Introductory Q&A

1. Provide your name, major, year in school (sophomore, junior, etc).

   Hi, my name is Grace Choi, and I'm a senior. I'm majoring in architecture and minoring in psych and HCI.

2. Tell us a bit about your background and what prompted you to take this class.

   As a child, I had a lot of creative interests, one of them being web design! I would go through Khan Academy lessons on HTML and CSS and also make my own websites on Wix because I couldn't make a "real" website for free haha. I'm so excited to finally learn how to actually code a website, while also designing thinking about interaction, which I loved doing in Visual Principles for the Screen!

3. Do you have any experience with HTML/CSS/JS? If so, tell us a bit about it.

   As I mentioned, I do techincally have experience with basic HTML and CSS from years ago, but I barely remember it. I am taking the Intro to Web Development course though, so I will also be learning similar things in that class concurrently.

4. Name one thing you hope to learn in this class.

   This is obvious, but I hope to learn enough HTML and CSS to be able to code and design my own website, maybe even future personal projects.

5. Name one way you expect designing for screen to be different from designing for paper.

   There are so many differences between designing for screens and designing for paper, but one big difference is the way in which people interact with it. Screens allow people to tap/click on things to go to completely different pages, scroll/swipe, etc., while paper doesn't allow for those.

6. Provide a link to a website you think exemplifies effective design. Explain your choice.

   I think the design of WashU's website is really effective with its organization of the pages, making it user friendly. The colors, fonts, and icons are all very cohesive to show our school's branding and identity, and it's not distracting to the functionality of the website. The navigation bar is organized very clearly with the sections and the dropdown of all subsections to make it easy to find a topic.

7. Provide a link to a website you think exemplifies effective communication. Explain your choice.

   I think Graza's website communicates the olive oil brand's story and values really well. Their branding is playful but classy, which is represented by the website design through the fun illustrations, animations, and videos as you scroll down their pages. Interactive elements such as scrolling, hovering, and clicking makes it interesting to look through the descriptions and actually read them. Throughout the whole website, there are so many variations in the elements but it is still very cohesive and clearly presents information.

8. Provide a link to a website you think works well. Explain your choice.

   I think Apple's website works well because it's so simple and clean, aligning with their overall brand and style. The overall experience going through the website is smooth and clear, which is enhanced by the animations and videos as you scroll through pages. I also really like the icons of all the products at the top of each product page which makes it easier to find the product you want.