Final Project: Personal Portfolio (150 points) WHAT For this assignment, you will create your online

portfolio and explain each choice you made as you went through the steps of the user-centered design process. WHY This assignments purpose is to: 1. Demonstrate that you have successfully applied the user-centered design process to create a digital product. HOW You will: 1. create your online portfolio (50 points) 2. explain how it was created (100 points) PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS The requirements for the portfolio are: It is implemented in HTML & CSS It is free, as much as possible, of usability issues It is based on design and usability principles Content requirements: You can put whatever you want and whatever best represents you and your work. The only content you have to include is: 1. Item descriptions For each item in your portfolio, include a brief description something like a caption. The caption should explain what the item is, what it was designed for, and what skill(s) it showcases. 2. Process descriptions for at least 3 portfolio items (tell the story) For 3 of your portfolio items, include descriptions of the process you used to create them. Follow the advice our guest speakers gave, and in addition to presenting these 3 portfolio items, include brief, visual stories of: o What problem you were given/trying to solve o What decisions you made that lead to the final product (show sketches, drafts, previous versions) 3. Portfolio explanation (tell the story of the portfolio itself aka the work done in this course)

Include a page (or section) on your portfolio website that explains the work process you undertook to create the portfolio itself. This is the portfolio explanation see below for details on what it should include. This is NOT a paper or a report. It is a part of your website. You can name it anything you want (e.g. About this portfolio; or User-centered design; etc.) as long as it is clear what it is and we can find it when evaluating your project.

The Portfolio Explanation should have 3 parts: User Research, Conceptual Design, and Evaluation. I. User Research In the user research section of the portfolio explanation, show what steps you took to gather design requirements for your portfolio. These steps are important because they inform your decisions about what goes into your portfolio and what it looks like. Include the information listed below. A lot of it comes from earlier assignments, so please refer to those or embed them, but make sure that you tie everything together with consistent text and visual style. Keep the lessons learned about Writing for the Web in mind: Break info down into short chunks, shorten the sentences and paragraphs as much as you can; Use headings, subheadings, lists, and graphics. User groups List the main user groups you are designing for starting with the most important. Persona(s) Include the persona assignment from earlier in the semester. please anonymize the other group members. User goals Make a numbered list of the most important goals your users will want to accomplish on your portfolio site, starting with the most important. Your goals Make a numbered list of the most important goals you want to accomplish on your portfolio site, starting with the most important. Vision Describe your overall vision for your portfolio. What is your strategy? What did you want it to be like, so it can work for your users and you? Info architecture and organization logic How did you decide to organize the information on your site, and why?

II. Conceptual Design Show what techniques (sketches, wireframes, etc.) you used to design your portfolio, and why you made the specific design choices you did, especially those related to homepage and navigation. Remember the core questions about homepages and navigation: You do not have to include this ugly table in your portfolio. But you could include an annotated screenshot with your rationale.

How does your Homepage answer these questions: What site it this? What does this site do, what is it about? Who does this site belong to? What does the author of this site do? Where do I start? What are the high-priority tasks on this site? What is the visual hierarchy on this homepage? What are items 1, 2 and 3? What techniques did you use to create this visual hierarchy? How big is this site? How is it organized? What is this sites and persons character, as conveyed through graphics? What impression does it make? How does it use graphics to create that impression? (i.e. reliable, or playful, or informative, etc.)

Technique(s) & Reasons

How does your Navigation answer these questions: Where am I?

Technique(s) & Reasons

In relation to the Internet In relation to the site what page In relation to the site what section Where have I been? Where can I go from here? What other design and usability principles did you apply in your design? Some examples of design decisions would be: alignment and layout, choice of words on navigation, placement of items, color of items, size, etc. For example: Design decision #1 Words on navigation menu Applied usability or design principle: applied the usability principle Match between the system and the real world (Nielsen heuristic 2) by using language likely to be familiar to users.

Please make sure to refer back and CITE the usability guidelines and principles you applied. Cite the course readings. III. Evaluation Explain what steps you took to evaluate the portfolio. Make a list of the findings from your evaluation what issues did you come across? What were their severity ratings? What changes did you make because of them? Include before and after screenshots. Cite sources (your textbooks are OK) for usability evaluation methods. It is important to show what books you have read and that you can apply them to product design. GRADING CRITERIA: An EXCELLENT final project exceeds expectations. Every link and functionality of the online portfolio works and is implemented correctly and cleanly using HTML & CSS. The overall usability and look are exceptional. The Portfolio Explanation accounts for every single design decision by applying principles learned in class. The Portfolio Explanation is clear, visual, easy to follow, and cites all the relevant sources. 140-150 points

A GOOD final project meets expectations. It is similar to an excellent final project, but it has a few occasional errors. Still, the portfolio explanation accounts for all design decisions, and relates them to principles and concepts covered in class. 115-139 points. A SO-SO final project falls below expectations. It either has major implementation and usability issues, and/or the explanations are not clear and/or do not apply concepts and principles covered in the course. 0-114 points. Assessment criterion Feedback PORTFOLIO (50) Implementation works Correct HTML & CSS Good usability Good design PORTFOLIO EXPLANATION (100) All design decisions explained Explanations cite concepts and principles learned in class Explanations are clear and concise Story told clearly and visually no long paragraphs

Your final project exceeds / meets / is below expectations Your points:

HOW TO SUBMIT THIS ASSIGNMENT: 1. Publish the portfolio online and submit the link on Blackboard OR 2. Submit all files as a .zip archive on Blackboard DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 24 by midnight.