PWP Milestone One

Purpose

The purpose of Milestone 1 is to define the direction of your Personal Website Project, and to ensure that your web development toolchain is correctly set up. Focus will be placed on developing the foundation for creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Objective

You'll complete the following tasks:

  1. Correctly set up your PWP using the git/GitHub/WebStorm toolchain.
  2. Create the correct directory structure for the project exactly as outlined below.
  3. Define a purpose, audience, and goal for your project.
  4. Create one Persona for your project.

Specific requirements for each component are outlined below.

Please refer to the PWP Grading Rubric for details regarding evaluation standards and Minimum Technical Requirements. All code is expected to adhere to the Deep Dive Coding Style Guide.

Sample Milestone 1 Documentation can be found here: Sample PWP Milestones

Requirements

git/GitHub/WebStorm Toolchain

Create a new project for your PWP using the git/GitHub/Webstorm toolchain process as outlined in class and in the prework. Name your GitHub repository after your chosen URL or project name. Follow best practices: your repository name should be all lowercase, words separated by dashes.

COMMIT EARLY AND OFTEN. Your project submissions will be evaluated based on your latest GitHub commits, and NOT what is currently uploaded on the server.

Directory Structure

The following must be set up exactly as outlined:

  • Create a .gitignore file at the root of your project. List .DS_Store, .idea, dist AND node_modules within.
  • Create a directory named /documentation at the root of your site.
  • Create a file named milestone-1.html inside your /documentation directory. Your written documentation for this milestone will be composed here in standards-compliant HTML.
  • Update the README.md file to briefly describe the project (one line will suffice).

At this stage, your directory structure should appear like this:

my-pwp-name
    documentation
        milestone-1.html
    .gitignore
    LICENSE
    README.md

Purpose, Audience, Goal

This is a brief, high-level overview of what you intend to create. Your Personal Website Project should be relevant to your web development education, business venture, personal growth, professional field, or an area of personal interest. Have an idea to create something different? Cool! Please discuss it with your instructors.

In your milestone-1.html file, using valid HTML markup, compose one brief paragraph for each of the following:

  1. Purpose: What would you like your PWP to help you accomplish? This is a high-level goal akin to a Mission Statement.
  2. Audience: Who will be using or viewing your site? Who is this site designed for, and who is your audience comprised of? Could it be for your professional peers and other developers, potential employers, customers, or clients, etc.?
  3. Goal: This is should be a quantifiable goal if possible. For example, a goal for your PWP could be:
    • To acquire full or part-time employment or an internship.
    • To increase sales and/or conversion rates for an existing business.
    • To attract freelance clients.
    • To serve as a gallery to showcase and promote your work.
    • To increase the reach of a new or established social media presence (as measured via analytics tools).

Hint: Use the W3C Markup Validator Service to check your HTML for errors: http://validator.w3.org/

Persona

In your milestone-1.html file, define one persona that represents the primary target audience for your Personal Website. More information on how to create a persona for your project here: http://www.webcredible.com/blog-reports/web-usability/personas.shtml

Your persona should feature the following at minimum:

  • Name
  • A detailed description that includes information such as: role, relevant technology being used, behaviors and attitudes, and the situation or scenario in which they will use your site.
  • Frustrations your persona may be facing.
  • Goal(s) regarding the use of your site.
  • Additional information your persona may need in order to achieve their goal.

Summary

All written documentation should be created in valid, correct HTML markup inside the milestone-1.html file.

If requirements have not been met by the due date, or if your instructors request that additional work on this milestone be completed, a meeting will be scheduled prior to beginning work on Milestone 2.

Additional Resources