Course Title: Design digital applications

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term1 2019

Course Code: COSC6213C

Course Title: Design digital applications

School: 345T Media and Communication

Campus: City Campus

Program: C5384 - Diploma of Digital Media Technologies

Course Contact: Program administration

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 4815

Course Contact Email: mcvet@rmit.edu.au


Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

Jeanie Hague-Smith
+61 3 9925 4815
jeanie.hague-smith@rmit.edu.au

Nominal Hours: 50

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

N/A

Course Description

This course gives you the skills and knowledge required to design digital applications, which may consist of one or many technologies integrated in various combinations.

It applies to working with clients to design specifications for digital applications, which are then built by other specialised team members. Digital applications may be operated in a web or mobile device environment.


National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:

CUADIG502 Design digital applications

Element:

1. Determine project requirements

Performance Criteria:

1.1 Analyse project brief to identify purpose of, and target audience for, digital applications 1.2 Consult with clients or relevant personnel to clarify project requirements, including project timelines 1.3 Identify target audience characteristics and determine how these influence design 1.4 Identify content and application functions and how these are accessed, searched and delivered

Element:

2. Research digital applications

Performance Criteria:

2.1 Research digital applications and analyse how these meet audience, function and content requirements 2.2 Identify issues relating to delivery platform and technical and industry standards, and determine how these may affect digital application options 2.3 Consult relevant personnel to confirm all digital application options are considered 2.4 Select applications that will meet creative, production and technical requirements

Element:

3. Draft design specifications

Performance Criteria:

3.1 Design architecture of digital application to show interrelationship of various components and screens 3.2 Specify interactive features, functionality and navigation 3.3 Identify content and data displays, and specify how these will be logically structured and integrated into and/or generated in the digital application 3.4 Specify levels of access permissions as required 3.5 Specify media assets as required 3.6 Specify user interfaces, taking screen sizes into account 3.7 Specify report generation if required 3.8 Specify production requirements, including appropriate testing strategies 3.9 Produce draft design specifications and instructions for design and development teams to use

Element:

4. Review and confirm design specifications

Performance Criteria:

4.1 Use a range of techniques to present draft design specifications, and discuss with client 4.2 Review designs against creative and technical requirements, and client and audience needs 4.3 Adjust designs as necessary after discussions with relevant personnel 4.4 Clarify ownership of intellectual property to comply with production and organisational requirements 4.5 Confirm, with client, acceptance of design specifications, including deliverables, milestones and timelines


Learning Outcomes


the ability to:

  • research digital applications and analyse how they meet audience, function and content requirements
  • design specifications for digital applications that:
  • meet client and audience requirements
  • are technically feasible
  • detail all aspects of the application’s permissions, search capability, architecture, content, assets, screen designs, functions, reports, production requirements and testing strategies
  • present and discuss draft specifications
  • explain the sequence and interrelationships of stages in the process of designing digital applications
  • outline issues relating to technical standards and platform functions that may impact on digital application options
  • outline the impact of web standards on the design of digital applications
  • describe typical formats and techniques for documenting the design of digital applications
  • describe the concept of intellectual property rights and how this is managed in context of digital applications.


Details of Learning Activities

This course consists of 2 Units of Competency that are clustered together for delivery and assessment. The other unit of competency in this clustered course is: ICTWEB429 Create a markup language document to specification.

In class learning activities may include, but are not limited to:

• lectures and/or lab work
• teacher directed group activities and projects
• concept development of group and individual projects
• group discussions and class presentations
• peer and teacher feedback
• WIP (work in progress) reviews
• self directed online, library and industry research
• self directed project production work and reflection

Out of class activities may include, but are not limited to:

• maintaining secure daily backups of all assessment and project data to your RMIT Google Drive account
• accessing online tutorial resources
• self directed online, library and industry research
• self directed project production work and reflection
• class excursions to events and locations outside of RMIT


Teaching Schedule

Please note: While your teacher will cover all the material in this schedule, the weekly order is subject to change depending on class needs and availability of speakers and resources.

Week

Topic & Activities

Assessment

Week 1

Introduction to Interactive 1

  • Getting to know each other
  • Interactive 1, Canvas & Assessments, Teaching Schedule
  • Interactive 1 Projects, looking at examples

Exploring Interactive Design and the web

  • A brief history of the web and web design
  • Intro to Principles of Interaction

Introducing AT1 website pre-production

  • Analysing websites: the good & the bad
  • Using elements of design to analyse websites 

Website design – clients and planning:

  • Planning a website and a design brief
  • Client Questionnaire workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Week 2

Website design - working with a client:

  • Reviewing client brief understanding the clients needs.
  • Design and plan a website for a client.

Synopsis & Research:

  • Writing synopsis for the project
  • Identifying the target audience & persona creation
  • Documenting the design process
  • Finding relevant website examples & critiquing the sites

Designing for the web - design knowledge:

  • Grids on the web and responsive design
  • Web design standards and designing for clarity and usability
  • icons and design

Designing for the web - starting Sketch:

  • Setting up workspace
  • Wireframes for the web and how to plan a website with a sitemap

 

Week 3

Designing for the web - UX design software:

Designing the website

  • Grids & guides
  • Style Guides for the website
  • Fonts & Typography on the web
  • Colours and the web
  • Accessibility and design

Website design – Images and Icons

  • Placing images into sketch and layout with guides
  • Captions and credits
  • Treatments for images using sketch
  • Copyright and image use

 

Week 4

Presenting designs to the client:

  • Dealing with feedback 
  • Design Iterations and documenting changes
  • Copyright and image use

Website design - documentation and technical annotation

  •  Images size
  • Copyright and image use

Website CODE - HTML basic start

  •  Using brackets 
  • HTML basic page and review

AT1 Project Review meeting 

Finalising AT1 Pre Production for Interaction 1 

AT1: Website pre-production

Week 5

Website Coding

Introduction  to AT4 Website Production Interactive 1 Project

How the web works & HTML

  • The world wide web and internet architecture
  • How the web works - & the difference between apps & websites
  • The languages used on the web
  • Introduction to Mark up Languages
  • HTML code & how to find it in browsers.



HTML code

  • HTML with text editor 
  • HTML elements and order
  • Using Brackets to code
  • Code nesting rules

Linking pages and links
Nesting code rules

Preparing assets for development

  • File structure for websites and folders
  • Images out of Sketch ready to go into the web project
  • Learning how design translates into code

CSS Introduction

  • CSS – what is this and how it shapes the web.
  • CSS – where to write it – head, inline or external – when to use what.
  • Selectors and Syntax – element selector, class selector and ID selector.
    selector {property: value}
 

Week 6

Review of AT1 Pre-production for Interactive 1 Project; what worked, what didn't.

Website Coding: HTML & CSS 

  • CSS – order of the syntax
  • Comments 
  • Page
  • Header
  • Typography & Color 
  • Navigation styles

Layout and positioning CSS

  • Page
  • Header
  • Typography & Color
  • Navigation styles
 

Week 7

Website Coding

  • Floats, the grid and flexbox, 
Block level elements, inline elements
  • Fonts
  • Colour / Color
  • Pixel layout or % layout and responsive web
  • CSS from Sketch

Website Deployment and testing

  • Deploying to the digital media server using FTP software
  • Testing the website
  • User testing the website on the digital media server
  • Trouble-shooting the website
  • Publishing and submitting the final website to the digital media server 

AT2 Project Review meeting  

Finalising AT2 Website production

AT2: Website Production

 Week 8

AT3 - Research and Propose a Weather App starts:
Learning how to apply ideas to design.


Generating Synopsis
Research & create 3 concepts/ synopsis for AT3.



Design discovery phase.
Research Apps

What is a User Interface & UX 
Introduce UI design - (5 planes UX)

Strength vs Weakness of App

Design language
Constructive Criticism

 

Week 9

User Interface design:

What is a UI design?

Identifying components of a UI for Weather App.

Create a rough UI for a chosen AT3 synopsis.
Share UI concept for class crits and feedback.

Sketch
Creating UI design template using Sketch software. 


Written Annotation, how to present/ address design changes made.

UI Design
What is a Final Mockup? – Presentation
Discussion – Understanding steps from digital UI to final mockup.

Preparing for pitching in week 10
Final mockup of AT3 concept creation.
Share for final individual feedback.

 

 

Week 10

AT3 - Weather App Pitch:

Individual pitching time allocation.
Students present AT3 research, concept, synopsis, UI
design and final mockup.
Times allocated.

Finalising AT3: Research and Propose a Weather App

AT3: Research and Propose a Weather App

 

Week 11

AT5 - Develop and Design a Weather App



Introduction to Project – Develop a Weather App based on Pitch concept.

Review individual feedback of Weather App Pitch.

  • Class Critiques – group feedback on screen layout designs.
  • Designing UI for Multiple Screens.
  • 
Learning how to apply ideas to broad design adaptation.


Individually develop UI layouts for AT5 Design Document.

Prototyping

  • What is Prototyping
  • Creating prototypes
  • Working out app flow

UX Design Patterns for Mobile Apps: Which and Why

  • Design Weather App UI
  • Navigation Patterns

Individually create own Digital versions of UI layouts for Weather App in Sketch software.

 

Week 12

Prototype iterating:

Review what was covered in week 11. 


Review individual feedback of Weather App UI designs.

  • Prototyping with Sketch software
  • Progress from Digital Design to include interactivity.

Finalising App design
Individually Students are creating final mockup designs of Weather App, based on Pitch resources.

Class discussion - What UI design elements work well in Apps?


Class Crits, feedback and individual review.

 

Week 13

Review what was covered in week 12. 

AT5: Weather App Project Review – Part 1


Build Weather App Prototype with Final Mockup

Individually Students continue creating final mockup designs of Weather App and incorporate into functioning prototype in Sketch.

Class Crits, feedback and individual review.

AT4 - Project Review for Interactive 1 - (Formal work in progress)

 

Week 14 

Build Weather App Prototype with Final Mockup

Individually Students continue creating final mockup designs of Weather App and incorporate into functioning prototype in Sketch.

Class Crits, feedback and individual review.

Project Work & finalise Interactive 1 Project

Finalise AT4 Project Review for Interactive 1

AT4: Project Review for Interactive 1

Week 15

 

AT5: Project Review meeting 

Finalising AT5: Develop and Propose a Weather App - Due

 

AT5: Develop and Design a Weather App

Week 16

Reviewing AT5  Interaction 1 Projects; what worked, what didn't, lessons to be learnt 

 

 


Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts

N/A


References

The University Library has extensive resources. The Library has produced a number of subject guides that includes quality online and print resources for your studies. The Library provides guides and subject specialist help via your Liaison Librarians.


Other Resources

Students are encouraged to make full use of class time, open studio time and University computer lab resources. Please consult the RMIT University web site for details of access times and locations.

Other required resources include, but are not limited to: an A4 or A3 visual diary, drawing materials (pencils of various grades (1B & 2B), erasers, coloured pencils and pens, graphic markers such as Copic brand) broadband internet access, suitable digital media storage such as a portable hard drive or USB 3.0 flash drive, with at least 128Gb capacity.

You are strongly advised to maintain a daily backup schedule of all assessment and project data to your RMIT account.


Overview of Assessment

Assessment for this course is ongoing throughout the semester. Your knowledge of course content is assessed through participation in class exercises, practical project work and through the application of learned skills.


Assessment Tasks

Assessment for this course is competency based. To show competency, you must complete all assessments to a satisfactory standard. You will receive feedback from the teacher at the conclusion of each assessment task.

Late assessment submissions, or submissions that do not reach the required standard may be assessed as Not Satisfactory (NS). You will receive feedback on your assessment through Canvas and resubmission instructions via email. You must resubmit within two weeks of this notification. You may re-submit an assessment task only once. Please refer to the assessment brief or rubric for full assessment criteria. All assessment documents are available on the course Canvas page through MyRMIT.

 

AT1: Website pre-production

Gather information from a client (to be organised by your assessor) and complete a pre-production document for a website according to your client’s needs.

Due week 4

 

AT2: Website Production

Using the designs and wireframes you created in AT1 - you will code the website using the appropriate markup language. You will then publish the website to the digital media server and test that the code is correct.  You will also conduct a short user experience (UX) test on the website.

Due week 7

 

AT3: Research and Propose a Weather App

Complete and Pitch a Presentation Document to an Industry client. The document must showcase your Research into existing Weather Mobile Applications, highlight an understanding of the creative process required to design a Mobile App and present a clear concept of your own unique Weather Mobile App. 

Due week 10

 

AT4: Project Review for Interactive 1

Meet with your assessor to undertake a Project Review meeting.

Your assessor will ask you six questions which relate to the process you are undertaking in the Interactive 1 project.

As part of the meeting you will be asked to show your app design in progress to inform your answers to the questions.

Due week 14

 

AT5: Develop and Design a Weather App

Complete a final preproduction document using the template provided by your assessor for the  Mobile Weather App you proposed in Assessment Task 3.  You will also create a working prototype of your app in prototyping software such as Sketch.

Due week 15

 

Graded assessment in this course uses the following grades:

CA - Competency Achieved
NYC - Not Yet Competent
DNS - Did Not Submit


Assessment Matrix

The assessment matrix for this course demonstrates alignment of assessment tasks with the unit of competency. It can be found on the Canvas course page through myRmit, or from your teacher.

Other Information

Please refer to the RMIT student page for extensive information about study support, assessment, extensions, appeals and a range of other matters.

Attendance:
Your learning experience will involve class-based teaching, discussion, demonstration and practical exercises. You are strongly advised to attend all timetabled sessions. This will allow you to engage in the required learning activities, ensuring you the maximum opportunity to complete this course successfully.

Assessment Feedback:
You will receive spoken and written feedback on all your work. Where relevant, this feedback will also include suggestions on how you can proceed to the next stage of developing your projects.

Academic Progress:Monitoring academic progress is an important enabling and proactive strategy designed to assist you in achieving your learning potential.

Adjustments to Assessment
If you are unable to complete any piece of assessment satisfactorily by the due date, you can choose to apply for an adjustment to your assessment. RMIT University offers a range of adjustments designed to support you in your studies, including an extension of time to complete the assessment.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism:
RMIT University has a strict policy on plagiarism and academic integrity. Please refer to the website for more information on this policy.

Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning:
Credit transfer is the recognition of previously completed formal learning (an officially accredited qualification).
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is an assessment process that allows you to demonstrate competence using the skills you have gained through experience in the workplace, voluntary work, informal or formal training or other life experiences.
Recognition of Current Competency (RCC) RCC applies only if you have previously successfully demonstrated competence in a unit of competency, and now require to be reassessed to ensure that the competence is being maintained.

Please speak to your teacher if you wish to discuss applying for Credit Transfer, RPL, or RCC for the unit(s) of competency addressed in this course.

 

Course Overview: Access Course Overview