Week 6: Interactivity

Project Draft – DUE FRIDAY

Email a link to the draft version of your project to LibraryDS@gettysburg.edu by 9am, Friday, July 12.


Reflective Essay #6

Post by 9am, Monday, July 15

In “Sound Engineering,” Shipka focuses on audio compositions but makes a larger argument about the importance of ensuring that a medium’s affordances complement a project’s rhetorical goals. In what ways does your project leverage the affordances of the digital tools you selected—in what ways is your project soundly engineered?


Monday, July 8

9-10 am: Meet with Your Librarian Partner

Tuesday, July 9

10 am-Noon: Web Usability (Library 014)

Way back in week 1, we discussed the importance of planning your projects so your users have a good experience on your sites. However, how do you know you have a project that is easy to use and navigate? Web usability testing is a way to evaluate digital projects, as well as get feedback to revise your websites. Today, we will look at strategies for designing usability studies and ways to evaluate digital projects, both your own, and others.

Before the Workshop

Read

To inform the July 9 workshop on usability, please complete the following ahead of the session:

            • The Yale University Usability & Web Accessibility site is a great resource for developing user-friendly and accessible web sites.  For today’s purposes, review the section on Usability Best Practices.
            • Next, explore usability.gov’s Step-by-Step Usability Guide paying close attention to the “Test and Refine” section.  Review the Usability Evaluation Basics for a brief description of common types of usability testing methods.
            • Finally, choose 2-3 myths from the website UXMyths to explore.  Consider how you connected with the “myths” – either as a designer of a site (did any of these make you re-think a design choice, or confirm what you are already implementing?) or as a web user (did you immediately think of an experience or site where the myth rang true?).  We will open our conversation with these reflections.

Wednesday, July 10

10 am-Noon: Project Feedback and Review (Library 014)

Informal project presentations to the DS Committee and DSSFs.  Come prepared to walk the committee and your peers through your project.  Be prepared to answer questions and hear constructive criticism about your work, as well as give honest, constructive criticism about the work of your peers.

Thursday, July 11

Noon-1 pm: Lunch and Reading Discussion (Browsing Room)

“Sound Engineering: Toward a Theory of Multimodal Soundness” by Jody Shipka

(Feel free to skim the second half where Shipka goes into detail describing the students’ individual projects)

Lunch will be provided for the DSSFs

Friday, July 12

9 am Project Draft DUE

Email a link to the draft version of your project to LibraryDS@gettysburg.edu by 9:00am, Friday, July 12.

9-10 am: Friday Updates and Planning (Library 018)

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