Website

An IPRO website can provide a public record of the team’s accomplishments. It may represent the heart of the project and can be a significant technical challenge to create and maintain. Depending on the project, a website may be maintained following the conclusion of the semester and become an important resource for a follow-on project team or for the IPRO Program Office. The website is an optional deliverable at the discretion of the instructor.

An IPRO team should decide at the beginning of the semester whether it will create a website and request a URL from the Support Desk of the Office of Technology Services by email and copy Tom Jacobius (jacobius@iit.edu) to eliminate delays in approval.

Why is making a website good for your IPRO project?

  • It can serve as a marketing tool to promote your project/product/service.
  • Your project could be noticed by other communities that share similar interests, which can result in a possible collaboration and/or sponsorships.
  • It can serve as a knowledge management tool to share your project experiences, how-to’s and other information that will help following teams continue the work you are doing.

Some tips on how to make your website successful:

  • include appropriate images, illustrations, graphs, tables, videos
  • offer team member information (name, major, year, role, contributions)
  • offer subteam information (what each group did) and how it all integrated into one
  • use links when you refer to something mentioned elsewhere on the site OR link to an external source if necessary (i.e. to Wikipedia for a term definition)
  • write progress notes or blog about your project
  • use photos (of product, teamwork, field tests, etc.) and label them! 
  • include contact information and feedback form
  • list resources you used to help you with your research and give credits to any outside collaborators, sponsors, etc.

Furthermore, be sure to offer a sufficient amount of information relevant to the project, including:

  • the motive for your product or service
  • how your product or service works
  • how your project relates to the already existing knowledge, products or services
  • how your project is different than what is already out there
  • what are the short-term and long-term goals
  • how will your project help make a difference in someone’s live/community/company/etc.

Note: It is allowed to use open source design templates and development frameworks as long as they are customized to reflect the project’s purpose and goals. Before doing so, make sure to read the license information and keep any author credits in the code.

Here are few successful IPRO project websites:

IPRO 329: Edutainment
IPRO 311: Helping Fight Computer Crime