Dev College #6 - workshop for Project Managers

On Saturday, April 2, 2016 we once again paired with AKAI to organise the 6th edition of Dev College workshops. The previous meetings were dedicated to web development and filled with new technologies (we have talked about Websockets, React, Drupal, Symfony and Django), but this time we decided to change things a little bit and create a workshop for Project Managers and people who want learn about creating mockups in the Axure RP Pro 7 program.

As the Team Leader of Project Management department, I conducted this workshop with Kamil, one of the most experienced people from our team.

Workshop begun with an introduction of Merixstudio, description of what kind of work we do, on what projects we work and who are our clients.

After giving out the learning materials and access keys (which extend the duration of the license of Trial Axure to additional 30 days), we proceeded to the highly anticipated practical part of the workshop. From that moment the participants could finally start the Axure and together with the instructors begin to create from the scratch new mockup. The workshop was divided into several parts and the bar was raised slightly higher with every new step, thanks to what we were able to show more and more advanced capabilities of Axure.

The first part of the workshop was devoted to creating a static mockup. It was the introduction to the basics of the program: its interface and the most frequently used elements. With this base we went on to discuss the most interesting features that distinguish Axure from other programs that are used to create mockups. We started with adaptive views, which are a big convenience when it comes to website design with Responsive Web Design. Then we showed selected interactions and conditions, which are particularly useful when working on clickable prototypes. Finally we showed how, based on a mockup, users can generate website documentation. We also discussed the Team option, which allows the simultaneous work of several people on a single mockup.

At the very end we gave our participants a break from staring at their computer screens all day. Basing on materials created during the work on selected projects of Merixstudio, we presented how functions that were mentioned during the workshop can be used in practice.

Of course we couldn’t forget about dedicating some time for recharging our energy with pizza and cookies - it was a great opportunity for exchanging experiences and insights.

So, in a nutshell, that’s what our Axure workshop looked like. We were able to organize yet another Dev College, and we can say that we are very happy how it went. It was once again a big success, but don’t take it from us - we also received a very positive feedback from the participants.