Logo
bar

Final Project Assignment

Your final project in this class is the culmination of a semester's worth of work. The project accounts for 60% of your grade, so it will pay to spend a great deal of time on the project.

You are required to take on a project for a client. The client should be the leader of business, department or organization on campus. (Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the professor). The project involves putting together a World Wide Web multimedia presentation containing text, images and interactivity. Your project will be contained on a 100 Megabyte zip cartridge and it will be uploaded to a the OU web server designated for student pages. At the end of the semester you will give me the online address for your project and I will grade this assignment by viewing the site online. You will keep the Zip cartridge as an archive.

At the end, you should have a project of which you can be proud. Furthermore, the project can be made available as an online "portfolio" to show what you can do.

There are three major sections to this assignment; the Navigation Map, the Actual Project and the Project Exhibition.

1. NAVIGATION MAP

After the intial meeting with your client, you should put together a Navigation Map which visually represents the structure of your web project. The map will show each HTML file and give a brief description of its contents. It will also show how each element is linked. The project will consist of post-it notes attached to poster board. Each note will represent a web page. Lines drawn (in pencil) from one note to the next will indicate the structure. Each note should also have information drawn, sketched or written on it indicating what the page is about. This must be ready to present to me on Monday, September 20th during class. I will want to sit down with you to make recommendations or give feedback. After this date, you should go over the navigation map with your client. Once you and the client agree on the structure and contents, this will be your contract. Once you have the client's approval, proceed to the next step; creating your web project.

2. ACTUAL PROJECT

REQUIREMENTS

  • Meet with the client regularly:
    You should meet with your client by no later than the end of the third week of the semester. Discuss with them what it is they want to do with their web site. Make sure you discuss potential audiences. Do they want to reach current customers or attract new business? Do they want to put documentation online? If a campus department of organization, do they want to reach current students, potential students (recruitment), alumni or perhaps an audience external to the university? Do they see their site as being informational or entertainment oriented (or some combination)? Is there a logo you can incorporate? If so, is it available on disk? If not, can you create one (with their feedback)? What categories of information do they see as being necessary? Do they have any of their textual information available on disk (i.e. word processing documents)? Can they write up some of what they want to say on their web pages? Have them start working on their text.

    A few words of warning here:
    * They will want you to do more than is physically possible. Make sure you keep their expectations reasonable. Tell them you will start with the basics and add more if there is time.
    * Don't let them make you go find other faculty who are to provide things like bios and other information. You will end up frustrated if you have to try to contact a whole bunch of other people. Make sure the client is responsible for acquiring such things.
    * Stress that this is a "team" project. They will need to contribute time and energy to help acquire and create information.
    * Let them know that you are "learning" from this assignment.

  • Develop a "Home Page" and at least 5 local links:
    This means that you will have to create at least 6 HTML files on your own. In many cases you will be creating many more than this. The amount is not limited in the assignment.

  • Utilize at least 2 graphic images (in GIF and/or JPG format):
    You will need to either scan and manipulate or create from scratch at least 2 graphic images for your pages. More than likely you will have a logo at the top of the home page. You will need to include at least one more graphic somewhere on your web pages. Again, in many cases you will be creating more than this and there is no upper limit. Besides the graphics you create, you can download other graphics off the Internet and use them on your pages as long as they come from a graphics archive site which allows for the re-use of the images.

  • OPTIONAL: Utilize at least 1 audio file (in wav, au, or aiff format):
    This will require some type of audio message on your page. It could be your voice or the voice of your client (or someone else). You will need access to an audio cassette recorder in most cases. If you use music, beware of copyright problems. You cannot use any music you please. The music must either be copyright cleared or cleared with permission. If permission is granted, you will need to use a permission form (see Dr. Anderson).

  • Client Feedback Form:
    You must also meet with your client at the end of the semester and have them fill out a "Client Feedback Form" The form can be filled out online if your client has a browser with "forms support." Othewise, you can use Netscape, go to the "Client Feedback Form" and make a paper copy with a printer. Your client should either fill-out the form online or they should return the paper version of the "Client Feedback Form" via campus mail (or regular mail for off-campus projects) to Dr. Anderson. I must have these by the end of final week. So, impress upon your clients the need to promptly return these.

    • At the end of the semester I will "browse" through your web presentation, look over the "Client Feedback Forms" and give you a grade for the project.

    3. PROJECT EXHIBITION

    Project exhibitions will occur on Wednesday, December 1st. You will be seated at the computer in the front of the lab and exhibit your project using the computer/video projector. Give us a "guided tour" of your site. Also, you will need to address the following issues:
    * Idenitification of Client and the client's needs
    * Audience/User analysis
    * What navigational structure you used and why
    * Special problems or obstacles you encountered

    GRADING

    The Final Project Accounts for 60% of your final grade. The Final Project has 3 parts and each part will contribute the following percentages to the total Final Project Grade.

    Navigation Map: 20%
    Actual Project: 60%
    Project Exhibition: 20%

    UP to the "Interactive Multimedia" Class Home Page

    For more information about this Web Site contact standers@ou.edu
    (Dr. Steve Anderson at The University of Oklahoma).