Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture

Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture

This course is part of UI / UX Design Specialization

Instructor: Roman Jaster

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Assessments

1 assignment

Taught in English

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This course is part of the UI / UX Design Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 5 modules in this course

This course is focused on the early user experience (UX) challenges of research, planning, setting goals, understanding the user, structuring content, and developing interactive sequences. While the concepts covered will translate to many kinds of interactive media (apps, digital kiosks, games), our primary focus will be on designing contemporary, responsive websites. In this course you will complete the first half of a large scale project—developing a comprehensive plan for a complex website—by defining the strategy and scope of the site, as well as developing its information architecture and overall structure. Along the way we will also discuss:

- Different job descriptions in the web design industry and where UX and UI skills fall within this spectrum - The difference between native apps and websites - The difference of agile vs. waterfall approaches - User personas and site personas - User testing The work and knowledge in this course continues in the last course in the UI/UX Design Specialization, Web Design: Wireframes to Prototypes, where you will tackle—finally—wireframes, visual mockups, and clickable prototypes. This is the third course in the UI/UX Design Specialization, which brings a design-centric approach to user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, and offers practical, skill-based instruction centered around a visual communications perspective, rather than on one focused on marketing or programming alone. These courses are ideal for anyone with some experience in graphic or visual design and who would like to build their skill set in UI or UX for app and web design. It would also be ideal for anyone with experience in front- or back-end web development or human-computer interaction and want to sharpen their visual design and analysis skills for UI or UX.

Welcome! In this first module I will summarize the assignments and expectations of this course.

What's included

4 videos9 readings

4 videosTotal 11 minutes

Course Introduction3 minutesPreview module
Why Peer Review? 1 minute
Peer Review Tips4 minutes
How to apply feedback 2 minutes

9 readingsTotal 22 minutes

About this course2 minutes
About the assignments3 minutes
Required tools2 minutes
Academic Integrity2 minutes
About CalArts and the Program in Graphic Design3 minutes
What is peer review?5 minutes
Instructor Presence and Staff Support 1 minute
Forum Guidelines2 minutes
Requesting Peer Reviews2 minutes

This week I will give you a brief overview of the user experience process that I will teach in this course sequence. We will begin by defining the term "user experience", and then briefly look at the five phases of UX design: Strategy, Outline of Scope, Sitemap, Wireframes, and Visual Mockups. I will also talk about the differences between mobile apps and websites, and the differences between waterfall and agile approaches to UX design. Lastly, I will introduce you to the main project that you will be working on in this course and the one that follows it. You’ll be starting your first assignment at the end of the week. Last, here's something to keep in mind this week: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”—Steve Jobs

What's included

9 videos5 readings1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt

9 videosTotal 38 minutes

Introduction to Week 11 minutePreview module
Defining the term "user experience"4 minutes
User-centric design3 minutes
What could possibly go wrong?4 minutes
The UX Phases (part 1)4 minutes
The UX Phases (part 2)3 minutes
Waterfall vs. Agile4 minutes
Web vs. App7 minutes
Project Ideas: Alyson and Bradley5 minutes

5 readingsTotal 29 minutes

Job Titles in the Web Industry7 minutes
About Web vs. App optional quiz1 minute
Project Brief5 minutes
Try it yourself: Research existing restaurants15 minutes
A Final Thought for the Week1 minute

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Web vs. App30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 45 minutes

Project Ideas45 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Great vs. Terrible User Experiences10 minutes

This week is all about strategy. We will talk about how to conduct research in the beginning of a project. And I will tell you about the importance of defining a target audience for your website. We’ll also discuss how to determine user needs and client needs. The strategy that you develop in this first step in the UX process will influence all decisions you make further down the line. That’s why it’s so important to take the time and think about what you want to accomplish, what the goals are, and how they might be measured when the project launches.

What's included

8 videos5 readings1 peer review

8 videosTotal 90 minutes

Introduction to Week 21 minutePreview module
User Research2 minutes
Inspiration4 minutes
Analytics5 minutes
User Needs and Client Needs7 minutes
Target Audience7 minutes
Strategy: Alyson and Bradley16 minutes
Interview with Craig Cooke: Determining success45 minutes

5 readingsTotal 48 minutes

Inspirational Websites20 minutes
Try it yourself: User research methods15 minutes
Example User and Client Needs: Pasadena Conservatory2 minutes
User Personas10 minutes
A Final Thought for the Week1 minute

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Strategy Document60 minutes

By now you should have a pretty clear idea what your projects will be about and who your target audience is. This week we will talk about how to take the user and client needs that you have established and create a set of content and functionality requirements from them. In other words, you’re transforming your overarching goals from last week into specific requirements for your site.

What's included

6 videos2 readings1 peer review

6 videosTotal 64 minutes

Introduction to Week 30 minutesPreview module
Introduction to Outline of Scope3 minutes
Content and Functionality8 minutes
Outline of Scope Example4 minutes
Scope: Alyson and Bradley16 minutes
Interview with Melissa Kuo30 minutes

2 readingsTotal 11 minutes

Try it yourself: Sorting content and functionality requirements10 minutes
A Final Thought for the Week1 minute

1 peer reviewTotal 90 minutes

Outline of Scope90 minutes

Welcome to the last week of this course. With your outline of scope in hand, you will now learn how to transform the content and functionality requirements determined last week into a navigable structure. This structure will be visualized by something called a sitemap. I’ll tell you all about sitemaps and how to create them. Along the way we will also define the term "information architecture". And I will introduce a tool called TreeJack, which will enable you to test your site map on actual users.