IxD(interaction design)

In class review: Final projects

1. Lihua Jin :: Site URL | Final Deck
2. Donghee An :: Site URL | Final Deck
3. Ifah Pantitanonta :: Site URL | Final Deck
4. Grace Oh :: Site URL | Final Deck
5. Yolaina Roman :: Site URL | Final Deck

Course evaluations

• According to the Provost you all should have received a link via email to evaulate this course...

The Past, Present, & Future of the Internet

I attended a workshop recently by Joana Moll called "Tracking Forensics," which started with the physical structure of the Internet and ended with how it's being used to track our every move...

• Past
  • 40 maps that explain the internet
• Present
  • Photographer Peter Garritano's The Internet Series
  • Submarine Cable Map
  • Internet Emissions
  • Avatar trailer's CO2 emmissions and Michael Saup's avatar briquettes installation
  • The Internet map (as powered by Alexa)
  • Acxiom (data profile aggregators)
    • Halloween profiles
    • Valentines Day profiles
    • Tax time
  • Cambridge Analytica and the 2016 US Presidental Election: NY Times and Motherboard
  • Let Big Data Tell You Who You Are
• Future
  • Reclamate
  • Research & Data Investigation (Serbian research group)
  • Networks of Control
  • Data Brokers: A call for transparency
• Protection
  • Panopticlick
  • Privacy Badger

Where to go from here

• Become a better frontend developer. You already have a very good grasp of HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and the principles of responsive design. The only tool stopping you from becoming a super coveted frontend designer/developer is Javascript: the language that adds interactivity to the web. Fortunately Code Academy has a robust course on Javascript made just for you!
• Go full stack. After mastering Javascript maybe you decide you want to become an extremely coveted "full stack" designer/developer, which basically means you can design and develop websites from scratch. This route is not for everybody but committing to it would certainly put you in an elite group of very talented and desirable job seekers. There are many differnt ways to go here: PHP, Angular.js, Ruby on Rails, Python, etc. The example I showed in class was in my language of choice: PHP, but in all honesty, PHP seems to be somewhat on the descent and probably isn't the best choice for someone just starting out.
  • Code Academy has tutorials in all of these (and this one). Judging by the breadth of the Python tutorial and the fact that Python has recently become the introductory language taught in computer science courses across country, I'd recommend starting with the Python tutorial.
  • If in person classes are more your thing, I've heard really good things about General Assembly's Web Development Immersive.
• Explore creative coding. There a lot of really intersting work happening in the creative coding community, from generative design (Wikipedia entry here) to interactive installations. There's a bit of a learning curve to use code as a tool to create design, but there are lots of great resources to help, primary among them are tutorials for Processing, a relatively easy to learn platform for creating projects with code. (It's also the platform I used to create the two examples I showed in class). The School for Poetic Computation is a great resource for this.
• Take a freelance job. There is no substitute to really learning this stuff than the type of learning that comes from needing to deliver the goods to a client. There's no shortage of work out there for people who need websites (from your friends and family to better paying clients). If you really want to learn and build your confidence and competentency, take a freelance job—even if you don't think you know how to do it!—and just don't stop until you figure it out.

As you look for jobs...

• Remember, now's is a great time to work on that project, go to that place, do that thing that you've always wanted to...
• When it comes to traveling, chances are you either won't have the money or you won't have the time. While you may not have much money now, keep in mind that as you start your career, it's almost a certainly that won't have the time:( So take advantage of the time you have now!
• Listen to this interview with Dev Aujla who suggests that you should choose your job based on what you want to learn

Cool links (as you start your career:)

• Let me Google that for you (for your favorite clients)
• Devour (for procrastination)
• Hovering Art Directors
• Space Jam website (from 1996!)
• The most amazing website on the internet

Stay in touch!

Feel free to find me on any of the socials (LinkedIn would be a good one) and send me links whenever you finish a site. Have a great summer and beyond!