“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:
By
Michael Niyitegeka
on
July 8, 2021
When the Refactory program was designed, the intent was for its impact to go past the classroom. There have been some bumps along the way, but they don't amount to the many lives that have been touched directly or indirectly. Michael Niyitegeka shares some of the highlights of how dreams have been unfolded through the program.
Read moreBy
Refactory
on
March 3, 2020
When I was at the University, the thought of leaving the comfort of my tiny hostel room to engage in anything on a Saturday was unbearable. That wasn’t the case for the students of the Developer Students Club at Uganda Christian University.
Read moreBy
Jacob Nuwamanya
on
August 5, 2021
We usually speak about our Bootcamp program and how it's designed to give our students a hands-on learning experience. It is an opportunity for them to interact with the client on a personal level and develop solutions that are well informed and efficient. Enjoy the read, as one of our Alumni shares their Bootcamp experience as they live out their Refactory experiences for you.
Read moreApply now and start your tech career.