Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Walk an organization through a process that leads to the deployment of a web site whose contents the organization can maintain over time;
• Suggest and implement a variety of community features for such sites;
• Get a good-paying job or internship with one of the many consulting firms that offer these services.

Meeting Schedule

This course meets on Thursdays from 1-2:30pm.

Weekly Schedule

Project Approach

We will be using an iterative development methodology. After initial
requirements analysis with your clients, you will write design
documents and implement a prototype site. The documents, and especially
the site, will spur your clients to clarify their requirements, and to
imagine new possibilities. In response, you will update the design
documents as well as the site.

Assignments

Deliverable 1: Client Requirements Analysis

Interview people in your client organization.  Answer the following questions, based on your interviews.

1A: (1 page) Mission and Goals

Describe the organization's mission and goals and, if it's a large
organization, the mission and goals of the part of the organization
responsible for the project. Describe how the proposed project fits
with the organizational goals.

1B: (3-4 pages) Stakeholders, Expectations, and Expectations of Use

• Who are the major stakeholders in your client project?  Detail them and explain their incentives. 
• For whom do these stakeholders think the web site is
  designed?  What does each stakeholder think the site users will do
  at the site?
• What is the likely trajectory of this site over time?

1C: Personas and Usage Scenarios

Describe the different types of users for the site. For each, write
a scenario that identifies the different kinds of tasks and actions
they will take in interacting with the site. 4-5 pages.

Deliverable 2: Information Architecture and Workflow Design

2A: Information Architecture

Write a site design document (4-5 pages) that specifies:

• What types of content will be included, what fields each has, and any relations between content types
• Taxonomy or free tagging schemes to be used to classify content
• Site navigation scheme

2B: Workflow Analysis

Write a workflow design document (4-5 pages) that specifies:

• The different roles to be created in the system
• The access controls (privileges) associated with each role
• The process used for approving, classifying, and removing content items

Deliverable 3:  Module Selection

Write a design document (4-5 pages) that specifies:

• Which existing drupal modules you will install and how you will configure them.
• The functionality of any extensions you will make to existing modules
• The functionality of any additional modules you will create

Deliverable 4: Working site

You will go through several iterations of getting feedback from
classmates and especially from your clients about a working website.

If the client is satisfied with your work, this should culminate in
them making a decision to use the site you have implemented. If the
client has an existing site, you will also have to migrate their
existing content to the new site.

Deliverable 5: Documentation and Training Materials

Your clients are depending on you to create a system that they can
maintain themselves. They won't know much about drupal, taxonomies, or
access controls. Moreover, if they're like many non-profit
organizations, they will have a lot of staff turnover. Your
documentation, in addition to the design documents listed
above, should include:

• Step-by-step instructions for content managers and other roles that will be filled by the organization.
• An assessment of options for where the site can be hosted, under the organization's control.

Grading

All of the project
deliverables will be graded. Deliverables 1-2 will count
15% each. Deliverable 3 will count 10%. Deliverable 4 will be 35% of the grade.<
Deliverable 5 will be 25% of the grade. Your team as a whole will receive a
grade on each of these deliverables. Team members will also be asked to evaluate each other's performance, which may lead to raising or lowering of grades
for individual team members.

Academic Integrity Policy

UM and SI academic integrity policies apply to this course.
All submitted work must be your own (or your team's work, for group assignments). This is a team project course, and additionally, students are strongly encouraged to get feedback on their projects from other in the class and outside. Any excerpts from the works written by others must be clearly identified as a quotation, and a proper citation provided. You are free and encouraged to use software modules or styling themes contributed by others; you must acknowledge the source of any such modules you use. Any violation of the School's policy on Academic and Professional Integrity (stated in the Masters and Doctoral Student Handbooks) will result in severe penalties, which might range from failing an assignment, to failing a course, to being expelled from the program, at the discretion of the instructor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you think you need an accommodation for a disability, please let us know at your earliest convenience. Some aspects of this course, the assignments, the in-class activities, and the way we teach may be modified to facilitate your participation and progress. As soon as you make us aware of your needs, we can work with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) to help us determine appropriate accommodations. SSD (734-763-3000; http://www.umich.edu/sswd) typically recommends accommodations through a Verified Individualized Services andAccommodations (VISA) form. We will treat any information you provide as private and confidential.

Course policies in case of significant flu outbreak