UX is short for user experience and is a design discipline placing primary importance on a person’s interactions with the product or service offered. A critical part of the UX design process is wireframing, which is a technique used to roughly sketch out web pages and application views to focus on how elements are arranged and how users are likely to interact with them.
This isn’t a design class and most developers work with designers to create the best products possible. While you won’t be expected to be an expert in UX and design, it is important to have an appreciation for the elements involved and think about the user when working on your project.
MVP is short for minimum viable product, which is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and to provide direction for future product development. This should be your goal throughout Liftoff. You will not have a fully fleshed out project that is completely polished. What you will have is a great start, and the ability to continue working on your project.
Last class, we talked a bit about what you should build for your personal project. In our next class, we will talk more about creating an MVP.
In order to be successful in Liftoff, you will be required to turn your ideas and skills into an actual project. This is a difficult task. In class, we will not be writing code but instead will focus on concepts that will help you work on your project. You will be required to create your project outside of class!
There are no secrets or shortcuts to completing a project. It takes lots of time, hard work, and working through frustrating bugs. You should commit to working on your project as much as possible. One night a week will likely not be enough to finish your project. We believe one of the best ways to hold yourself accountable is by using user stories, wireframes, and having regular meetings with your mentor where you update them on what you have done.
In class, we will talk about taking our user stories and wireframes and turning them into actual code.
To get a head start, review the demo projects created by Chris and Paul. Pay attention to the user stories they wrote then look at their GitHub profiles to see the code they created.