“The launch of a website used to be an event.”
Program Director Michael spreads his arms and looks at the 70 students and staff assembled in a computer lab at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).
“You would get invited to company parties with food and drinks, and the CEO of the company would push a button to officially launch the new website. In the past three days, you have built what people used to spend three months or even a year on. In three days, you have discussed the needs of a potential customer, made wireframes and then built AND published a website. This shows the power and sheer speed of innovation, technology and your passion!
We invited you to this workshop to show you what is possible, but more importantly: to teach you that to work in technology you need to be passionate and willing to constantly learn new things.”
Over three days (19th – 21st August), Refactory hosted a workshop on design-thinking and web design in Mbarara. The 64 attendants were primarily students from MUST’s IT-program, but among the attendees there were also novices.
Like all courses taught at Refactory, the workshop combined soft skills with tech skills. The design-thinking class, led by Joanitah Nalubega, focused on how to build products that keep the end-user in mind. The design-thinking process emphasizes rapid prototyping and testing, to make sure that the product you are building is something a potential customer or user would want.
Once the students had made wireframes for their web sites, Maren Hald Bjørgum from Laboremus Uganda gave an in-depth introduction to the all-in-one web design tool Webflow. Based on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, Webflow is a CMS that allows you to design, build and launch websites visually.
In less than 3 days the students built and published websites that were showcased for critique and appraisal at the end of the workshop. The websites covered a wide range of topics, including local football clubs, boda boda-marketing, Ebola response services, mobile money agent registration and hotel bookings.
More importantly, the message got through:
Untold strife and struggle have been brought about by the occurrence of the pandemic. But what defines a business that can stand the test of time is how willing they are to adapt and reinvent the way they operate during and after the pandemic.
Read moreRemember Sandra Nanteza, one of the students here at Refactory who came through a partnership with Educating the Children? Here’s a little more about her and the powerful story behind the woman she is today.
Read moreRefactory, a tech skilling program founded by Fontes Foundation and technology company Laboremus Uganda, has officially launched from the home of fellow founding partner Clarke International University in Muyenga hills on Wednesday.
Read moreApply now and start your tech career.