What is this class?
This class is designed to teach User Interface Design, Web Standards Technologies, and a common production process to students interested in entering the fields of Web and App Design. This class assumes almost no prior knowledge of design or front-end development and teaches the most fundamental concepts and skills necessary to function in a modern production environment.
You can expect to learn:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Design Principles
- Elements of Design and Color
- The Production Pipeline
- Problem Solving and Client Services
- Interaction Design
- Responsive Design
- User Interface Design
- Common Design Frameworks and Tools
- Progressive Enhancement
- Design Best Practices
- How to communicate design ideas
This class is very high paced with high expectations for student performance. A common week will usually require about 65 hours of work with a very fast turn around time on projects. Students will also be expected to discuss their work, give and receive critiques, and initiate self-motivated learning on a wide range of disparate subjects.
For whom is this class intended?
This class is intended for enthusiastic individuals who are both interested in technology, programming, and design. Most students who succeed have an interest in problem solving complex issues and collaborating with peers of different disciplines.
Anyone can learn these subjects, if given the right tools to learn and a clear direction of study. The Iron Yard provides those tools and direction. However, every student exhibits a different aptitude for the subjects of study offered by the UI Design class. Lower aptitude will not stop a student from learning, but it might mean that the student has more difficulty that another student with high aptitude.
Because of this disparity of aptitude, many students are faced with long durations of frustration and doubt. A key skill for success in this field is the ability to work through this frustration and overcome one’s own feelings of doubt.
What is the profession of UI Design?
UI Design is a field of work where the main goal is to simplify interactions and tasks for users. This class focuses specifically on screen-based interfaces (specifically, web-based), but in reality UI Design encompasses all user interfaces, not just screens.
The branch of UI Design that is taught by The Iron Yard encompasses the design principles and best practices necessary to build websites, web apps, and mobile apps for the modern consumer (user). As such, the UI rules and best practices taught are highly optimized for providing the best experience for users interacting with your interfaces via touch, mouse interaction or a keyboard.
“So, what does a UI Designer do?”, you might ask.
How do I study for this class?
Read, practice, read, practice,… repeat.
You find a lot of information on this blog. I will keep a (nearly) daily blog about what we do in class. This blog will include comments about the topics covered in class, useful links and resources, and links to assignments. Check back here often.
Where can I find information about assignments for this class?
This blog.
Setting Up our dev environment
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