Interactive Design - Exercise

4/4/2019- 11/4/2019 (Week 1- Week 2)
Lee Yu Hui | 0335787
Interactive Design
Exercises

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Instructions

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Lectures
Lecture Notes

Week 1- 4/4/2019
I've always had a mild interest in web design, and I've learned a little about HTML in high school. During the first class, we were introduced by Mr. Shamsul about web design, what is a good web design and what's not. We were separated into groups to determine which website is considered good to us and what is not based on the websites given to us.

My groups list of good and bad web designs.

After filling in the list, each group had to present to Mr. Shamsul and explain about our findings. Overall, I would say the first class is quite fun and interesting, and looking at good designs really left me in awe at how far the development of the web has become. 

Week 2- 11/4/2019

This week we were asked to bring A3 paper to school for group activities. In the beginning of the class Mr. Shamsul introduced us to the difference between UI and UX. Then, we were again separated into groups to do a activity.

Difference between UI and UX

The main goal of the activity is to design a landing page for Taylor's University kiosk, and we were to create our designs on A3 papers. Later, we were supposed to present our final product to other groups and have other groups "try" our final product.

Firstly, we started off by observing the surroundings of Taylor's. And after collecting the data, we went back to the classroom to get started on our design. It took us quite a while to finish the work, but I actually enjoyed the process a lot.

Fig 1.0 Our final product.

It was actually really interesting to have this done in a group because I feel like we're open to more and different ideas from different people. I definitely learned a lot from people in my group and other groups as well. I feel like there's just a lot of ways that one can explore and do in terms of user interface, and it all depends on the final thing that one hopes to achieve. 

Week 6- 9/5/2019

This week we were taught to create a website about ourselves and Mr. Shamsul taught us how to use CSS for the first time, and we started exploring how to use image as a background and learn to do simple navigation for our website.

You can click to see my final outcome here.

Fig 1.1 Image of my final outcome.

Week 7- 16/5/2019

This week Mr. Shamsul introduced us to css coding and we also learned about boxing and layout of the web. It was actually a little hard as we have to pick the right tag to make it work. When working in CSS, it was actually slightly confusing at first, as we have to keep switching between HTML and CSS. But after gotten the hang of it, it became much more simple and easy to use. 

Fig 1.2 Working in HTML

Fig 1.3 Working in CSS

Fig 1.4 Final Outcome of learning boxing and layout.

Week 8 - 23/5/2019

This week Mr. Shamsul briefed us about the second project and we spend the whole class trying to fix the errors and complete the exercise that was given to us in the previous week. It took me a long time to fix the layout and I had a hard time trying to adjust the layout to my liking.

Fig 1.5 Coding in HTML

Fig 1.6 Preview of outcome

After struggling for a long time, I finally was able to complete the exercise. 

The link to the outcome is here.

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Feedback

Week 2

Mr. Shamsul commented that we did a nice job, the navigation and layout is pretty straightforward, and that is what we should look for in a landing page design.

Week 6

There was no feedback given.

Week 7

No feedbacks were given.

Week 8

Mr. Shamsul advised me to change up a few tags to make the layout more appealing.

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Reflection

Experiences

Week 1

Overall the first class was quite fun and I like how Mr. Shamsul gave us a group activity in the first class so we don't feel boring. When searching for good and bad designs, I learned a lot about what makes up to a good website design.

Week 2

For this class Mr. Shamsul told us to bring A3 papers to school for another group project. In short, we were assigned to design a kiosk for Taylor's on the A3 paper and have our classmates have a test run. It was interesting to work as a group as I'm able to listen to different opinions and suggestions.

Week 6

It was quite fun playing around with different tags and settings to gain the outcome we want, Mr. Shamsul suggested us to w03school for reference to benefit our future coding.

Week 7

When I started learning CSS it was actually a little confusing to me as I had to switch between HTML and CSS. But after learning how to apply the tags as well as how to use it, it became much more simple for me.

Week 8

I find it pretty hard to complete the coding myself as I need to work on the boxing and layout more. Nevertheless I got it done and submitted it in time.

Observation

Week 1

I notice that good web design often use minimalist style and colors, and the interface is usually simple yet elegant and easy to navigate. Web Design may seem easy to some people but making a efficient design requires good observation and psychological thinking.

Week 2

I discovered that a lot of attention to detail is needed when designing a kiosk. It seemed like an easy task at first but when it comes to designing the landing page, it took my group quite a while to figure out which one works best as a landing page.

Week 6

There's really a lot to explore with HTML and we have to be very careful to not to miss any symbols as it can affect the outcome of the website.

Week 7

Learning how to really code takes time and to get good at it is to keep practicing. I saw a few classmates who are particularly good at it and I really admire their works and efficiency. 

Week 8

I was amazed when I saw some of my friends completed the website and their outcome is very elegant and modern. 

Findings

Week 1

I found out that web design and interactive design in general is the trend of the future and for us designers to not get left out, we must learn more skills so that we can offer more skills in the future.

Week 2

I find that designing a kiosk requires a lot of details and information, and it has to be easy for the users to navigate across to look for information, and I believe that is the main purpose for a kiosk, is to be simple enough for users to navigate through. 

Week 6

It was fun and exciting to learn new codes, and I enjoy playing around with the style of the website.

Week 7

I notice that sometimes the way HTML and CSS works requires logical thinking and precise with numbers. Though there will be times where there's an error occur and that could be caused by an unknown bug.

Week 8

It takes a lot of practice and attentiveness to be able to do coding. I find it very complicated and hard to do the layout of the website and I wish to work on that more.