MM 270
Writing for Multimedia

Individual Assignment 5: Web Site Design (10 points)

In this simulation, you are a Web designer and you have received a long phone message from a potential client:

"Hi, my name is Gerri Gonzales. I need a Web site for my company, but I haven't got a clue where to begin. Let me give you some background: my company, Spiffy Automobiles is fairly new, although my crew and I have over 30 years combined experience. We take antique and classic cars and convert them to hybrids -- gas electric hybrids. We also upgrade current hybrids to be pluggable, meaning they can plug them into an electric outlet to charge them instead of using gas and just let them run off the batteries. We also sell the batteries they need for current hybrids and our pluggable hybrids. Oh, and I almost forgot -- we sell kits to give them the components if they want to do the conversion themselves.

I'd like our Web site to talk about the kinds of work we do, include our pricing and estimated times to complete the work, show some pictures of past work we've done -- maybe a before and after kind of deal, maybe give some information about our crew and the company, and I'd like some links to other sites out there that provide general information about hybrids and hybrid conversions -- not to competitors of course, just general info. Oh, and we need to give people a way to contact us and maybe a way for them to check the status of their vehicle -- it can take several weeks for one conversion.

Is this something you can help me with? Thanks in advance for any information you can give me."

You plan to meet with her shortly, and you want to impress her by bringing her the following items:

1. Develop a home page concept for her. You can do this in Word, In Design, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, or another program of your choice, or just scratch it out with pencil and paper (then scan it so you can email it!). You are not being graded on your artistic ability, just on the content on the page. (4 points)
   
   
2. Create a site map that includes the other pages that you believe would be on her site and how these fit together. (2 points)
   
   
3. Answer the following questions in brief essay responses: (4 points)
   • Avoiding the most obvious general questions ("is this work paid or volunteer?" and "what is your deadline?"), list two questions you would need to ask of Gerri before you start this project.
   • Assuming you have already worked out the questions of time and cost, what do you believe are your client's (Gerri's) top two interests for her site?
   • As a designer/developer, what are your biggest challenges when creating this kind of Web site for a client?

Send your instructor an email message with the relevant documents attached. It should include a subject like:
MM 270 Assignment 5 Jane Doe