Week 4 Reflection: Professionalism & RISE Self-Evaluation

Self-evaluation is a necessary tool in the learning process.  By using the RISE method of self-evaluation, we can track our progress through the course.  We can also discover how much we've learned and retained through the process.  Below is my YouTube video for my RISE self-evaluation for my Web Design and Communication for Theory and Principles class here at Full Sail University.

Self evaluation for Web Design

Week 4 Reflection: Project Revision

After listening to feedback from the instructor, I revised my previous website for the fictitious business.  Feedback and revision help us to learn the techniques and concepts being taught in the course.  Another purpose for any revision is to make the piece better. I'll admit, I think the revised site looks much nicer.

No-Owie Bandage Removal

One of the suggestions the instructor made was to make better use some of the negative space in the header.  To this end, I enlarged the menu, added the email address along with the phone number, and gave a call to action by instructing them to contact Harry for service area.  I also moved the mission statement onto the picture.  The second major issue was the way I had the page title above the fold, but the important information below it.  I moved all the most important information to above the fold.  It makes the page look more balanced and allows the viewer to see what they are looking for without having to hunt for it.  The instructor also suggested I do away with the Contact page because it was redundant.  I had all that information on every page, so it wasn't really needed.  I added the email to the header and eliminated the Contact page altogether.  I also revamped the waiver so it was more complete.

Before:                                  

After:

Week 4 Reflection: RISE Peer Feedback

The point of critiquing another's work is twofold.  The first, of course, is the obvious one of helping the person you're critiquing to see where they can improve their work.  The other is just as important. Seeing other people's mistakes can aid you in seeing your own.  When you see how someone else handled an issue, you might realize you make the same mistake and, by helping them find a way to fix it, you've helped yourself, too; or they might employ a technique that gives you an "ah-ha!" moment that shows you what you can do to fix a problem you've been having.  A peer review is a learning experience all the way around.

Week 3 Project: Portfolio Skeleton

The purpose of this assignment is two-fold.  It gives us another chance to make a website and see if our skills have improved from the last one and it is yet another tool for students to use once we've left the ivory halls of Full Sail University.  This is more of a professional portfolio; a skeleton of a site, at best.  As our skills grow, our website should change with new and better projects, hopefully ones for which we've been paid! 

Paula Howard Personal Portfolio

I feel relatively confident in my understanding of the Portfolio requirement.  I realize the need for a professional presence on the web and that a Portfolio site is one of the best ways to fulfill that need.

I think the Home page and the About page are the strongest on my Portfolio.  I have my personal video profile on it and it says a lot about me.  I am wondering if I should have also included the version with the goat.  Nah, probably not.  It's amusing and is very much me, but I think the one I used is the best one for a professional portfolio site.  I just think the About page is tight and I like the way it looks.

I think the Skills page needs the most work.  It's just a bunch of certificates.  I feel I could probably do better with that.

Considering the fact that web design is not something I really enjoy, I think my Portfolio site came out pretty well and yes, I'm rather proud of it.  It reflects who I am pretty well.  It's somewhat edgy lookingI am much happier to put my name on this site than I was for the No'Owie one.  I really didn't care for that one at all.

Week 3 Analysis: Portfolio Inspiration

The purpose of this activity was to help give us inspiration for our own personal portfolios we're going to start building this week.  By looking at sites of people who are in the professions we want to go into ourselves, we can get ideas, see what to do, and what not to do.

Week 3 Exploration: Digging Deeper With Diigo

The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to dig deeper to find good information in order to learn more about their subject.  It also provides students with yet another good tool in the Full Sail arsenal that can help them learn as much as they can about a subject.

7 Psychology Secrets for Impactful Web Design

I chose this article because I enjoy psychology and have a natural affinity for it.  I learned long ago it's not what you do, but how you do it that makes the difference. 

One interesting point in the article was the suggestion to practice minimalism in website design.  I remember the days when packing all sorts of bells, whistles, and all sorts of stuff was the way to go.  It was intriguing to learn less is more even in web design and that people will stay longer on a page that is minimal. 

Minimal design works perfectly with the negative space suggested in the article.  The idea of surrounding an important design element with negative space makes a lot of sense, yet most of us don't think of it. 

The visual tour was another good point.  The article says to avoid abruptly stopping at the footer, making sure the potential client has a call to action or more to look at.  I hate it when a website just stops at the bottom, but I never really knew why.  Now I do.

There's a lot I can do with the information from this article in my portfolio project for this week.  I already like to use the psychology that goes into building trust and using color, but I'm going to keep these other elements in mind, as well.


8 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

I chose this article because, although I am pretty good at designing ads and videos, I'm not terribly good at designing websites.  I felt this might help me find ways to make any websites I design more interesting.

When working in other types of design, I not only can use asymmetry, but I prefer it.  Using it for a website just never entered my mind for some reason, though.  The article suggests using asymmetry is a good way to capture and keep people's attention.  The pitfall is that if it is overused, it makes the message muddied and confusing.  The point is to know when to stop.  This is something I'll see if I can incorporate for my portfolio project.

Like the first article, this one says that white space, or negative space, is a beautiful thing.  It can be used to guide people's eyes to the elements the designer wants them to look at and in what order.  

The last and, to me, most interesting mistake in website design is using vector images instead of raster.  This was news to me.  I didn't even know there was such a thing or that there were two different kinds of images.  Now that I do, I can be more selective with images with my portfolio project. 


Tips for Creating a First Class Personal Portfolio

I chose this article because, although I'm good at sales, I don't like to sell myself.  I felt this would be a good article to help me come up with ideas on how to do that. 

The first point was to have a clear logo and tagline.  This is kind of a no-brainer, but what the author said about making the tagline about the "why" was interesting.  Why do I do this work?  Why should the client hire me?  It's a good thing to think about.

Another tip was to showcase only my best work as opposed to all of it.  Obviously, I wouldn't want to put up the projects I'm not proud of on my portfolio, so it's just common sense.  However, knowing how many projects to post was my question, and the article answered that for me.

The tip about playing up my uniqueness made me want to pump a fist.  At work, I have been described as quirky, different, and dynamic.  Basically, they're all saying I march to the beat of a different drummer.  It's difficult for me to suppress or tone down my true nature, something I find I have to do a lot in a stiff, stuffy corporate environment.  I think using my bent sense of humor as a selling point can be done.

I had to design a personal logo in another class.  I'm not sure I like it, exactly, but I do like the tagline and I'm glad it does let people know who I am, what I do, and why.  That will definitely work on my portfolio.  I think the uniqueness factor might help me design a better logo, too.

Suggested website for MCBS-WDC Diigo page:

Web Design Principles Of Successful Websites

http://www.cleverism.com/web-design-principles-successful-websites/ 

In some ways, it repeats what other articles have said about design sites, but not only are these things worth repeating, this article expands on them a little and I think it explains it a bit better.  It also includes tips not in the other selections that I feel are valid.

Week 2 Project: Site Launch

The purpose of this assignment was to actually build the website for the ficticious client and company from the other assignments I've already posted on the blog.

  

I was able to deliver on most of the provisions in my proposal, but there were a few differences.  I changed the colors I'd proposed to be more in keeping with the present logo.  I also changed the name of one of the pages and eliminated the "Testimonials" page in preference of peppering the testimonials throughout the site, instead.

I did not promise anything I could not deliver.  I did keep most of the graphics somewhat smaller except for the Home page.  It is minimalist and easily accessed on a tablet.  

The most challenging part for me was to keep things consistent and evenly spaced.  I'm not a great judge of size and space, so I'm not sure just how much I succeeded.  

I like the fact that it's minimalistic, but I'm not sure I made it too simple.  I think I'd like to go a little deeper into more design elements within the site itself.  

No Owie Bandage Website

Week 2 Analysis: Site Launch Feedback

For my web design class, I had to choose one of three fictitious companies to design a website for. Today's assignment was to watch a video where the instructor reviews sites from former students so we could see some of the common issues and some of the good choices these students made.  This assignment is designed not only to show us what not to do, but also to show us some of the smart design choices others have made to avoid the pitfalls.

 

What I noticed most about the reviewed sites was how clean the home pages were.  I prefer a more minimalist approach to website home pages rather than having a lot of stuff to slog through on a home page. 

The three main issues that seemed to come up the most were page balance, consistency throughout the site, and proper page names.  Balance was an issue on almost all the sites, with different image sizes and type alignments being the biggest culprits.  Consistency throughout the entire site will help with the page balance.  By using the same alignments, font sizes and colors, same kind of headings and subheadings on every page, it will help to balance the pages.  Consistency is the key to a cohesive site.  Naming each page correctly is also important.  There can't be any confusion for a potential customer as to what they are going to find on each page.  The page titles must be clear and concise, letting the customer know exactly where to find the information they're looking for.

I need to spend a little more time researching my colors.  I will use the colors reflected within the logo, but I need to figure out how and when to use them effectively without making the site look like a rainbow or a circus.  I got some helpful ideas from the sites that were reviewed, but I probably need to look at some other sites to see how they use color, as well.

As I watched the video, I liked some of the things the designers did better than what I had in mind.  These ideas will actually solve an issue I had but hadn't yet decided the best way to handle them.  Instead of creating a "Testimonial" page, I think the idea of feeding them in throughout the site is a stronger way to present them.  I've also decided to put the contact information on the heading so it will be on every page.  All No-Owie really has for contact information is a phone number and email address, which doesn't need an entire page to get across.  Besides, having the information repeated on every page helps to it to stick in peoples' minds.  By doing these two things, it will tighten up the site and cut down on the number of buttons, thus making it easier for older viewers who might not be comfortable with computers to navigate.

Seeing these sites and seeing what the instructor pointed out as problems helped me to get a clearer picture of what I need to do with my site.  This was a very helpful assignment.  

Week 2 Exploration: Mood Board

Week 1 Project: Proposal, Site Map, and Wireframe

Following is the proposal, site map, and wireframe for No-Owie Bandage Removal, a fictional mobile wound care company. This is for the Full Sail Web Design class and is done to help us learn how to design a website for a client.

Wireframe

No-Owie Bandage Removal Proposal 

Website Goals and Objectives 
To provide information about Harry Ramirez’s professional background and about the services offered by his company. Harry is limited on his time, so this must be a very low-maintenance site that provides potential patients with information on his services as well as links to other sites with general information on bandage removal and wound care. It is important that this site needs minimal maintenance.

Specific Strategy Recommendations

• Use analogous color scheme of a more gold tone of yellow and a subdued green with yellow undertones. This will convey a sense of well-being, comfort, friendliness, caring, and confidence. No blue is to be used to help distinguish No-Owie from other wound care company sites.

• The current logo is simple which sets the company tone as easy-going and unpretentious. The simplicity will appeal to the geriatric base and their caregivers since they want something to uncomplicated their lives and the present logo gives that feel. The colors will be changed to a more golden hue for the bandaids and a warm green for the lettering of both the “No-Owie” brand and “Bandage Removal.” These warm, comforting colors will have a better psychological impact on the potential clients than the colder blue and the dangerous feel of the red.

 • Will add compelling but small graphics that load easily on tablet devices.

• Social media is not necessary at this time. Research of similar companies show low traffic volume and little to no customer feedback or comments. If No-Owie wishes to post specific article posts, a Facebook page would be recommended for this use.

 • Development of core pages and their functions:
           • Home page with graphic and basic information such as service area and area of expertise
           • Services page with offered services listed and link to the driving waiver form
           • Testimony page with real testimonials from actual patients
           • About page with Harry’s story and professional credentials
           • FAQs page that also includes a list of recommended websites
           • Contact information page

  Work Estimate 

 Estimated Design/Administration Time: 25 - 30 hours @ $50 p/hr Estimated Cost: $1250 - $1500

Delivery Time

Design of new website will be completed 5 weeks from date of acceptance of proposal, including the changes to the logo.

Maintenance Fees 

Since this is a low-maintenance site that will not need regular changes, maintenance fees will be assessed on an as needed basis.

Getting Started 

Information needed:

• Name of web hosting service
• Credit card # on file with your web hosting service
• Credit card # for stock images
• All contact information you want listed on the site
• Provide all links to recommended reading for Links page

Policies

Deposits

A deposit of ½ the estimated cost of $700 will be required upon acceptance of proposal.

Postponed, Delayed, or Abandoned Projects

After 30 days, payment will be required for any and all work performed on this project.

Cancellations 

Cancellation of the project will result in a cancellation fee of the deposit plus any additional expenses. A cancellation fee is charged to insure I am paid for any of my time I may have spent on this project. This fee will apply no matter the reason for cancellation. Payment Balance of fee is due within 10 days of completion of project.

Site Map for No-Owie Bandage Removal Company

Home:

• Logo
• Image
• Mission statement   

Service:

• Services offered
• Prices
• Link to waiver
• Image

About:

• Harry's photo
• Harry's story
• Harry's credentials

Testimonials:

• Client testimonials

FAQs

• Questions and answers
• Links to recommended websites

Contact

• Phone
• Email

Week 1 Analysis: Competitor Research

Below is the video research analysis I made for the fictitious company, No'Owie Bandage Removal Service, a wound care service. This is for my Full Sail Web Design class' Week 1 Analysis.

Week 1 Exploration: Mapping the Modern Web Design Process

The worldwide web is something that will be needed no matter what your profession.  Corporations often use it for some of their work systems and their associate hubs.  Smaller companies advertise and post their goods and services on their websites, Facebook, and Pinterest.  People searching for employment use it to find and apply for jobs.  Even the video and audio editing I'm hoping to work in needs YouTube and SoundCloud.  The web is as necessary today as the home telephone was thirty years ago.

Mapping the Modern Web Design Process relays a lot of interesting data to help web designers make the best web pages possible.  I was especially interested in the section on "Version Control."  I wasn't aware of the sites mentioned, but their function in the web design process is an excellent idea and something I'd like to learn more about.  The idea of building a persona as one would build a game character also peaked my interest.  I plan to look up the suggested Lynda.com tutorials to gain more information about good ways to go about it.  I would like to explore the card-sorting exercise further, as well.  Sometimes figuring out the best way to arrange a design in a cohesive manner is one of the most difficult parts of any design.  The card-sorting exercise sounds like it is the writer's outline of web design and is something worth learning how to use well.

Watching this tutorial gave me a few ideas on how to handle the fictitious web project.  I am definitely going to build a persona for what I expect to be the average customer for the client.  It also made me think about what pages would be best for both the client and his customers.

Probably the main question I would have for my client is who he thinks would most likely be the person to make a decision on whether or not to use his service.  His target client is the elderly, however older people often have children who will do research and help them decide on whether or not to use such a service.  I would think he would know the elderly community in his area and have an idea of whether they tend to make their own decisions and do their own research or if their children are more likely to do it.