Project 3: Client Service Learning

For Project 3, we will be working with a client organization to create its website. Class members will work in small teams. Each team will be responsible for a different aspect of the total project, so the class will function together as a whole. The class will also create a change document that covers basic information about how to make changes to the website, and a thorough design plan for the website. Testing should be incorporated into the design plan. We will be expected to get the website up and running on the client's server, but we will not provide continuing support.

All students will produce weekly work blogs of at least 200 words that are due by Friday at midnight. These blogs should document what the student accomplished to advance the project during the week.

The members page contains a class email list for communication. You are also encouraged to use the chat and wiki functions of our class Google Docs for discussion.

FINE PRINT: If the client, for whatever reason, is unable to make an evaluation before the end of the semester, I will score the project.

Project Deliverables:

design plan
final website (with change document covering basic information about how to make changes)
team contribution document
team evaluation
work blogs
individual evaluation

Due Dates:

draft design plan 11/19
draft website and change document 11/19
final design plan 12/12
final website and change document 12/12
team contribution document 12/12
team evaluation 12/12 (in class)
individual evaluation 12/12 (by email)

Grading:
Breakdown

class project = 60% (class grade-evaluated by client)
team contribution document = 10% (team grade-evaluated by instructor)
team evaluation = 10% (team grade-evaluated by students)
work blogs = 10% (individual grade-evaluated by instructor)
individual evaluation = 10% (individual grade-evaluated by students)

Rubrics
Excellent design plans will:

account for all the design plan elements outlined in Compose, Design, Advocate
proceed through a structure based on the sequence of design plan elements in Compose, Design, Advocate
provide a coherent narrative rather than a collection of disconnected parts
speak in third person about how the website functions, not in first person about the designer's process of creation
speak about how the corresponding website works, not about what it will or might do
demonstrate thoroughly what rhetorical purpose the website intends, who is targeted, what the context is, and how the message is to be delivered
demonstrate thoroughly how the website's medium, strategies, and arrangement accomplish its goals
demonstrate coherence between the design plan and the resulting website
be in a finished, polished format appropriate for an academic/professional reader, including appropriate grammar and mechanics

The class project grade corresponds directly to the client organization's evaluation. For this reason, it is paramount that we shape the website in accord with the client organization's specifications, and that all teams respond to feedback provided by the client organization.

Team contribution documents should be approximately two pages in length and give specifics about how the team has contributed to the overall class project. The other teams will use these document as the basis of their team evaluations.

Work blogs should be at least 200 words in length and posted on deadline. Work blogs should give specifics about how the student has contributed to his or her team and the overall class project during the week. A student's team members will use his or her work blogs as the basis of their individual evaluation.

Applicable Resources:

Applicable Links:

Open Source Web Design
CSS Zen Garden
Color Schemer
Daily Color Scheme
Webmonkey web design tutorials and resources
Creative Commons search engine
List of Content Management Systems (Keep in mind that our client may or may not be comfortable using a CMS. If you want to use a CMS, you will have to discuss with your client what doing so would entail.)