I'm back here again at the lab... let's see how much more I can get accomplished or how many more hours I will spend tweaking things to get them the way I would like them to be. There may be moments of frustration and feelings of being really overwhelmed...but I must say I'm really enjoying this journey of web design.

I have to say I'm really liking this 'blogging' thing. When we were told the first class we are to blog every week, I was thinking to myself, no way! Sharing thoughts and comments with everyone?! I really find it interesting and helpful to read blogs and comments of students in the same class. I gain new perspectives and it's also nice to know that the other students in the class go through some of the same things I do.
Thanks, Professor Diamond for introducing it! (well, it was an introduction for me, since I've never blogged before this class)

Understanding specific things really helps in expediting what I need to do to build my site for the final project. Having the extended lab time and being able to ask very specific questions during that period was great. The pressure is on.
I spent quite a few hours working on my site again today. I will have to spend a few times more the hours the next few days working on it. Then, I have the design document...

Everything we've discussed in class is finally becoming more clear...
div tags, ...css styles... all those mini assignments...now having to put it all together...
the last class was much useful as I am trying to apply much of what we went over to my final project. After storyboarding and flowcharting, I finally started working on the actual website. Though things make more sense to me now, it has still been quite a challenge for me...figuring certain things out on my own, trying to get things to look a certain way, and...thanks! Jessica, for your tips yesterday. It was very helpful. I still have a long way to go with the project.. but I'm enjoying the challenge and the journey of creating this site.

Organizing and Storyboarding a Web Site

Drawing my own storyboard and constantly referring back to it as well as the article really helps with my final project. It helps to see what information I would like to include organized.

Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design

Regardless of what decisions are made for a design, messages and goals needs to be clearly communicated from the beginning of the design to ensure the intended message to be correct. Clarity, according to Shendoff, is the most important goal for communication to be effective. Is the user understanding what the designer is conveying? Clarity means regardless of how simple or complex, the information is presented with a single message or goal a time, not attempting to include too much at one time. It's beneficial to research before and during the process of the design. Understanding the audience's level of knowledge is crucial. Knowledge is gained through experiences. What valuable experiences do we want to create for the users? The experience created needs to be a compelling one to gain a larger audience. Thinking of this while working on my own final project, I need to consider the different ways to organize information for my potential users so that they will find it easy to understand as well as useful and create experiences for users so that they will continue using the site.

Attractive Things Work Better

The connection between aesthetics and emotion could have affect on its function. When a person finds something attractive, the person is in a positive state perhaps finding its function easier to use vs. when a person sees something as not so attractive, a less positive state the person will be in which may affect how the design will be used. "The emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates." The definition of attractive is vast. Even within small groups of people with various backgrounds, opinions of what will be attractive will differ. Will the users find the background, color, sound, images, design layout as appealing as the designer? Not an easy task task from a designer's perspective.
Norman states that happy people are generally more creative, has a better imagination, whereas anxious people are more narrow minded and focused. Creative minds allows one to be more free with their ideas as well as being open to new ideas which will generate new results. Narrow minds will stay focused on the same ideas generating the same results. With that said, challenges that result ought to be taken as opportunities to look at different approaches.

Recipe for a Successful Website

Shedroff used an interesting metaphor to help understand what is needed to design a successful website. I found this reading light and humourous. He used quite a few great examples. Websites that will trigger emotions, make one laugh, inspire, and be informed will keep users going back to those sites. Content needs to be fresh. Constantly updating the site using new material is appealing. The information on the site would be helpful if it's clear, organized and easy to navigate. Another key point is performance. The quicker the better it is.

Final Project

Background: Learning objectives for the site

The site will include step-by-step instructions on how to create handmade custom designed invitations/notes/announcements for personal or business. It will include a collection of ideas on various themes and backgrounds to use. Individuals can in addition to taking those ideas add special touches using paper and other materials. There will be links to workshops, calendar of events, ideas/tips for each holiday or occassion. There will be a comment/suggestion box, links to books and other sites.

Audience

The audience will be anyone who's interested in creating personalized invitations/notes - parents, event planners, individuals with home based businesses to market their service or product(s), brides/bridal party, anyone who likes to entertain

Background knowledge in the area

The individuals will have basic to very little knowledge, however, will have somewhat of a creative sense and be interested enough to create one's own unique invitations/notes.

Level of technology proficiency

The group will have basic to intermediate knowledge on certain programs to incorporate simple drawings ... to the products. Relies much on the internet for information and inspirations.