AVT 415 · George Mason University · Spring 2016

Web Design and Usability

Syllabus · 3 credits · Prerequisite AVT 217, AVT 311 and AVT 313 · Abe Garcia

How the course runs

Mon and Wed, 4:30 to 7:10 PM, GMU Art and Design Building 1023. Jan 20 to May 2; finals May 4 to May 11. 28 sessions in 3 parts.

Part I · Project 1: Single Page Website, MVP: A local startup needs a very simple marketing site on a short timeline. Three weeks: sketching, responsive frameworks, version control refreshed, one page shipped.
Part II · Project 2: Content Management Systems: The startup loved the work and wants version two: a blog and several pages on a simple CMS. Three weeks, built on the first project.
Part III · Final: Portfolio Site: Four weeks on Bootstrap: a dynamic portfolio that showcases your voice as a designer, through information structure, prototyping, and responsive frameworks.

Assignment	Due	Weight
Project 1: Single Page Website, MVP75 of 400 points in the original scheme. A local startup's simple, responsive one-page marketing site, three weeks.	All term	19%
Project 2: Content Management Systems75 of 400 points. Version two of the startup site: a blog and several pages on a simple CMS.	All term	19%
Final: Portfolio Site125 of 400 points. A dynamic Bootstrap portfolio showcasing your voice as a designer.	All term	31%
Weekly assignments50 of 400 points. Due the first class day of the week after they are assigned.	All term	12%
Class participation55 of 400 points. Perfect attendance earned 10 credit points; critique attendance mandatory.	All term	14%
Exercises20 of 400 points, scored 0 to 3: a 2 is correct and complete, a 3 substantially exceeds the ask, the lowest score is dropped, never accepted late.	All term	5%
Final critique: the portfolioThe portfolio presented; attendance at critique mandatory	May 4 to May 11
Total		100%

Every piece of work is marked on four counts, evenly weighted.

Participation/Process · 25%: Contributing to class discussions and critiques; improving work as a result of research and iteration.
Concept · 25%: Responding to the problem statement innovatively; thinking critically about work based on critiques, readings, and discussions.
Formal Resolution · 25%: Making work that is aesthetically sophisticated and effective and appropriate given concept and context.
Craft · 25%: Taking care in manufacture of work; showing technical ability.

Read in selections, never whole. Each session lists what to read before that class.

Required: Memes in Digital Culture. Limor Shifman, MIT Press, 2013.
Required: Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. Steve Krug, New Riders, 2014.
Required: HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites. Jon Duckett, Wiley, 2011.

General format: The semester consists of workshops, seminars, exercises and projects. Workshops are in-class lessons about specific techniques with code or processes. Seminars present opportunities to discuss and debate critical issues regarding web culture. Projects happen largely outside of class and are thoughtful investigations based on a given problem statement. Class meetings are structured around workshops, seminars, work sessions, guest speakers, and project critiques.
Submission: Projects are due at the beginning of class without exception, presented in person on the due date. Late submissions lose a full letter grade for each class day of delay and are not accepted after one week.
Attendance: Fifteen minutes late is a tardy; thirty is an absence; three tardies equal an absence. Three absences of any kind reduce the final grade by a letter, and each beyond that another. There is no makeup for a project.
Archival record: Rebuilt from the class log the course actually ran on: the 28 posts of the 2016 course site, still live on GitHub Pages, one per meeting, snow days included. Every session links its own lecture post — the notes, exercises and slides as taught. Weights shown as percentages of the original 400-point scheme, rounded.