So as you all probably know from numerous journals and tweets on the matter, I have a rather deep-seated dislike for how my college handles their online stuff. And as you also probably know from my numerous dArelated suggestions that Ive made, when a website annoys me in some manner I make a mock-up of how I personally would like to see things run. Its therapeutic or something. ![:shrug:]( "Shrug")
Ive been working on this mock-up of a re-design of my colleges online functions for about a week now. It doesnt quite cover everything (and I realize now I left one big thing out that Id like to see, but Ill get to that in a moment), but it does give a good general idea of what I would like to see. Basically, I would love to see RMCADs online functions treated like a social network such as deviantART or Facebook in the sense of having everything integrated into one site so that you dont have to go to close to ten sites to get things done.
With this platform, everything the school currently uses online for its students would be integrated into one simple to navigate website (aside from the e-mail and calendar, which would be done through g-mail like they currently are). Everything you needed for school would be found on one single site, with one single login. As for what I forgot to include, that would be a messaging center that would serve as a hub for responses to class discussion boards and The Dome Lounge (which is basically forums). This could easily be integrated with e-mail though, so it doesnt bother me to much that I forgot it.
This platform would also remove a lot of redundancy found in RMCADs online resources. Theres currently two sites used for classes (one for on-ground classes, one for online classes) and two sites for portfolio related stuff. Theres also a lot of redundancy within the sites themselves.
Heres a basic breakdown of the different pages Ive included here, indicated by the blue number in the top left corner of each page:
1.This is the home page of the schools current main website with a few changes. Theres a little more separation between certain areas, and a page one level above this one was removed from my design due to redundancy. (Basically, when you logged in you got taken to one page and then you had to click a button to be taken to the main home page with all the links you needed, but aside from the links the two pages are nearly identical. I removed the redundant entry page.) There is also a drop down menu in the top right of the page that will bring the user to their personal areas.
2.This page is the exact same as page 1, but it shows what options you get when you click the drop down. There is a link to the profile page, a link to the classes page which includes both online and onground classes to remove the redundancy of having to go to two different sites for onground vs. online classes, a link to e-mail and calendar which will take you to g-mail when clicked, a grades page, and a portfolio page that eliminates the redundancy of two sites for portfolios.
3.The profile page. It has the basic info about the student including contact info (all of which has the option to either be displayed only to instructors or to everyone). It also shows the four most recent works the student has submitted to their portfolio with a link to view more. (Obviously, instructor profiles would be different than student profiles and they would have more permissions.)
4.The classes main page. It would list your on-ground and online classes with links to those classes pages. If you dont have any online then the online section will vanish, and vise-versa with on-ground. The On Ground classes would display all relevant class info including the class times and locations. This would remove the redundancy of going to two separate places for stuff you need for classes.
5.The online classes page. This is the same as the current set up, just integrated into the main site. The Classmates button would include a list of all people in that class with you to allow easy access to their profiles and portfolios for critiquing purposes. The instructor would be the one to list people on this page.
6.The on-ground classes page. This is the same as the current set up, just integrated into the main site.
7.The portfolio main page. This set up is also the same as the current one in most ways. One difference though is that you have to go through someones page to view their portfolios rather than viewing them all in one big cluster like you do now. When you open the individual portfolios you are taken to either a grid or list view of their artwork included there, and you can click on one to view it full sized.
8.This is what you will see when you view an artwork from someones portfolio. On the bottom will be the properties of the piece, and other feedback it has received. Beneath the piece itself is the area to leave feedback, with the tools to do things like redlining and other critique tools.
So there you go! I'd love some indepth feedback on this guys. Good or bad, I wanna here it.
For those of you in college now, or those who went to college recently enough to have had to deal with a lot of online aspects, would you like to see college websites run like this or in another manner? Why? Why not?
![thumbnail]()
Ive been working on this mock-up of a re-design of my colleges online functions for about a week now. It doesnt quite cover everything (and I realize now I left one big thing out that Id like to see, but Ill get to that in a moment), but it does give a good general idea of what I would like to see. Basically, I would love to see RMCADs online functions treated like a social network such as deviantART or Facebook in the sense of having everything integrated into one site so that you dont have to go to close to ten sites to get things done.
With this platform, everything the school currently uses online for its students would be integrated into one simple to navigate website (aside from the e-mail and calendar, which would be done through g-mail like they currently are). Everything you needed for school would be found on one single site, with one single login. As for what I forgot to include, that would be a messaging center that would serve as a hub for responses to class discussion boards and The Dome Lounge (which is basically forums). This could easily be integrated with e-mail though, so it doesnt bother me to much that I forgot it.
This platform would also remove a lot of redundancy found in RMCADs online resources. Theres currently two sites used for classes (one for on-ground classes, one for online classes) and two sites for portfolio related stuff. Theres also a lot of redundancy within the sites themselves.
Heres a basic breakdown of the different pages Ive included here, indicated by the blue number in the top left corner of each page:
1.This is the home page of the schools current main website with a few changes. Theres a little more separation between certain areas, and a page one level above this one was removed from my design due to redundancy. (Basically, when you logged in you got taken to one page and then you had to click a button to be taken to the main home page with all the links you needed, but aside from the links the two pages are nearly identical. I removed the redundant entry page.) There is also a drop down menu in the top right of the page that will bring the user to their personal areas.
2.This page is the exact same as page 1, but it shows what options you get when you click the drop down. There is a link to the profile page, a link to the classes page which includes both online and onground classes to remove the redundancy of having to go to two different sites for onground vs. online classes, a link to e-mail and calendar which will take you to g-mail when clicked, a grades page, and a portfolio page that eliminates the redundancy of two sites for portfolios.
3.The profile page. It has the basic info about the student including contact info (all of which has the option to either be displayed only to instructors or to everyone). It also shows the four most recent works the student has submitted to their portfolio with a link to view more. (Obviously, instructor profiles would be different than student profiles and they would have more permissions.)
4.The classes main page. It would list your on-ground and online classes with links to those classes pages. If you dont have any online then the online section will vanish, and vise-versa with on-ground. The On Ground classes would display all relevant class info including the class times and locations. This would remove the redundancy of going to two separate places for stuff you need for classes.
5.The online classes page. This is the same as the current set up, just integrated into the main site. The Classmates button would include a list of all people in that class with you to allow easy access to their profiles and portfolios for critiquing purposes. The instructor would be the one to list people on this page.
6.The on-ground classes page. This is the same as the current set up, just integrated into the main site.
7.The portfolio main page. This set up is also the same as the current one in most ways. One difference though is that you have to go through someones page to view their portfolios rather than viewing them all in one big cluster like you do now. When you open the individual portfolios you are taken to either a grid or list view of their artwork included there, and you can click on one to view it full sized.
8.This is what you will see when you view an artwork from someones portfolio. On the bottom will be the properties of the piece, and other feedback it has received. Beneath the piece itself is the area to leave feedback, with the tools to do things like redlining and other critique tools.
So there you go! I'd love some indepth feedback on this guys. Good or bad, I wanna here it.
For those of you in college now, or those who went to college recently enough to have had to deal with a lot of online aspects, would you like to see college websites run like this or in another manner? Why? Why not?
