| The second decade of web design is going to be very tough for those who
still think that a web designer is a graphic designer surrounded by
developers, programmers and coders. To design for the WWW means to
understand the logic and language of the medium, to know its history and
to be updated about positions and techniques becoming available today. We are going to have a close look at web design practises from 1993 till today and examine change in usability principles and structure of web projects. What do clients expect from designers and users today? What users want to see online? What kind of design they care about? The self understanding of design has to change when there is a perfect template and standard for every type of expression. Expectations of users were shaped by early designs as Amazon and are now shaped by Youtube or Blogger.com. We will look at projects of different scale, from private page to portal, to find what is meant now with RUE (Rich User Experience), what was this experience 5 years ago and what resources can be used to wow people online in the nearest future. Another important issue is a new understanding of the border in between desiners, clients and users online. Crowdsourcing, citizen journalism and social networks are the phenomenas web designer should take in account today. In the end of the semester students are expected to come up with projects showing a perspective on web design useful and inspiring for generations to come. |