Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture
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Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture
This course is part of UI / UX Design Specialization
Instructor: Roman Jaster
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Skills you'll gain
- Software Development Methodologies
- User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design
- Web Design and Development
- User Experience Design
- UI/UX Research
- Mockups
- Web Design
- User Experience
- User Centered Design
- UI/UX Strategy
- Persona (User Experience)
- Information Architecture
- Design Strategies
- User Research
- Design Research
- User Interface (UI)
- Wireframing
- Usability Testing
- Persona Development
- Target Audience
Details to know
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There are 5 modules in this course
This course is focused on the early user experience (UX) challenges of research, planning, setting goals, understanding the user, structuring content, and developing interactive sequences. While the concepts covered will translate to many kinds of interactive media (apps, digital kiosks, games), our primary focus will be on designing contemporary, responsive websites. In this course you will complete the first half of a large scale project—developing a comprehensive plan for a complex website—by defining the strategy and scope of the site, as well as developing its information architecture and overall structure. Along the way we will also discuss:
- Different job descriptions in the web design industry and where UX and UI skills fall within this spectrum - The difference between native apps and websites - The difference of agile vs. waterfall approaches - User personas and site personas - User testing The work and knowledge in this course continues in the last course in the UI/UX Design Specialization, Web Design: Wireframes to Prototypes, where you will tackle—finally—wireframes, visual mockups, and clickable prototypes. This is the third course in the UI/UX Design Specialization, which brings a design-centric approach to user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, and offers practical, skill-based instruction centered around a visual communications perspective, rather than on one focused on marketing or programming alone. These courses are ideal for anyone with some experience in graphic or visual design and who would like to build their skill set in UI or UX for app and web design. It would also be ideal for anyone with experience in front- or back-end web development or human-computer interaction and want to sharpen their visual design and analysis skills for UI or UX.
What's included
1 video4 readings
1 video•Total 3 minutes
- Course Introduction•3 minutes
4 readings•Total 10 minutes
- About this course•2 minutes
- About CalArts and the Program in Graphic Design•3 minutes
- About the assignments•3 minutes
- Required tools•2 minutes
This week I will give you a brief overview of the user experience process that I will teach in this course sequence. We will begin by defining the term "user experience", and then briefly look at the five phases of UX design: Strategy, Outline of Scope, Sitemap, Wireframes, and Visual Mockups. I will also talk about the differences between mobile apps and websites, and the differences between waterfall and agile approaches to UX design. Lastly, I will introduce you to the main project that you will be working on in this course and the one that follows it. You’ll be starting your first assignment at the end of the module. Last, here's something to keep in mind this week: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”—Steve Jobs
What's included
13 videos7 readings2 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt
13 videos•Total 77 minutes
- Introduction to Week 1•1 minute
- Defining the term "user experience"•7 minutes
- User-centric design•4 minutes
- What could possibly go wrong?•4 minutes
- The UX Phases (part 1)•4 minutes
- The UX Phases (part 2)•3 minutes
- Waterfall vs. Agile•4 minutes
- Web vs. App•8 minutes
- Project Ideas: Alyson and Bradley•6 minutes
- Why Peer Review? •2 minutes
- Peer Review Tips•4 minutes
- How to apply feedback •2 minutes
- Bonus Material: Interview with Chris Manik•28 minutes
7 readings•Total 66 minutes
- Defining User Experience•20 minutes
- The UX Process•10 minutes
- What's the difference?•10 minutes
- Project Brief•5 minutes
- Try it yourself: Research existing restaurants•15 minutes
- What is peer review?•5 minutes
- A Final Thought for the Week•1 minute
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Web vs. App•30 minutes
- Week 1 Quiz•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 45 minutes
- Project Ideas•45 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
- Great vs. Terrible User Experiences•10 minutes
This week is all about strategy. We will talk about how to conduct research in the beginning of a project. And I will tell you about the importance of defining a target audience for your website. We’ll also discuss how to determine user needs and client needs. The strategy that you develop in this first step in the UX process will influence all decisions you make further down the line. That’s why it’s so important to take the time and think about what you want to accomplish, what the goals are, and how they might be measured when the project launches.
What's included
9 videos6 readings1 assignment1 peer review
9 videos•Total 95 minutes
- Introduction to Week 2•1 minute
- User Research•3 minutes
- Inspiration•5 minutes
- Analytics•4 minutes
- User Needs and Client Needs•9 minutes
- Target Audience•8 minutes
- User Personas•4 minutes
- Strategy: Alyson and Bradley•17 minutes
- Interview with Craig Cooke: Determining success•46 minutes
6 readings•Total 68 minutes
- Inspirational Websites•30 minutes
- Try it yourself: User research methods•15 minutes
- Example User and Client Needs: Pasadena Conservatory•2 minutes
- User Personas•10 minutes
- Further Reading•10 minutes
- A Final Thought for the Week•1 minute
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Week 2 Quiz•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Strategy Document•60 minutes
By now you should have a pretty clear idea what your projects will be about and who your target audience is. This week we will talk about how to take the user and client needs that you have established and create a set of content and functionality requirements from them. In other words, you’re transforming your overarching goals from last week into specific requirements for your site.
What's included
6 videos2 readings1 assignment1 peer review
6 videos•Total 61 minutes
- Introduction to Week 3•1 minute
- Introduction to Outline of Scope•3 minutes
- Content and Functionality•9 minutes
- Outline of Scope Example•1 minute
- Scope: Alyson and Bradley•16 minutes
- Interview with Melissa Kuo•31 minutes
2 readings•Total 11 minutes
- Try it yourself: Sorting content and functionality requirements•10 minutes
- A Final Thought for the Week•1 minute
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Week 3 Quiz•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 90 minutes
- Outline of Scope•90 minutes
Welcome to the last week of this course. With your outline of scope in hand, you will now learn how to transform the content and functionality requirements determined last week into a navigable structure. This structure will be visualized by something called a sitemap. I’ll tell you all about sitemaps and how to create them. Along the way we will also define the term "information architecture". And I will introduce a tool called TreeJack, which will enable you to test your site map on actual users.
What's included
10 videos7 readings1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt
10 videos•Total 44 minutes
- Introduction to Week 4•1 minute
- Introduction to Sitemaps•2 minutes
- Information Architecture•1 minute
- Sitemap Concerns•10 minutes
- Sitemapping: an annotated process•5 minutes
- Sitemap Elements•3 minutes
- Sitemap Example•3 minutes
- Treejack Introduction•3 minutes
- Treejack Analysis•6 minutes
- Sitemap: Alyson and Bradley•10 minutes
7 readings•Total 63 minutes
- A lost practice•10 minutes
- My Stuff or Your Stuff?•5 minutes
- Further Reading: Laws of UX•10 minutes
- Try it Yourself: Test your sitemap using Treejack•30 minutes
- Other UX tools from Optimal Workshop•5 minutes
- A Final Thought for the Week•1 minute
- Next Steps•2 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Week 4 Quiz•30 minutes
1 peer review•Total 60 minutes
- Sitemap•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 15 minutes
- Try it yourself: Reverse engineer a sitemap•15 minutes
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California Institute of the Arts
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Northeastern University
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Reviewed on Aug 30, 2023
LOVE ITTTT All the assignments and the format with the students was fun and refreshing. If only I got to sit among those students and study with you
Reviewed on Apr 4, 2021
Amazing course! The way it's explained with real examples. Alyson and Bradley's projects are insightful for learning. The course is much better than the first 2 of the specialization.
Reviewed on Nov 25, 2020
Well structured and knowledgable lectures. Concise and practical exams were beneficial to understand and applying the content to an actual project.
Frequently asked questions
Since this is a graphic design course, to complete the assignments you will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with the appropriate software installed. You can't really do graphic design work properly on a smartphone or tablet. Adobe CC software is recommended for these courses, but alternatives are available. Software will be reviewed in greater detail in the first week of the course.
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
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