First semester over!

With the first semester over, my writing skills have improved and I hope to gain web design experience next semester. Looking back through my weekly comments, I seem to have demonstrated an upbeat attitude balancing studies with a hectic lifestyle.

As an obsessive perfectionist, I feel that this personal attribute constantly drives me to achieving my full potential. Although, I am highly motivated individual my behaviour of late has become obsessively self-critical. Never did I expect the amount of work required in each assignment. The whole experience has been a rollercoaster of challengers, from presentations and assignments, to screen designs and written reports. Equally, I feel gratified that my efforts do not go unnoticed.

In conclusion, working through each of the assignments I have gained web design knowledge, a fundamental understanding of accessibility, usability and technologies that have supported my learning and will give me the necessary foundations for future projects.

Neither of the two assignments were completed smoothly, the second incurred several interruptions that have lead to an extension been granted. To successfully complete this assignment I am focusing on the whole project prior to evaluating improvements.

One important lesson I have learnt this semester is; ‘that it is important to do a good job, not my best job’. I will try and adopt this line of thought next semester. After looking out for different jobs across South Yorkshire I have reconsidered my position and realised that to avoid complications, I will stay with my current employer until the end of the course. Only when I have achieved the qualification and gained the essential web design knowledge/skills can I pursue my goal. My long-term aim was to eventually go freelance, however due to family commitments this is vast becoming a pipe dream.

Feel free to leave any suggested improvements

Please take the time to view my screen designs and suggest any improvements you would make.

BLUE


MIX


GREEN


If you feel a different colour scheme would be more appropriate, please suggest it. Otherwise vote for your favourite.

Thank you for your time looking at my screen designs.

Preoccupied by pastels

This week I concentrated my efforts in completing my delivery requirements and failed, probably due extensive research into web hosting and comparisons. However, I found a great web host by the end of it. I might even approach my current ISP madasafish.com to transfer my domain name. I would rather find out if I have any problems now rather than later.

The weekly tutorial outlined the areas I need to complete, which to be fair is the majority of the assignment. Thankfully, I have been granted the extension over the Christmas break. Navigation was discussed at my tutorial and the significance of using breadcrumbs. The term Breadcrumb, I feel must come from the story of Hansel and Gretel. While going through the forest, they left breadcrumbs on the way to remember the route. This feature would show the user their current position and allows them to backtrack through the listed links. I will learn more about ASP.NET, if I do decide to integrate it.

I have found myself preoccupied this week, trying to understand the really significant factors associated with pastel colours and old people. Eventually, I realised it is two factors, firstly they are calming and secondly these colours such as Pink, yellow, pale blue and green were fashionable during their teenage years. Deviating from my production plan cost me time in my last project; I really need to stop doing this if I am to keep on track of the assignment.

Disappointed with my current screen design, I feel much work is still required to improve it. I have come to the conclusion that a white background is essential and to avoid four columns if possible. However, I still believe colour coding will improve usability.

Target this week include:
1. Re-align my gantt chart to new deadline
2. Complete Delivery requirements and Competitive Analysis
3. Decide on a screen design and work it up electronically
4. Transfer Domain Name
5. Develop my screen designs further

Please feel free to comment

Since the content is divided into 4 equal sections of 10 terms the design should be straightforward. However, in comparison to print production more restrictions are applied to web design. Not only do I have to give the site an appropriate name, but I am also required to make sure that the final design is something I will be able to create, given the fact I have no pervious knowledge or experience using Dreamweaver. Yesterdays tutorial confirmed many of my initial thoughts and the realisation to avoid anything too complicated like rollovers and drop downs.

With the content complete and the domain name decided as "www.alivenclickin.co.uk" the next stage is to create a design solution. After four initial attempts, I feel confident that my final design is ideal. Although I still have reservations over the positioning of the photographs, colours and typefaces. To develop my design further, please feel free to comment the design below:

Hopefully with your help I will be able to improve this initial screen design, which will allow me to concentrate my efforts to the other parts of this assignment.

On the 18th Day of Christmas…

I keep on telling myself it is not December yet, however I realise it is very close. Come December the Christmas countdown will occur until submission day. After rewriting my to do list to Father Christmas submission, I am still deliberating over the thoughts of a time extension.

With only a few terms away from completing the content for A3, I hope to finish it by tomorrow. I realise that my original plan was to post the thumbnail screen designs today, but it will now be next week. So, watch this blog!

I suddenly have more responsibility

Over the past week, my whole world has altered and I suddenly have more responsibility, this has consequently affected my production plan. I originally estimated that I would complete an explanation for at least five technical terms in three hours. Following my initial attempt, I realised this target is unachievable. One hour per technical term is a more realistic amount of time required; therefore I need to realign the production plan.

Logistically this week has been difficult to do any work, due to limited computer access. For this reason I started writing the content for the website in my sketchbook.

This coming week, I plan to:

• Complete the delivery requirements, making sure that I have a more in-depth web hosting comparison;
• Complete the content sections;
• Complete the Target audiences;
• Continue to collect images associated with the technologies;
• Start the competitive analysis.

Back on track

Overall, I feel gratified with the results of my first assignment and enthusiastic that the new one can only be better now I have established a benchmark. To summarise the feedback I received yesterday, it was identified that:

• Supplementary written analysis was required on the hosting comparisons;
• My submission should have been in the correct order, (production schedule and timesheet’s behind the budget statement);
• A Domain name with authenticity was a requirement;
• Visual aids could have been used more effectively to represent type size options;
• C.G.I and JavaScript should have been identified as assets;
• I should have kept to just four robust goals;
• The Blogger should not include personal details.

Until yesterday, I had only created a proposed production schedule, organised my personal website and associated email. I felt cheated last week due to the incidental sympathetic, yet sombre atmosphere that followed the results, which implicated directly on my lack of focus on the new assignment. As a result of these unforeseen circumstances, I am now a week behind schedule. I feel that by re-aligning a schedule to focus on at least five explanations of computer terminology a day should bring me back on track.

These are my targets for the week ahead:

1. To research at least five terminologies a day - Recording all notes in sketchbook and summarise findings into 50 words;
2. Post comments on fellow students bloggers (4 minimum), before midnight Friday;
3. Research silver surfer statistics and chosen a couple of sites to start my competitive analysis;
4. Collect images relating to some of the terminologies with full copyright permissions.

The following quotes will inspire me to achieve my future goals:

Lord Chesterfield
“Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable”.

The British Army adage “the 6 Ps”
Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

The day of reflection

Prior to my presentation about yellow, I introduced myself to fellow students. I found this a great opportunity to put actual people to the bloggers I had read. Although the presentation went well, I would have preferred to present it to the whole class.

From the jovial atmosphere in the morning the afternoon seemed quite sombre after receiving the results from the “That’s the Plan” assignment. If I were an HND student, I would have been referred, however I passed at Merit level. Whilst I am pleased with the result, my thoughts are with those who have been referred.

Today has been a stressful experience more than the anticipation of the results from yesterday, as I had to take my son to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for his MAG3 Scan. Unfortunately this incurred my son being radioactive and therefore my pregnant wife was unable to assist in caring for him. I had planned for an interview at the agency The Book, in Leeds, rather than rescheduling the appointment, I enlisted the help of parents who were more than happy to assist much to my appreciation. The interview went well, and the agency will forward my details to respective employers.

Reading Week

First thing on Monday, I emailed Steve to identify the reading week task. In response he revealed, my reading task would be to research the colour ‘Yellow’. Through the means of a short presentation, I am required to communicate the cultural affects, psychologies interpretations and symbolism associated with the colour yellow.

I feel all colours have both positive and negative meanings that are subjective to personal interpretation. Identifying several interpretations should allow me to generate facts for the handouts and presentation. Since I am not sure what version of PowerPoint is on the computers at college, I will avoid incompatibility issues and create a pdf from Adobe InDesign instead. Designing my handouts around the objects associated with the colour will hopefully create a fun memorable experience. I am really looking forward to learning about the other colours from my fellow students.

In conclusion, my tasks this week include:

1. Researching my chosen colour
2. Preparing a pdf presentation with associated handouts
3. Practising my presentation against the clock, start and finish strong, speak clearly, make eye contact
4. Implementing communication guidelines to all future journals
5. Get hosting set-up and working
6. Printing off production schedule and copy the new assignment for Monday

Dig for Fire

This week, I utilised the Internet to research a company called “Dig for Fire” and quizzed Emma Thomson, Freelance Specialist, at The Book in preparation for today’s interview. The Book is a recruitment company that exclusively deals with creative jobs. In conclusion, “Dig for Fire” are an amalgamation of two established companies, Scope Creative and Paradigm, under the umbrella of Digital Marketing Group plc. Dig for Fire are now the largest direct marketing agency operating out of London, with an extensive blue chip client list.

Initially, I was interviewing the interviewer, not a good thing, however it probably demonstrated confidence. I felt it went well and that I answered the questions to a satisfactory level, although you can never tell as the interviewer always smiles politely. The Interviewer “Richard Waite (The Creative Group Head), confirmed that he would honour my personal development and encourage me to continue the college course. Brilliant!.

Hopefully, I will be asked back for a further interview and be offered the job. I should hear from Emma, in the next few days. Meanwhile, I now have two results to wait for:

1. Will I pass the unit?
2. Will I be asked to attend a second interview?

Only time will tell. I will keep you posted.

Good news comes in threes

Firstly, I hope you have all completed the unit on time and enjoy your break. Don’t worry about the result, we are all in it together and it is our first attempt therefore we can only improve.

This week
Tuesday of this week was a satisfying occasion; a feeling of fulfilment and elation empowered my body when I submitted my first assignment, leaving the college with a beaming smile. Now a few days later I have been short-listed for an interview at a design agency in Sheffield. It is said, “good news comes in threes”, and so I am hoping that I have passed the unit. Glad that I have got a break away from college work this week but eager to start the next assignment. In the meantime I need to get my portfolio in order and wait in anticipation of the forthcoming result.

Looking back
Prior to starting this course, I felt disappointed that I knew nothing about web design and the associated technology, to a point this is still true. In the creation of this unit, I now appreciate how usability and accessibility affects the users experiences, a vital consideration of web development. Furthermore, I now value all the methods we have used to record the progress and evidence our learning through the use of these electronic journals, sketchbooks and written reports. On first impressions, I admit I felt a little bewildered by this obsessive behaviour and did not feel at all comfortable presenting a sketchbook that didn’t have a logical order. Over time, I have managed to become less anally retentive over the methodical presentation of the sketchbook and now feel lost without it.

Points to consider next time

1. To keep a record of the Internet sites I visit and catalogue them against each element of the unit
2. Set achievable weekly targets after each tutorial and review my progress in the blogger
3. Make sure I have an adequate amount of printer consumables, since I keep running out of paper
4. Avoid the distraction of unnecessary research
5. Keep study periods within sociable hours
6. More engagement in other peoples blogs

Still deliberating over the design

Setting myself a list of targets to complete every week, I am on track to getting the unit completed for Saturday. Allowing myself one day of checking before submitting on Monday. Feeling quite apprehensive at the moment, I seem to be consistently adding bits to my web plan or tinkering with the screen design. I just need to leave everything alone and complete the evaluation report.

After carefully considering everyone comments, find below the current screen designs.

My main target audience is a 68 year old retired naval officer, originally from New Zealand. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a few years ago, it has affected his co-ordination and now he has Deutanopia colour blindness; subsequently due to his condition, simple tasks like controlling the mouse or viewing information can be difficult if not on a contrasting background.

At the Library, he uses a PC with a broadband connection and is on-line communicating with other people with the same condition or gathering research about maritime history. At home, he’s on a 56k modem, he is frustrated when poor navigation sends him down the wrong path and similar to a teenager would rather visit another site than wait for a site to download.

Bearing in mind the target audience, please could you think of any suggested improvements?.

What are your thoughts about this design?

With still plenty to do, it is important for me to stick to the production chart. Recent modification should allow me to avoid getting distracted, by learning about usability issues that are not necessarily related to the assessment criteria and focus my effort to completing the unit. To complete the unit, I will need to cross reference my work against the assessment criteria and finalise my web plan and evaluation report.

It was gratifying this week to receive some feedback from other learners about my blogs, especially comments to support my sketches. Taking much longer than original expected, please see below my version 6 – screen design with feedback form.



What are your thoughts about this design?
Prompt constructive responses would be very much appreciated.

Gantt Chart

At the beginning of the week, I set myself a checklist of targets, which improved my focus and gave me a sense of enormous satisfaction. One of the targets, was to define the look of the site template. Initially, I was reluctant to begin designing until I was satisfied with the content required for the other units. Similar to leaving your dessert till last, temptation got the better of me and I reached for the pencil.

Fixed

Liquid

Please feel free to leave constructive criticism (the more critical the better!), I will look forward to receiving your suggestions for improvement in eager anticipation.

Self-discipline is something that I don’t find difficult, but having a good balance between, College, Work and Family is a juggling act. Implementation of a Gantt chart will illustrate my scheduling against the units ahead. With the deadline fast approaching, I feel both apprehensive and confident. Apprehensive that my sketch blog doesn’t have an adequate amount of supporting evidence, but confident that by referring to the Gantt chart, I will complete each unit on time.

Oblogatory web guidance

I decided to alter the format of my Blogger to conform with the web accessibility guidelines (1.1, 1.2, 4.2, 12.3 and 14.1) http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/full-checklist.html, in comparison to my initial design the new design has real impact and fulfils my artistic expression.









On loan this week from Wakefield Library, “Jakob Nielsen, Prioritizing Web Usability”, reading this re-confirmed my thoughts about usability. The book includes factual information and human psychomotor behaviours such as Fitts' law and explores many hidden factors that need significant consideration in order to build an engaging user experience. This week I have discovered that a websites’ appearance is determined by it’s user, unlike print where WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) an interesting comparison to comprehend with my background in printing.

Some of these web considerations included:

• Links that change colour when visited
  Vital for people who suffer with short-term memory loss
  

• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) CSS allows the user to alter the appearance of the site, very useful for users with different types of colour blindness
  

• Only 40% of users view the second screen of a webpage

• CGI (Common Gateway Interface) – Is Just Magic!
  Common = Interacts with many different operating systems.
  Gateway = Provides users with a way to gain access to different programs, such as databases or picture generators.
  Interface = Uses a well-defined method to interact with a Web server
  http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/cgi/ch01_01.html
  

• A site built using HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
  It will create a small size site compared to a site created with images as blocks of text.
  

• RNIB Not considered ?
  To ensure that standard print is legible for as wide an audience as possible RNIB (The Royal National Institute of Blind People) recommend a minimum type size of 12 pt Arial, for all printed documents. This is not as restrictive on the web because the user can determine the type size, interesting debate!
  http://www.typophile.com/node/28764
  

Following my second tutorial, I realised that whilst it is a positive thing to research and collect evidence for my sketch blog, it is also imperative to collaborate my findings within a written report. Concentrating my effort this week, I have produced a thorough written evaluation of my Project Goals, Target Audience and delivery requirements. It is my intention to start the design process next week.

“Jakob Nielson” a web designers arch nemesis!

Throughout the week I have gained knowledge about three of the eight targets from the first assignment and compiled my findings into the sketchbook. By evaluating my development I will use this blogger, this should help me establish factual details and creative inspiration to support my written report. Well, that’s the Plan!

I now realise the importance of the core process. Similar to the design process, the creation of an effective website is achievable when you empathise with your client’s aims and objectives, only then can you develop a realistic plan based on their budget, consideration of lead-time and design parameters.

Overwhelmed with the amount of consideration required to aid usability. I found it useful to read interviews/comments from “Jakob Nielson”. Some people refer to him as the Father of Usability. Others i.e. designers, in particular seem to see him as their arch nemesis. In my opinion, whilst I understand that the appearance is important to entice the audience, if usability is not considered frustration will occur. I really wanted to get my hands on a copy of one of his books this week, because I feel it may support findings for my next target on competitive analysis.

“Where I’ve come from, where I am now and where I’m going”

Sometimes you get asked the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”. Well five years ago I was single, living at home studying to become an ICT Tutor, while holding down a Graphic Design career. Five years previous to that, I was working in Rotherham at B&B Press, designing and coordinating digital pre-press work into litho production, with plans to travel around the world. I could never have imagined five years on, I would be married with one child and another one on the way; achieved management status and be a part-time FE ICT Tutor/ NVQ Assessor teaching: MS Office, Digital Camera’s and advanced Photoshop.

My decision to working in the print industry, rather than pursing a degree in Graphic Design allowed me the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge in print theory and pre-press production. However, despite this valuable experience I have always regretted not continuing my studies and gaining a degree. I believe by advancing my design skills into web design will broaden my knowledge, increase my attractiveness to future employers, but above all will build the foundation for my future.

For a while now, I have been searching for the right course to accommodate my commitments. Finally, I found a course that I could attend on day release, or so I thought! Despite the refusal of day release my employer has reluctantly agreed to allow me to finish early on Monday's. During my initial meeting with the course tutor, I identified that to complete the course with such limited tuition had never been attempted. At the moment I feel apprehensive about what is expected from me, however I am enthusiastic to the challenge ahead.

The way I intend to make my future is by keeping focused and having a clear direction. I will be spending the rest of my life living in the future and I dream that one day I will own my own business.

Bring on the first assignment, Steve!

To quote: Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
Author: Ralph Waldo Emmerson