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LIS 861: Information Architecture

Assignment 1: Web site version 1.0; due February 23

Overview

Propose a redesign for a library web site, grounded in an analysis of its users, goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Prototype your proposal. Deliver both your proposal and your prototypes as web pages.

This is a group project; your group can divide the labor in any way that seems fair to you. Your group should have 4-ish people.

Why do we do this?

A library web site redesign is a common, and daunting, real-world task which relies on all the skills we've discussed in this course. Proposing one will let you practice those skills (as a bonus, these skills are applicable all over web work, not just in the redesign context). Getting your feet wet with the redesign process now will also make it more approachable should you be involved in one professionally.

Deliverables

Due May 16.

  1. Your report, analyzing the existing site and proposing changes;
  2. Your protoype, consisting of two pages: a home page and an internal page, exemplifying the changes you are proposing.

Both of these should be web pages: HTML, plus whatever CSS and JS you need to demonstrate your vision. Deploy these, whether to UW My WebSpace or externally, and provide the links in the Deliverables thread of the Final Project forum at Learn@UW.

Grading criteria

Report content

You may organize this content in any way you like, so long as it reflects good use of HTML organizational elements (e.g. headers) and best practices for web writing as described in Krug (e.g. be concise).

Your recommendations should be clearly grounded in evidence and in concepts you've learned this term, and should address the issues of users, goals, strengths, weaknesses, etc. covered elsewhere in your report.

Prototype content

Your prototype should clearly demonstrate your recommendations.

Since this is a prototype, there are some things that won't work, and that's fine. Your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript if applicable need to work, and your page does need to be fully styled. However, there are some things that can't work because they rely on content you don't have access to or that doesn't exist. Thus, for example...

Technical requirements

Both your report and your prototype are web sites, and as such should...

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