The Fall 2025 version of IAT-235Information Design
Course overview
Important information for an overview of Information Design.
Announcements
Class-wide announcements made over the term.
Projects and exercises
Course-work for the term.
Projects
Longer and more complex work.
P1: Clarity
- Individual project.
- From September 9 to October 7.
- Worth 20% of final grade.
P2: Wireframes
- Group project.
- From October 7 to October 28.
- Worth 25% of final grade.
P3: HTML/CSS
- Individual project.
- From October 28 to November 4.
- Worth 10% of final grade.
P4: Design and Develop
- Group project.
- From November 4 to December 2.
- Worth 25% of final grade.
Exercises
Sketching and code exercises to practice design and development.
Balance and Hierarchy Sketch
- From September 9 to September 16.
Frames Sketch
- From September 16 to September 23.
Divergence Sketch
- From September 23 to October 7.
Grids Sketch
- From October 7 to October 14.
HTML Exercise
- From October 14 to October 21.
CSS Exercise
- From October 21 to October 28.
CSS Layout Exercise
- From October 28 to November 4.
Questions
- From November 4 to November 18.
Building Websites Exercise
- From November 18 to November 25.
Survey
- From November 18 to December 2.
Code tutorials
Course code tutorial files and links to live 'playgrounds' for completed tutorials.
HTML Tutorial
Introduction to HTML.
CSS Tutorial
Introduction to CSS.
Layout Tutorial
Introduction to CSS grids.
Lectures
All lectures slides for Fall 2025.
Developing Process (September 9)
An introduction to the course and thinking about an information and user experience design process.
Structuring Content (September 16)
Thinking about layout and structure to direct movement through content.
Understanding Context (September 23)
The importance of research to help understand context in a design process.
Bare Bones (October 7)
An introduction to interaction design and wireframing.
Semantics, Accessibility and Markup (October 14)
This week we will introduce HTML and how proper use can mean more accessible websites.
Accessible styling (October 21)
An introduction to responsive web design and styling your HTML with CSS.
Users and you (October 28)
How to think about and test with the people you are designing for.
Build Responsively (November 4)
Focusing on the building of responsive web layouts and an introduction to your final project.
Technical Questions (November 18)
A lecture for answering any lingering questions you have about the final project, HTML, or CSS.
Beyond Information Design (November 25)
A lecture to help you think about moving forward beyond information design and into other areas of design and development.