For the impending user test I needed to do a few things:

1. Decide what I want user test to mean in the context of a personal website
   1. I have decided this means the overall layout of the website. Not worrying too much about the content, just the design.
2. Upon deciding that, actually start to understand css and html more than copy pasting chatgpt.
   1. I am happy to say that I feel like I have made some big strides this week, and have done a lot of mixed hand coding and machine coding.
3. Pick a stop point, so I can get feedback in a useful manner during every step of making this site as I am able.
   1. I stopped at the general layout and I got my music server API working really well!

I spent a lot of this week thinking about what my layout should look like. I want the site to primarily exist as a single page- yes, there will be links to informational pages, but the homepage is where most of the interaction will happen. I also wanted to acknowledge my reference websites, many of which are from the late ’90s. While what I ended up with looks more modern, I think the simplicity of it still gives off a subtle, retro vibe. I’m especially happy with the scrolling banners- they bring a lot of character to the page.

To get started, I actually sketched out the layout I had in mind and uploaded it to ChatGPT to help bring the idea to life.

It gave me a good, clunky foundation to start coding with, and I ended up needing to change a lot of things by hand. Looking back, I wish I had taken a screenshot, but in the end, I got it to where I wanted it to be.

My Website so far

I want to connect as many live metrics as possible to the site and have them appear in the banners. Ideally, they’ll be secure enough not to compromise my home network or expose sensitive data like my exact location. I like the idea of the website having some kind of real-time connection to me-where someone visiting might see something update as it’s happening. There’s a piano at the ABBA Museum in Stockholm that’s connected to Benny Andersson’s piano in his home studio. If he’s playing, the museum piano plays too. While that’s obviously cooler than just showing what music I’m listening to, it was the inspiration behind this. It creates a false sense of presence- something inanimate that has an illusion of life.