Major Project MA Web Design + Content Planning

Major Project Crits

The following guide notes must be read in conjunction with the full brief. Slides for the MP crits are to be submitted to Prisca (via Slack) by the friday following the presentation.

Crits: dates & guide notes

  1. 24/01/24: Business & Cultural Context + Commodity

    question prompts: Business & cultural context

    • decision time: which of your ideas is the one? now that you have made a decision on your core idea, you can begin the explorative work on your concept. This does not mean that your idea is fixed at all ~ rather that you decide on the concept which will then evolve as you work on research and content planning. The initial idea might result in something quite different in the end ;)
    • ask yourself: what problem does my project solve? consider your site’s mission, its aim and focus; how will it address the issue in hand?
    • ask yourself: who is my website for? who does my project help? consider your target group ~ and remember that ‘everyone’ is not a good approach. Ideally, of course, your site will benefit one and all and its accessibility and usability should be geared towards this in the final product. But to refine your approach for content planning, IA, content production and finally site design and build, you will need to have a clear focus. Narrow down your target group carefully and aim for variety and recognise commonalities.
    • ask yourself: how does my project fit into the cultural context? What is its place on the www? consider the rationale of why your website will be created and put online; what is the motivation behind your idea and how does it compare to other online publications within the same subject area? Research the wider context, giving details of history, purpose and meaning of the concept of your project.
    • ask yourself: what is my project’s purpose? you might choose a subject for purely personal reasons, something that you like and feel happy to spend the next year on - if your project serves you to learn the skills you want to learn, then that is a good rationale. However, your project still needs to deliver on its mission. or you might choose a subject as you recognise a social need In this case you’ll likely already have established a goal and it will be a matter of refining your site’s mission clearly.

    question prompts: Commodity

    • target group: who exactly is your website for? Before you can start with content planning, you will need to be clear about the people who are meant to benefit from your site. While you do not want to exclude anyone, it will be important to refine a specific group and to create fitting user personas. This will help with all upcoming aspects of your project work.
    • user persona: what kind of person are you planning this site for? Considering your target group ~ create specific user profiles. Narrow down personal details and make note of personalities/preferences. Making yourself aware of how your users might access the site will result in more thorough planning and help shape the final result.
    • user journeys: how will your site fit into real life scenarios? Coming up with user personas will allow you to imagine which scenarios might bring someone to your website. You'll be able to refine your content, IA and ultimately design with the help off these kinds of UX techniques.
    • content strategy: what kind of content will support the site's mission and benefit its users? Content planning and designing your IA will be a vital step before even considering the technical or visual aspects. Once you are clear about who the site is for, what its goal is ~ you can begin your content planning with that in mind. Consider what kind of media will be included, how access to content will be facilitated and what kind of functions might be added.
  2. 28/02/24: Delight

    question prompts

    • statement of intent At this stage, the visual design proposals you present are a statement of intent, rather than a final and fixed decision. Naturally, your design ideas will likely evolve along with your progress with site development. So, consider this a first iteration of your site design.
    • branding: how will your brand express its mission? While you will not have had the time to complete the brand design, at this stage, it would be good to set the foundations. Decide on the tone of language for your text and look to complement this with the visual aspects. Plan for a fitting design across all.
    • visual design: which approach will your site take? Considering your project's goal and its target group ~ explore possible options for type, layout and colour and aim to decide on an overall direction. Experiment with different design concepts to refine your design. Reviewing of cognate websites will help you answer this question: Are you challenging convention with your design or conforming to the norm for similar websites?
    • presenting visual design The page layout on common devices is an important aspect of visual design as this will demonstrate your use of white space and visual hierarchy. Other considerations include your proposed use of images and icons (photographic and/or illustrations) and the style of other user interface elements (e.g. navigation). Demonstrate your use of colour, type and adaptive layout in this first instance.
      You should use whatever tools you need to convey your proposals. These could include (but are not limited to) mood boards, style tiles, wireframes, and static mock-ups.
  3. 03/04/24: Firmness

    question prompts

    • content considerations: is your site content or data driven? Once you have refined your site's mission and target group, your planning can begin for content and user engagement. This is the time to decide on the specifics of your site's content, to plan for research, content production/editing following your planned information architecture, as well as draft an initial schedule. Consider the following points:
      ?—does your site present primarily static content? or are dynamic media included?
      ?—how frequent are updates to content? how exactly will this work?
      ?—what kind of promotional tools will your project use? how will those be implemented?
    • technologies: what kind of technical underpinnings will your project require? Start by writing up a list of requirements while considering all aspects of your project. Do your research and aim to conclude which approach will serve your site and its audience best. This is all about selecting the right tools for the job, the most suitable delivery methods and to plan for future updates and prepare for promotional efforts.
      ?—what technologies will be the most effective for content delivery?
      ?—what kind of technical setup does your user group likely have? How does this affect the site's setup?
      ?—would your project benefit from a CMS? If so ~ which type?

    PS: while ideally your final project mission and its target group should be the deciding factors here, there is also your learning journey to consider. It would not be a wise decision if your project seems to demand a set method which you do not feel you could confidently learn and apply within the given timeframe. Similarly, if the project's technical setup is nothing more than what you already know how to do ~ then this would lack the challenges this project should bring which would push your skills.

    In the past, some of our students have chosen a certain approach in order to learn a certain framework/cms, knowing that there is plenty of work out there. If this is your thinking too, then do make sure that the method you want to learn still ties in with your project aims. You will then be able to show off your final MP as the glorious masterpiece during job/client talks :)

  4. 01/05/24: Prototype

    Prototype: Demonstration and Schedule of Works

    Immediately before the summer break, you will present a prototype version of your website. It need not be feature or content complete but it should demonstrate the general design principles that you have identified as important in previous presentations, and it should contain some original sample content. You must also present a schedule of works so that tutors can be confident that you understand what is required in order to turn your prototype into a fully-functioning website and that you have the time and expertise to action this. You should include an estimated date for site launch.

    Your prototype presentation should include the following:

    1. A brief description and rationale for your project (you could use your manifesto, or elevator pitch).
    2. A summary of prior crits business case and cultural context, commodity, firmness and delight.
    3. A demonstration of your prototype. This may take various forms depending on the nature of your project, but the key point is that it must be rich enough for tutors to be able to clearly understand your vision for the completed site. For example, it could be done:
      • via transitioned slides to show flow of user journey.
      • as static prototype pages, HTML/CSS/JS only to show content/UI/layout.
      • using static mock-ups and partial webpages to demonstrate interaction.
    4. A schedule of works. Break your activities down into separate tasks (e.g. content creation, theme design, implementation etc.), the more detail the better, and then estimate how long each will take. Set deadlines for each element and then present as a Gantt chart so we can clearly understand your proposed schedule (gantt.com).

Links

Ordered alphabetically by first name