Introduction
Designing with Web
Let's take a step back
In the previous part, you discovered a set of theoretical knowledge and technical tools that will constitute the base of your web culture. Now that you experienced and hopefully understood the fundamental concepts underlying the web, it's time to take a step back and observe how it is used in real projects. When you will happen to dig into real-life web projects, you'll see that a wide variety of technologies are actually integrated to offer a bigger impact, a better efficiency or awesome functionalities to these web services. We'll go through some of them to broaden your overview and grow your curiosity towards the web.
Sustainable Development Goals
In the Part 3 of this course, you'll work in teams to imagine, design and prototype an original and innovative digital product. At the maker's lab, we believe that great innovations come from relevant issues. That's why we chose high and meaningful goals as the starting point of your thinking process: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In this part, not only you will explore new technologies, but also how they can benefit to meaningful existing projects. We thus chose the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a general theme.
In this part, not only you will explore new technologies, but also how they can benefit to meaningful existing projects. We thus chose the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a general theme.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are global themes identified by the United Nations which are central in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
If you haven't already came accross them, you should take a moment to discover them. Not only are they well known in ONGs context, but also in the spheres of Social Entrepreneurship. Watch the video below to get familiar with these 17 goals. 👇
Your subject
Your subject will be available on .
Come back then to discover it!
Your subject is:
In Part 3, you'll work with classmates as a team, but will also be accompanied by a tutor, who is a professional web and/or design expert. This subject has thus been chosen by your tutor for your team. You'll start exploring it on your own, and then gather all your results with your teammates in Part 3.
This subject is taken from . You may start your research by reading more about that goal here: Sustainable Development Goals.
Your subject is:
Your subject has been randomly selected among a set of subjects related to the different SDGs.
This subject is taken from . You may start your research by reading more about that goal here: Sustainable Development Goals.
Your subject is:
Your subject has been randomly selected among a set of subjects related to the different SDGs.
This subject is taken from . You may start your research by reading more about that goal here: Sustainable Development Goals.
Your subject is a global starting point that you will deepen through an exploratory research to understand how other actors have taken up this subject in existing projects, and moreover to help you identify:
- The users and/or beneficiaries who are concerned by this subject
- The actual pain points they encounter
- and therefore relevant issues and research questions
Technological insights
We'll come back later to the detailed methodology you'll use for your exploratory research on the subject. Indeed, another challenge awaits you in this chapter: you'll keep growing your technological culture by following one of the three modules listed below, plus an introduction to web architecture. As usual, each module will offer some practical exercises to help you assimilate all this new knowledge. Unlike in the previous parts, you will not be evaluated on your technical mastery but on your general understanding of how this technology works and how it is integrated in real projects.
Modules
Here is a short description of the modules, choose the one you find most interesting, or more relevant towards your subject:
- APIs
It stands for Application Programming Interfaces. Basically, APIs are software-to-software interfaces that allow a product to be partially powered by external services. For example, using the Amazon API, a third party website can post direct links to Amazon products with updated prices and an option to "buy now." In this module you'll see how to automate actions using well-known services (such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook...).
- Artificial Intelligence
What we call nowadays Artificial Intelligence covers so many topics and areas (computer science, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, robotics, etc...) that we cannot unveil all of them during this module. However we'll focus on some fundamental algorithmic definitions and introduce you to various existing applications that can be integrated in web projects. You'll even get to create your own machine learning algorithms thanks to a JS librairy.
- Databases
As said in the very beginning of this course, 'It's all about data', but what are the issues when managing so much data? In this module, you'll discover what the main issues are and also a very common but still essential and powerful solution to tackle them: databases. This module will also introduce you to a service allowing you to set your own realtime database and use it in your webpage.
You have to pick one module between APIs, Artificial Intelligence and Databases (but you can do more than one if you feel so).
Wichever you chose, don't skip reading the Web Architecture chapter before, or you will hardly understand anything to your module. Also, the Web Architecture chapter contains a mandatory quiz, be sure to take it!
From technological culture to social impact
So, how will this technological module articulate with your exploratory research on the SDG subject? Once you'll have followed the technological module of your choice, you'll be asked to think about how this technology is improving or could improve the projects you'll document through your exploratory research. That's why you should really try to understand this technology from the beginning!
Have you made your choice between APIs, Artificial Intelligence and Databases? Great, but remember that you first need to read the chapter Web Architecture before the module if you don't want to get lost in the mysterious roads of Internet. Time to unveil how this whole thing works, let's talk about Web Architecture!
