned - put it on the web! Connect it to your LinkedIn, portfolio site, or professional site (or create a portfolio/professional site). You could host it for free on U.osu.edu. I guarantee this skill will be useful.

Anyone with a good idea can create a successful web business. You don't have to be a world-class designer or programmer to start a successful web business (although it helps). You just have to have good ideas you believe in and that others believe in and want to invest time and money into. Some of the best CEOs of startup companies majored in psychology. Why? Because they had keen insight into the mind of THE USER!!!!!! They could predict & address what the user's wants and needs were more successfully. For instance, Mark Zuckerberg was studying psychology and computer science at Harvard before he dropped out to start Facebook. You all created mini-startup companies over the course of a semester - people would pay good money to have those realized into a final working product!

Consider participating in Hackathons or project crowdfunding tools like Kickstarter!

I encourage you to keep flexing web design skills and creative skills. Keep progressing, learning, and creating in some way, even if you don't continue through life as a professional web designer! Humans by nature like to create and it keeps your mind sharp and your spirits up. Whichever medium you choose to create with, never stop creating and learning!

Thanks for having me! I really enjoyed teaching this course!