Focusing on Functionality in my Phase 1 Project

Project Description:

The project specifications are designed to allow a programmer to demonstrate design skills associated with HTML and CSS and include interactive components that draw on data from a public API or locally hosted database.

Project Idea:

While the project is mainly about skill demonstration, I still wanted the final outcome to carry value and be aligned with my values. For this project, I was inspired by my wife’s Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) and my affinity for the practice of yoga.

The notion behind the practice of yoga is the growth that is associated with each individual session. Not only is this a premise of living life and gaining wisdom, but also in the practice of programming. It is important in learning to remember that the search for perfection is itself not a reasonable objective but rather to do one’s best each time the skill is needed and used.

Needed Skills

• One of the main objectives I wanted was to deploy was a design that worked for a variety of devices. With that in mind, it was prudent to learn Bootstrap to ease the process of building responsive formatting.
• In addition to design, I wanted to make and manage my own database of information. This would not only allow for the content to be tailored to my objective but would also allow me to fully understand how to use the data for my intended output.
• With the user selecting from a set of known values, I needed to consider a user interface that allowed for selection from a list, rather than user input (which could lead to incorrect inputs and complications in searching the database).

Design With the End In Mind

When considering the skills above and the objective of the project, it is imperative to think about the final design and functionality will work together. With the application being web-based, I decided to think about it as a desktop website.

As this is my first project, I wanted to grant myself some grace with prioritizing functionality over responsive design.