Week 1 To-Do’s

Lecture and reading

Attend the lecture to learn about this week’s topics and obtain extra information from this week’s reading list (short articles/videos to read/watch):

• UI vs. UX: What’s the Difference between User Interface and User Experience? by Spencer Lanoue
• Design Thinking by Tim Brown
• Designers - Think Big! by Tim Brown

Acquire technologies and materials

Download the Microsoft Teams app. Log in and join the CS449/649 Teams Workspace using the link provided to you in the email from the instructor. Download the Zoom app (recommended and supported by UWaterloo) or other video conferencing software. Links are available on the Home page.

You will need Miro in coming weeks, and Figma during the last few weeks of the course. These are easy-to-use and powerful tools for design teams. Getting familiarized with them as soon as possible will help you a lot both in this course and your future design/development! Sign up for an account for both Miro and Figma using your UWaterloo email, and apply for their Education plans.

Review course website

Visit the project page on the course website. Review the project themes and topics on the course website.

Find a team!

Find students to join your team, or find a team to join. You will be given time to form teams in class. Conduct your first team meeting (say Hi!). With your team, develop a Team Contract by answering a set of questions about how your team will function this term. This is very important for maintaining a good team culture and working together effectively. Designate one person from the group to submit the finalized team information using the Team Registration form. More details and links are available on the Information page under Deliverable 1a-b.