Van Vechten 1 Dr. Jeff Ritchie Chair of Digital Communications Department at Lebanon Valley College 101 North College Ave. Annville, PA 17003 Dear Dr. Ritchie In this proposal, I will be discussing I will be creating a portfolio for my client. I cover what will be needed and how much time and money it will cost. I discuss the way in which things are labeled, the layout of the portfolio, and I also include wireframes to help understand my vision. A portfolio is necessary in the business world and this proposal covers how one is created and the time and resources that go into making one. I hope you enjoy reading this proposal and find that it meets the requirements. Sincerely, Stephen K. Van Vechten Digital Communications Major at Lebanon Valley College 101 North College Ave. Annville, PA 17003
Van Vechten 2 Table of contents: Page: 3. Introduction, Problem Analysis, Audience Analysis 4. Audience Analysis (continued), Project Description 5. Project Decription (continued), Research Plan 6. Research Plan (contiued), Qualifications, Work Schedule 7. Work Schedule (continued), Resources Required 8. Budget, Closing Statement Appendix: A- Resume B- Homepage Wireframe C- Projects Wireframe D- Expirence Page Wireframe E- Qualitative Audit
Van Vechten 3 Introduction: I am glad I have the opportunity to write a proposal to you about solving your issue of not having a portfolio. A portfolio is an important piece to your career and is a necessity when it comes to trying to get a job. It is important to have a fully functioning portfolio that displays your skills. Without a portfolio, it is pretty much impossible to receive a job. The employer needs to see what skills you possess to know how you can be of service to them. That s where I can help you by creating one for you. I have some great ideas that will be discussed throughout this proposal. Problem analysis: From the research, I have completed it is clear that there is a lot of competition out in the field you want to work in. There are many great user experience designers out there that are great at what they do. It will be important to make your portfolio stand out from the rest. I will be able to create a portfolio that will guarantee you almost any job. Audience Analysis: Primary- The primary audience will consist of the possible employers that will be looking at your portfolio. They will be the main party that decides whether or not you actually receive the job. This will be the main audience I will be focusing on when I create your portfolio. The primary audience will be focusing on your skill set and what you bring to the table for their company. Secondary-
Van Vechten 4 The secondary audience would be your colleges. They will be viewing your portfolio for reference and see what you can contribute to projects. The professors will also be looking at your portfolio to see if they will move you onto the next stage by allowing you to declare a concentration. A portfolio is essential for your future and will allow you to move on in life with your career. Project Description: The portfolio will be professionally done and very easy to use. There won t be clutter and the information will be relevant and will convey who you are and what your skills are. The portfolio will be a webpage that consists of 3 pages. They will be the homepage, projects, and experience Homepage: The page will have a title that is about your concentration so for example if you are a user experience concentration the tittle could be UX Design Specialist. Your contact information will be in the upper right hand corner of page, there will be a drop-down menu in the upper left hand corner, and there will be an about section in the middle of the page. The about section will have general information and will tell the person viewing it. This will be a great introduction to your portfolio and will stand out to possible employers. It will be very usable and not overly complicated. Refer to appendix B for the wireframe of this page. Projects Page: The project page will consist of all your well-done projects that clearly display your skills. The projects will be displayed as a cover flow which allows the user to view your project efficiently and easily. On the cover flow, there will be some pictures of your projects and a short caption
Van Vechten 5 explaining each one. This will allow you to demonstrate your skills and will provide evidence for your proposed experience. You can refer to appendix C for the wireframe of the page. Experience Page: The experience page will have a pie chart that shows the amount of professional experience you have, how many significant projects you have worked on, and the percentage of professional software suits you know. There will also be a description next to it going into detail about the chart and your experience. This page will give some insight to the employer as to how much work you have done throughout your career. Refer to appendix D for the wireframe of this page. Research Plan: The research plan for this portfolio will be extensive and will ensure that your website will stand out above the rest. The portfolio will be interactive and will comply with industry standards and fulfill the requirements for the Digital Communications department. Websites need to be interactive and draw the attention of the user. To develop a portfolio that will be noticed we will conduct research on the competition. The qualitative edit has this information in it, which is in appendix E. From looking at the competitor s portfolios many of them have appropriate content and are well designed. They have creative animations and poses a value that makes their portfolios eye catching. Usability testing has already been done on the wireframes in the appendices and more testing will be conducted once you give me the okay on continuing with the project. A whole site will
Van Vechten 6 be created based in the wireframes and then more usability testing will be conducted on the working site. This will give me insight on what needs to be changed and what could be approved upon. This is critical when it comes to refining the project. Qualifications: My group of designers has experience with web development and testing. Our team of experts will create one of greatest portfolios tailored to your needs. They all experience with HTML, JQuery, JavaScript, and CSS. The website will be professional and will be well designed. We know the industry and ensure a great experience when working with us. Work Schedule: What will be done Type of Duration Start Date work Make the home page based off the wireframes Coding 2 Days Jan 1, Make the projects page based off the wireframes Coding 4 days Jan 3, Make the experience page based off the Coding 2 days Jan 7, wireframes Have my development team look for errors in the Testing 2 days Jan 9, code CSS Design Coding 2 days Jan 11, Develop content (text and pictures) Writing 2 days Jan 13,
Van Vechten 7 Input content Coding 2 days Jan 15, Usability testing on industry professionals Testing 2 days Jan 17, Review test results Meeting 1 day Jan 19, Refine the page and correct errors that were found during usability testing Development team reviews project to make sure it is working properly Coding 2 days Jan 20, Testing 2 days Jan 22, Final Usability test Testing 1 day Jan 24, Refinements Coding 2 days Jan 25, Present the portfolio to customer Meeting 1 days Jan 26, Resources Required: Our office space will be the place in which this portfolio is going to be developed. We will be using a development team that consists of 10 people. The programs that we will be using for this project will be Brackets (code editor), Microsoft Word for word processing, purchasing of a domain name, and a web server service to host the webpage on so anyone can access it.
Van Vechten 8 Budget: The table below describes the costs involved with this project. Name Price Hours Total Labor $40 an hour 200 $8000 Domain Name $15 a year $15 (ongoing cost) Hosting the site $30 a month $30 (ongoing cost) Closing Statement: If there are and questions with this proposal feel free to schedule a meeting with my office my calling 717-954-5511 or send an email to skv001@lvc.edu. Thank you for the opportunity to work on this project. I hope to here from you soon. Sincerely Van Vechten Technologies Corp. Appendix: A. Resume Stephen Van Vechten Phone: (717)-954-5511 Email: skv001@lvc.edu Education: Pursuing BS in Digital Communication, with a concentration in User Experience at Lebanon Valley College. Expected graduation date May, 2019 Courses completed: Graphic Design (InDesign and Illustrator) Usability Testing and Design (Morae Observer) Web markup and Layout (Dreamweaver)
Van Vechten 9 Skills: Experience with Usability testing using subjects Experience with analyzing systems Extensive experience with Windows and Mac OSX operating systems Experience with ios and Android operating systems Familiar with computer hardware and electronic components Some experience with JavaScript and HTML Experience with Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator Experience with Microsoft Office suite Work Experience: AV Technician at Lebanon Valley College o Start: September 12, 2016 - Present Iron Hill Landscaping o Start: June, 2015 Present (Summer Job) References: Jerry Factor Employment: Assistant pastor at Fairwinds Baptist Church in Bear, DE Contact: Phone: 302-743-8231 Bradford DuPont Employment: Varsity Lacrosse Coach at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, DE Contact: 610-357-1741
B. Homepage Wireframe Van Vechten 10
C. Projects Wireframe Van Vechten 11
D. Experience Page Wireframe Van Vechten 12
Van Vechten 13 E. Qualitative Audit Qualitative Audit: Source 1: http://ericafirment.com/ Very functional and good looking website o You can tell she is a good designer Has links to her resume and more details about herself The website demonstrates her abilities well Has links to some wireframes, Research she has done, page flows, documents, prototypes, and user stories Gives all her contact information cleanly and thoroughly Source 2: http://www.edmundyu.com/ A very well designed and functional website Demonstrates abilities well You can tell that the details were paid close attention to Gives examples of completed projects Also has contact and resume info Source 3: http://mrcthms.com/
Van Vechten 14 Cool design o Is almost like a business card Not information on the website No resume Only links to his twitter, Instagram, and Github Only one form of contact information and that is his email Source 4: http://jedmund.com/ Kind of plain Clean and not cluttered Example projects No resume link No clear way to contact him Justifying your method: I went to google and typed in best UX designer portfolios. A website popped up called creative bloq. It gave a list of the best UX designer portfolios. The portfolios were well done and the people who created them paid close attention to detail. The website also gave advice on how to create a good portfolio that would get your point across. The site is very reputable and clearly knew what they were talking about. What makes a good portfolio:
Van Vechten 15 Responsive and interactive Effective with showing work/content Simple and easy to navigate Quality of content Usability Links to resume and contact information Effective amount to defend your portfolio but not too much D. Gant Chart