Department of Computer Science

Web Design (WEBD) 2011/2

Workload - Private Study - Assessment - Description - Learning Outcomes - Content - Teaching Materials - Recommended Books

Corequisite Modules

• UCDE - User Centred Design

Workload

• Lectures: 18 x 1hr
• Problem Classes: 6 x 1hr
• Practicals: 9 x 2hrs
• Private Study: 18 x 1hr
• Assessment: 40 x 1hr

There are 4 main components to this module:
Lectures : 2 per week. These are the opportunity to learn about the basic techniques and technologies.
Workshops: 1 per week. These are interactive sessions in which specific aspects of webpage design. Students will be expected to do some preparatory work for these Workshops.
Group practicals: These take place in Weeks 2 and 3 and are a chance to work in groups on the design of paper prototype websites.
Labs: one 2-hour session per week. Students work individually on a project with the ultimate aim of building a small but substantial website.

Private Study

The web is not some abstract concept. It is out there, and one of the best ways of finding out about it is to spend some time using it. Examples of bad design are easy to find - good examples may be more elusive, but must be there somewhere. The web is also a rich source of tutorial material to back up the lectures and other resources.

Assessment

Open Assessment

• Spr/7/Wed -> Sum/1/Fri, uses electronic submission.
  Feedback: Sum/3/Wed

The assessment consists of building a website.

Formative Feedback

Students undertake weekly practical classes. Each student is assigned an instructor who will give them feedback and help on their work each week.

Description

By the end of the module students will be able to design and implement database-driven websites which are
• high quality
• usable and
• accessible

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of and experience in the use of design techniques, including design personas and design patterns.
• Understanding of basic web technology.
• HTTP
• Web design evaluation
Competence in the use of the following web technologies
• HTML
• CSS
• PHP
• JavaScript

Content

This module will be taken by students on the following MSc programmes: HCIT & SIIT.
The module runs in parallel with the Databse-driven Web Design module, sharing all the teaching, but students on WEBD will not be expected to be able to write their own mySQL queries, but rather to use provided PHP functions to access the database.
The assessments and practicals will be separate. The WEBD practicals and assessment will include using provided code to access a provided database.

Teaching Materials

Web-based lecture notes.
Workshop notes and samples.
Practical session notes and instructions.
On-line forum
Twitter feed

Recommended Books

Last updated: 20^th April 2012