Here is a link to my final page, analyzing the navagation, layout, color, and fonts of work done by students on the redesign of the Elon URP website.
http://whalebone.elon.edu/cis310/akay2/final
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Testing Caroline's URP Web Site
I was paired up with Caroline Fox and tested her site using the 7 tasks provided. Here are my results.
(1) You are a student who has traveled to a conference on a travel grant. You will need to have the cost of your plane ticket reimbursed out of your travel grant. Start at the home page, end with a reimbursement form.
In order to navigate to this page, all I had to do was go to the grants page which was listed in the top navigation. From there I scrolled down to the travel grants section on the left and clicked on the reimbursement form. It was easy to find and I had no trouble.
(2) You are an Elon faculty member and you are unsure of how many hours per week you are expected to spend mentoring a student for a 499 course. Start at the SURP homepage and end with the 499 Compensation Policy document.
Since Caroline had a 499 section listed int he top navigation, it was very easy to find this document. It was listed within the vertical left navigation menu within the 499 page.
(3) You are a student who wants to attend SURF presentations. You can't find the schedule for the presentations on the normal Elon Homepage. Start at the Undergraduate Research Page and end with a schedule of events.
I was able to find the schedule of events very easily on the left hand vertical navigation bar within the SURF section of Caroline's URP page.
(4) You are a student who wants to find example abstracts from previous years for SURF. Start from the home page, and end with at least 3 years of previous years examples.
This was also within the left hand vertical navigation bar within the SURF web site.
(5) You are a member of the faculty, and you have some questions about undergrad research. You need to know who from your department is on the Undergraduate Research Program Advisory Committee, if anyone.
I could not find any information on faculty members involved with URP. Caroline needs to add this into her web site somehow.
(6) You are a student who wants to find out more about the RAWLS Scholarship. One of your professors mentioned how great an opportunity it would be if you were to apply and get this scholarship.
I had a little bit of trouble finding information on RAWLS. But after reviewing the question again, I realized maybe I could find it under grants since it was asking about scholarships. I think RAWLS might need a separate page, however.
(7) You're in the SURE program, and you want to know when its summer banquet is.
I was able to find the SURE schedule within the SURE section that Carolina made. I found out that the banquet is July 30th.
(1) You are a student who has traveled to a conference on a travel grant. You will need to have the cost of your plane ticket reimbursed out of your travel grant. Start at the home page, end with a reimbursement form.
In order to navigate to this page, all I had to do was go to the grants page which was listed in the top navigation. From there I scrolled down to the travel grants section on the left and clicked on the reimbursement form. It was easy to find and I had no trouble.
(2) You are an Elon faculty member and you are unsure of how many hours per week you are expected to spend mentoring a student for a 499 course. Start at the SURP homepage and end with the 499 Compensation Policy document.
Since Caroline had a 499 section listed int he top navigation, it was very easy to find this document. It was listed within the vertical left navigation menu within the 499 page.
(3) You are a student who wants to attend SURF presentations. You can't find the schedule for the presentations on the normal Elon Homepage. Start at the Undergraduate Research Page and end with a schedule of events.
I was able to find the schedule of events very easily on the left hand vertical navigation bar within the SURF section of Caroline's URP page.
(4) You are a student who wants to find example abstracts from previous years for SURF. Start from the home page, and end with at least 3 years of previous years examples.
This was also within the left hand vertical navigation bar within the SURF web site.
(5) You are a member of the faculty, and you have some questions about undergrad research. You need to know who from your department is on the Undergraduate Research Program Advisory Committee, if anyone.
I could not find any information on faculty members involved with URP. Caroline needs to add this into her web site somehow.
(6) You are a student who wants to find out more about the RAWLS Scholarship. One of your professors mentioned how great an opportunity it would be if you were to apply and get this scholarship.
I had a little bit of trouble finding information on RAWLS. But after reviewing the question again, I realized maybe I could find it under grants since it was asking about scholarships. I think RAWLS might need a separate page, however.
(7) You're in the SURE program, and you want to know when its summer banquet is.
I was able to find the SURE schedule within the SURE section that Carolina made. I found out that the banquet is July 30th.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Day 20 - C
Card Sorting
URP
Brief description of URP and mission
Committe names & Departments
How students can get involved
Calendar of improtant dates for all URP programs
What is undergraduate research?
SURF
Application
Schedule
Description of review process
What is surf day
Examples
SURE
Application
Application instructions
Description of SURE
Schedule
List of projects
Elon College Fellows 499
Registration form
Registration deadlines
Compensation policy document for faculty
Registration for a course
NCUR
Description of NCUR
Description of NCUR conference
Application instructions for NCUR conference
GRANTS
research grants
all the info dealing with that
travel grants
all the info dealing with that
RAWLS
all the info dealing with that
Day 20 - B
Our group was assigned a hybrid organizational scheme. We chose to combine audience specific, task oriented, and chronological.
Hybrid Scheme
The site would start off with audience specific, where you would be able to chose between student and faculty/professor. Inside those catagories would be a task oriented organizational scheme where you could see the different options for students or faculty, depending on which one you initially chose. Each task would then have a chronological organization inside of it that tracked the steps needed to compelte each task. We would also include a section of the site that would go through past years and examples of work using a chronological organizational scheme.
I believe a hybrid scheme is the best choice since you are able to pick the best of the more specific schemes and combine them into the most useful organization for a web site.
Hybrid Scheme
The site would start off with audience specific, where you would be able to chose between student and faculty/professor. Inside those catagories would be a task oriented organizational scheme where you could see the different options for students or faculty, depending on which one you initially chose. Each task would then have a chronological organization inside of it that tracked the steps needed to compelte each task. We would also include a section of the site that would go through past years and examples of work using a chronological organizational scheme.
I believe a hybrid scheme is the best choice since you are able to pick the best of the more specific schemes and combine them into the most useful organization for a web site.
Day 20
User: Student
Goal A: Become a presenter at SURF.
Task 1: Find out about SURF.
Subtask 1: What is SURF
Subtask 2: How to become eligible
Subtask 3: When are deadlines?
Subtask 4: When is SURF?
Task 2: Apply for SURF
Subtask 1: Find and download application
Subtask 2: Submit application
Goal A: Become a presenter at SURF.
Task 1: Find out about SURF.
Subtask 1: What is SURF
Subtask 2: How to become eligible
Subtask 3: When are deadlines?
Subtask 4: When is SURF?
Task 2: Apply for SURF
Subtask 1: Find and download application
Subtask 2: Submit application
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
SURF Web Site Problems
Problems with the Elon SURF Web site...
While the header looks OKAY on the main page, I would suggest a brand new header. The bevel effect is pretty outdated. As a whole, the header is pretty dull looking.
There is very poor alignment throughout the whole site. This needs to be addressed ASAP.
The colors are pretty weak. The bright red on top of the bright yellow is too much saturation.
It appears as if the content is there, it is just laid out and formatted poorly. Links need to be obvious and show whether or not they are pointing to a new page, a .pdf, a .doc, or something else.
As far as navigation goes, it is hard to tell where you are while navigating through the different pages. There should be an indicator on every page.
Headers for specific pages need to either be images, or a better font/color so that they don't look as tacky. Solid maroon as a header with black content text is a lot better than trying to make headers "fancy" with three different colors.
SOLUTION: redesign the site entirely, but make sure old pages are saved so that no content is lost.
While the header looks OKAY on the main page, I would suggest a brand new header. The bevel effect is pretty outdated. As a whole, the header is pretty dull looking.
There is very poor alignment throughout the whole site. This needs to be addressed ASAP.
The colors are pretty weak. The bright red on top of the bright yellow is too much saturation.
It appears as if the content is there, it is just laid out and formatted poorly. Links need to be obvious and show whether or not they are pointing to a new page, a .pdf, a .doc, or something else.
As far as navigation goes, it is hard to tell where you are while navigating through the different pages. There should be an indicator on every page.
Headers for specific pages need to either be images, or a better font/color so that they don't look as tacky. Solid maroon as a header with black content text is a lot better than trying to make headers "fancy" with three different colors.
SOLUTION: redesign the site entirely, but make sure old pages are saved so that no content is lost.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Day 15
Today we used WebAnywhere to navigate sites as a visually impaired person. We were unable to use our monitors and could only navigate based off of the screen reader who reads out the content of a page. We found that it was extremely time consuming and frustrating to try to get to where you want to go, despite how easily it is to navigate the site. Often times, it was hard to figure out how to get the reader to read the content in the middle of the page. Instead, it would read all of the side links and things that were unrelated to what we were searching for. I'm sure most of the diffuculty comes from the fact that we are not comfortable with this tool, nor are any of us comfortable with not using our eyes will searching the web. While someone who is actually visually impaired may have an easier time using the tool, there are still many issues apparent for handicapped people that want to use the web.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Day 14 Lab
Simulation #1
a)The 19th President of the US is Rutherford B. Hayes. His wife was Lucy Ware Webb, who was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" due to her decision to ban all alcoholic beverages from state functions while first lady. (All of the info was found by using tab and shift-tab to search google - where I was able to navigate to their wikipedia pages. It wasn't too hard).
b)Cardeulis tristis is the American Goldfinch. The male is a brilliant bright yellow while the female is a yellowish brown. I used the same method as before to find this information (Wikipedia).
c)The high is 61, the low is 51, and it is rainy. I googled "Elon weather 27244". It took me to the elon page at weather.com, where there was a 10 day forecast.
d)336-278-7250 , googled Kernodle Center Elon .... on the first link it was up in the left corner.
Error Fixing
Although WAVE found no errors on my pages, I went in and made some fixes. I gave my images alt titles, and gave the page a name so that it no longer read "Untitled Document". I did this same thing for my Homework 2 Restaurant site.
a)The 19th President of the US is Rutherford B. Hayes. His wife was Lucy Ware Webb, who was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" due to her decision to ban all alcoholic beverages from state functions while first lady. (All of the info was found by using tab and shift-tab to search google - where I was able to navigate to their wikipedia pages. It wasn't too hard).
b)Cardeulis tristis is the American Goldfinch. The male is a brilliant bright yellow while the female is a yellowish brown. I used the same method as before to find this information (Wikipedia).
c)The high is 61, the low is 51, and it is rainy. I googled "Elon weather 27244". It took me to the elon page at weather.com, where there was a 10 day forecast.
d)336-278-7250 , googled Kernodle Center Elon .... on the first link it was up in the left corner.
Error Fixing
Although WAVE found no errors on my pages, I went in and made some fixes. I gave my images alt titles, and gave the page a name so that it no longer read "Untitled Document". I did this same thing for my Homework 2 Restaurant site.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
FONTS
Today we designed our own fonts by hand. I couldn't come up with anything too creative so I decided to just do a handwriting font. I also added some symbols that might be useful to me in the future such as the Twisted Measure symbol, a footprint, and a little acorn for Elon. I also decided to make my font a small-caps font, where the lower case letters are just mini capital letters.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day 9 Lab
Here is the web site for the 19th Annual Greek Festival that I made for our lab today in class.
http://whalebone.cs.elon.edu/cis310/akay2/day9lab/
http://whalebone.cs.elon.edu/cis310/akay2/day9lab/
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Day 7
Today we looked at different methods used in creating efficient web site navigation. After discussing different options, we explored the navigational systems of different web sites.
Here is my list for the "Top Five Rules for Good Web Site Navigation"
1. A search bar with an advanced searching options
2. Making sure the Site ID is on every page, to link back to home
3. Making sure every page has a name so that people know where they are
4. Making each page browsable by having an alpahabetical site map of some kind
5. Minimizing large ads so people aren't distracted and focus on the actual content of the page
Browsing is getting to a particular page by cliking links, while searching is typing in specific content and searching for it to bring up the page you want. While searching is ideal almost every time, since you can search exactly what you want, browsing can be important in making sure the page you want is under the right catagory. Sometimes you do a search for a title of some kind, such as on Amazon.com, and it brings you to a book instead of a CD. With browsing, you can make sure you are in the right catagory first. Ideally, you should be able to use browsing and searching on your site in order to find things as efficiently as possible.
Here is my list for the "Top Five Rules for Good Web Site Navigation"
1. A search bar with an advanced searching options
2. Making sure the Site ID is on every page, to link back to home
3. Making sure every page has a name so that people know where they are
4. Making each page browsable by having an alpahabetical site map of some kind
5. Minimizing large ads so people aren't distracted and focus on the actual content of the page
Browsing is getting to a particular page by cliking links, while searching is typing in specific content and searching for it to bring up the page you want. While searching is ideal almost every time, since you can search exactly what you want, browsing can be important in making sure the page you want is under the right catagory. Sometimes you do a search for a title of some kind, such as on Amazon.com, and it brings you to a book instead of a CD. With browsing, you can make sure you are in the right catagory first. Ideally, you should be able to use browsing and searching on your site in order to find things as efficiently as possible.
Monday, February 23, 2009
HW1
I created my slideshow in flash and had a difficult time trying to get it on the whalebone server through dreamweaver. I had to put it on a different server. I also had a glitch in my flash file and spent too much time trying to fix it, and now it is late. The doorbell picture can only be clicked on first...otherwise you can't get to it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Day 2 - Lab
For this assignment, we had to take photos of 10 different interfaces that demonstrate either a good design or a poor design. We were then asked to describe which goal of HCI is most relevant, or in some cases lacking, in each photo taken.
The HCI goal most relevant to the interface of this doorbell is usability. This is perhaps as simple as you can get when it comes to design interface; a single button with a single job.
Usability is also apparent in the design of a hose spout. No manual is needed to know that turning the knob to the left is going to turn on the water, while turning it back to the right will shut it off.
Safety is certainly a goal in the design of this fuse box. When working with electricity, safety is typically a concern, and the design here has made it possible for the average person to manage a potentially dangerous task without the need of an expert. However, this design does not have much appeal. While there is no artistic pleasure in the design of the fuse box, it does not take away from the fuse box's use.
Utility is important in the design of this thermostat. The only thing we need thermostat to do is make a house or building colder or hotter. This does just that with options for heat and cold, as well as a temperature adjustment.
Appeal is probably the most relevant HCI goal to this car radio. While you can't see it in the picture, the display on the center of the radio is a mix of bright colors and patterns that attract the eye and make the radio look much more fancy than it actually is. It was actually one of the cheapest ones at Best Buy.
Dishwashers were designed mostly with efficiency in mind. The electronic dishwasher makes cleaning dishes much more efficient. You are able to get the task done in the shortest amount of time possible, especially when compared to hand washing. I would also say, however, that this particular dishwasher lacks visual appeal.
Similar to the dishwasher, microwaves were designed for efficiency. You can make something much quicker in the microwave than you can in the oven or other cooking devices. The design of this particular interface lacks visual appeal, but still keeps utility in mind as it performs all the needed functions of a microwave with some extra features as well such as a popcorn setting.
The design of popular social networking sites often contain all the HCI goals we've discussed. Some, however, do it better than others. Facebook uses a simple and clean design, making it much more visually appealing than some of its competitors. It also cuts back on advertising which can distract the viewer and take away from the site's experience. Safety is certainly considered, as apparent through the many privacy settings.
When talking about visual appeal, I believe that Myspace is lacking; especially when compared to other sites like Facebook. I dislike the gigantic advertisements placed on every single page, and the layout is just not all that attractive. While Safety is also important, it did not always used to be. In the past there have been many cases involving child predators and fake profiles on Myspace. It wasn't until these cases became public that Myspace added similar privacy features as Facebook.
I think that YouTube's visual appeal lies somewhere between Myspace and Facebook. While the big advertisements are still a part of the site, they are often times in the form of a YouTube video themselves, making it flow much better throughout the site than the ads on Myspace. I'm not sure about the privacy settings on YouTube, but it seems to me like anyone can access any video they want. All they have to do is verify a birthday if the video is considered offensive.
The HCI goal most relevant to the interface of this doorbell is usability. This is perhaps as simple as you can get when it comes to design interface; a single button with a single job. 
Usability is also apparent in the design of a hose spout. No manual is needed to know that turning the knob to the left is going to turn on the water, while turning it back to the right will shut it off. 
Safety is certainly a goal in the design of this fuse box. When working with electricity, safety is typically a concern, and the design here has made it possible for the average person to manage a potentially dangerous task without the need of an expert. However, this design does not have much appeal. While there is no artistic pleasure in the design of the fuse box, it does not take away from the fuse box's use. 
Utility is important in the design of this thermostat. The only thing we need thermostat to do is make a house or building colder or hotter. This does just that with options for heat and cold, as well as a temperature adjustment.
Appeal is probably the most relevant HCI goal to this car radio. While you can't see it in the picture, the display on the center of the radio is a mix of bright colors and patterns that attract the eye and make the radio look much more fancy than it actually is. It was actually one of the cheapest ones at Best Buy. 
Dishwashers were designed mostly with efficiency in mind. The electronic dishwasher makes cleaning dishes much more efficient. You are able to get the task done in the shortest amount of time possible, especially when compared to hand washing. I would also say, however, that this particular dishwasher lacks visual appeal.
Similar to the dishwasher, microwaves were designed for efficiency. You can make something much quicker in the microwave than you can in the oven or other cooking devices. The design of this particular interface lacks visual appeal, but still keeps utility in mind as it performs all the needed functions of a microwave with some extra features as well such as a popcorn setting. 
The design of popular social networking sites often contain all the HCI goals we've discussed. Some, however, do it better than others. Facebook uses a simple and clean design, making it much more visually appealing than some of its competitors. It also cuts back on advertising which can distract the viewer and take away from the site's experience. Safety is certainly considered, as apparent through the many privacy settings. 
When talking about visual appeal, I believe that Myspace is lacking; especially when compared to other sites like Facebook. I dislike the gigantic advertisements placed on every single page, and the layout is just not all that attractive. While Safety is also important, it did not always used to be. In the past there have been many cases involving child predators and fake profiles on Myspace. It wasn't until these cases became public that Myspace added similar privacy features as Facebook.
I think that YouTube's visual appeal lies somewhere between Myspace and Facebook. While the big advertisements are still a part of the site, they are often times in the form of a YouTube video themselves, making it flow much better throughout the site than the ads on Myspace. I'm not sure about the privacy settings on YouTube, but it seems to me like anyone can access any video they want. All they have to do is verify a birthday if the video is considered offensive. Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Day 1: Hello World
Introduction
My name is Andrew. I am a senior Broadcast Communications major at Elon University. I grew up in New Jersey but moved to Raleigh, North Carolina at the start of high school. I love music, and hope to combine that passion with my major in my professional future.
What I want from this course
I've always had an interest in web design. I have taken a few web courses at Elon already in the School of Communications, and was interested in seeing what I could gain from a similar course outside of the Communications Department.
My name is Andrew. I am a senior Broadcast Communications major at Elon University. I grew up in New Jersey but moved to Raleigh, North Carolina at the start of high school. I love music, and hope to combine that passion with my major in my professional future.
What I want from this course
I've always had an interest in web design. I have taken a few web courses at Elon already in the School of Communications, and was interested in seeing what I could gain from a similar course outside of the Communications Department.
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