OEP Assignment

Our first OEP assignment is to produce a 3 page html website featuring several flash elements. Over the summer I had a unique opportunity to build websites for several clients and while immersed in the multimedia world I had to learn quickly. I have since produced several sites with included flash elements such as teamtrimite.com and gamersoc.co.uk. Although this task may appear like it could be done in an evening, I like to think of it more as an opportunity to experiment and try more ambitious themes as I was never presented with this opportunity with client projects. Last year we we're asked to build an interactive flash piece that we felt represented us. I felt like I missed out on a good project last year as I was too wrapped up in 3DS Max to focus on the idea of self. I would like to produce a mini/sub site for my personal portfolio erebusstyx.co.uk about myself, a more personal approach than my portfolio.

Another thing I would like to experiment with is how I approach a client project. Before I have always inadvertently wire framed my ideas, first sketching on a white board, then building up an image in photoshop, then buidling up simple bordered divs in HTML/CSS to build an idea of how things will look. From this point it's almost a case of fill in the divs, making everything a lot easier from a web developer standpoint. As opposed to an alternative to wire framing, this time I plan on using card sorting to improve the usability of my mini site.

"Interface design is the physical expression of the interaction design: the skin over the muscles and bone. Interaction design says, 'We need a button to turn on the siren.' Interface design says, 'The button should be here and it should be red.' They are deeply intertwined, since you cannot have one without the other."

-Dan Saffer.

Clearly interface design is an essential aspect of web design and although I have considered it before, it has never been the driving force behind my design ideas. This time I hope to pay increased attention to interface design using card sorting to help improve the ease of use of the mini site. Card sorting presents a sample of potential users with several cards representing content, users are then asked to arrange these cards into groups as they would expect to find the content they represent on a website.

"Identifying trends in users’ mental models about a particular subject; that is, learning how users think about something."

- Joshua Kaufman