Introductory Questions

  1. Name, major, and year in school
    Emily Huang
    Business & Computer Science Joint Program
    Minor in Human-Computer Interaction
    Junior
  2. Background and what prompted you to take this class
    I went into college initially wanting to pursue finance. I coded a bit in high school and was mostly self-taught through online resources, but I was more interested in what you can do with computer science and technology more than the actual act of sitting down and coding itself, which is why I didn't originally plan to study CS in college. However, after taking formal CS classes here at WashU, I found that I really liked the community of people interested in tech, and the problem-solving process is satisfying to me. Now, as a business and CS student, I'm especially interested in the intersection of business, tech, and design. This leads to why I want to take this class - because I want to develop a strong foundation in interaction design to effectively build products that are both functional and aesthetic.
  3. Experience with HTML/CSS/JavaScript
    Yes. I learned to use HTML/CSS in 5th grade and built my first website then. I started using JavaScript and frameworks like React and React Native as a junior in high school. I enjoy using React because it's modular and structured around making components, which means the code I write is very readable and easy to maintain. One of my favorite websites I coded from scratch using React is the one I made for WashU's Women in CS club (https://www.wics.wustl.edu/).
  4. One thing you hope to learn in this class
    I already have coding experience and like to build visually appealing websites, but sometimes my design choices feel a bit arbitrary. I want to learn interaction design concepts and understand how to apply those concepts when I'm coding, and I want to develop a more structured approach to make usable, well-designed apps and websites.
  5. One way designing for screen differs from designing for paper
    A sheet of paper has fixed dimensions and the content is static, while the apps and websites you see on a screen have to adapt to different devices and screen sizes. This means you need to design the content to be responsive, and you also need to think about how the user can scroll, tap, and interact with the content on a screen in ways that they wouldn't with a design printed on paper.
  6. Website that exemplifies effective design
    https://www.apple.com/iphone-17-pro/
    The Apple iPhone 17 Pro website has strong storytelling and it looks very balanced. They use consistent styling throughout, clear text hierarchy, and high-quality photos with bold, bright colors to create a polished aesthetic and convey Apple's brand. It's also very interactive and feels tactile since there are horizontal scrolls and various buttons and menus you can click into and expand to learn more about the iPhone 17 Pro's features.
  7. Website that exemplifies effective communication
    https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
    At the top of the website, they clearly feature the book cover and immediately establish credibility with glowing five-star reviews from well-known authors and public figures like Mark Manson and Arianna Huffington. Information is presented in a structured, step-by-step way that guides users towards purchasing the book and backing that up with bonus guides and cheat sheets, a video of James Clear giving a talk to help the user put a face to the author and provide a preview of what the book is about, as well as the “Praise for Atomic Habits section” where more quotes are featured. Overall, the website is very organized. Even though there's a lot of information on the page, it's structured in a logical way and it makes you want to buy the book.
  8. Website that works well
    https://partiful.com/events
    Partiful makes it super easy to plan events and manage the events you're going to and the ones you've already attended. Once you open up the website, you can easily toggle between different event categories such as upcoming events, events you're hosting, and past events. You can also search for a specific event and click into the profiles of everyone attending an event. I also really like how customizable each invitation is. You have a lot of control over the font, background, and effect you want to use to make every invite feel unique. Partiful also recently introduced a “cards” feature so you can send notes to your friends that are expressive and show thought while being so easy to create.