Checking In ...

Only realising I've not submitted a post since early April, better get records up to speed - never was good at filing : )

Ok, I've completed testing all participants and finalised my report to which I'll post my work to date shortly.

However, today being the day of submission, I can't get the footage moved off the camera to Video, CD or DVD. Now, that said I have engaged a technician to assist with the issue and should have the footage transferred by Monday (I hope). I've sent a post via NED23 discussion group to let Edwin know of my issue - fingers crossed this won't impede my assignment submission or overall marks (but a lesson learned not to leave these things to the last minute).

Anyway, everyone sounds like they've worked really hard on this assignment - I've really really enjoyed this task and now my employer would like me to conduct something similar on our intranet site for future enhancements down the track (*Yikes*)

Right then, more postings on Assessment Three to come shortly (more just for record purposes).

Comparison Website 3

Margaret River Wine Centre

www.mrwines.com

This wine sellers web site is relatively quick to load and offers a simple design and layout on initial view. The business acts as a distributor of wines from the Margaret Rvier region in Western Australia.

One thing I do like is frames (a personal choice) because it offers easy display of information and distinct areas to navigate. The simple blue and white colour scheme is a little dull,but it works regardless (of personal opinion).

The Home Page feels little over-crowded with links – so many links! It’s hard to decide where to move first. In addition, there are 12 tables of which all offer information that can be accessed within other pages of the web site. I’d prefer to see the Home page simple, clean and display only the basic information about what Margaret River Wines offer. The user can then make their own decision as to where they to go from here.

Once off the home page, the layout remains (which is nice) however the alginment shifts from Left to Centre alignment, it takes a moment to adjust. All pages apart form the home page are like this. Additionally, all the left-hand side links are custom built images and therefore do not change colour once the user has visited each page. The links are all display which adds to the endless scrolling required within this website, so I’d like to see the main headers offer a drop down menu option to reduce the length of each page – even shift the left-hand navigation to the top of the page in a static manner across the site.

There is quite an extensive list of wines and produce available for sale via the Shop menu option. Here, the site layout changes (which is confusing) – where did the left-hand side navigation go? However, a search finction is introduced, although this should be available on all pages in a static frame. Additionally, there are no images to view products for sale. Using thumbail photos that can be enlarged which clicked (Taubb, 2006) would enhance a shopping experience and probably encourage online sales in the long run.

Again, this web site does not use easy navigational gadets like breadcrumbs (Krug, 2006) to easily find where you are in the multitude of pages on offer here. I cannot quickly decipher where I have been or even where I would like to move to from any one page in the web site which makes for a confusing browsing experience here.

A simplified and less ‘busy’ layout would benefit my attention span to this web site and would more than likely encourage me to stay on the site longer than the few minutes I initially spent trying to find my way around.

Overall, not a great experience and I probably wouldn’t revisit the site, let alone purchase my Margaret River Wines from the centre.

Comparison Website 2

Goundrey Wines

www.goundrey.com.au

On first impressions, this particular website has a very professional feel, a subdued and calming colour scheme and easily identifiable links to various sources of information about the business and their offerings.

A static layout across all pages within the web site is impressive, and the navigational bar which resides on top of each page is easy to search various sections of the site. I particularly enjoyed the simple drop down menus under each heading which allows the user to pick and choose where they would like to be directed. However, the draw back is the menu remains on the screen until the user rolls over the main heading to retract the menu options.

Another nifty layout design is the right-hand side table which offers the user extra or complimentary information to support the page they are visiting. Each page is relatively quick to load, an important factor in any usability design, even with the crisp and detailed images used through the site.

Amusingly, the web site promotes Fox River Wines, which this paper is based. A simple one page overview of the winery and its produce seems more attractive and professional that Fox River Wines all together.

The Contacts page is easy, clean and simple to use. I particularly appeal the basic fields required to be completed – this way the user can decide what information they want to submit, rather than comulsory fields so many sites use today.

However, the site does have a few draw backs. There is a lot of text to read and to some extent I feel the‘happy-talk’ (Krug, 2006) is uneccesary. It fills the pages but adds to the user needing time to scan for the information they are after, not to mention the extra scrolling required to review each page. Secondly, I like the use of ‘bread-crumbs’(Krug, 2006) so I know where I’m going and how I can easily get back to where I’ve been. Thirdly, the links in the page do not change colour to indicate pages I’ve already visited. Browsing can therefore be somewhat frustrating when re-opening pages I’ve alreaddy viewed.

Finally, a simple search engine would benefit this web site for the user to quickly and easily pinpoint the information they are looking for, rather than trowel through all the web site pages.

Comparison Website 1

Foate’s Ridge

www.foates.com.au

After intial loading of the page, first impression is quite a busy page with an overbundance of text. However, a simple white background, easily identifiable links and left-hand side heading links makes for a fairly simple navigation experience.

However, as you move from the home page to visit links on the left hand side a series of broken page links occur. Moving from one page to the next, some of the page content seems to be the same and it is difficult to find where I am in the multitude of pages within the Foate’s Ridge web site (the use of breadcrumbs would be useful here).

The main Home Page is rather cluttered, and the need to scroll for more information is frusturating. A simpler approach would be to minimise, or remove most of the text and perhaps replace with smaller ‘pop-up’ screens which delve into more detail without losing access to the home page.

Use of low quality images detracts from the overlook of this site to which I feel they could be better placed on the Home Page and through the web site. I do however, like the way it personalises the web page and offers the user insight into the business and in particular, the winery itself.

The idea of being able to purchase wines directly from the producer is nifty, whilst information on where to enjoy the wines in restaurants and the like is more than ample to inform the user of access to their produce. A simple search engine would be handy, with the ability to quickly find a type (i.e. Voigner wine, Semillion Wine etc) rather than clicking through site pages to find what is on offer.

From page to page, not all layouts are uniform. Again, this detracts from the overall ‘professionalism’ of the web site. A standard layout across the site would be beneficial, and by removing or streamlining the content, fewer pages would benefit the end user. Currently, I feel there are too many pages and much of the content could be refined and group together (such as Gape Varieties, Wine & Health, and Food & Wine pages).

I feel there is no obvious flow of pages within this particular web site. The fact the header image is the actual ‘Home Page’ link is found by chance, and the contact page seems to be placed in a peculiar order in the left hand side link table. I’d like to see the Newsletters moved into the Contacts page perhaps in a static table on the right hand side of the page so the user can always ask for information from any point in the web site.

Intial Web Page Analysis : : Part Two

Information of web site selection

I chose this particular site firstly, because I have an interest in wines from Western Australia. Secondly, the existing site that was originally built by a web developer presents very simple pages that are not streamlined or easy to navigate from page to page. Therefore, it is an excellent web site to perform usability testing on the target audience.

Thirdly, I feel the current Fox River Wines web site needs to be presented with easier navigation control to the viewer with a more aesthetically pleasing layout scheme. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to rebuild the web site with the use of Macromedia Dreamweaver and create an on-line shopping tool for local, interstate and international customers.

Finally, when researching similar sites within the wine industry, it was a challenge to find a web site that captured ease of use, navigation and appealing layout with graphics. However, I was able to highlight many problems (Problem identification below). Therefore, I select to base this project proposal on the redevelopment of Fox River Wines web site.

Problem Identification

The current Fox River Wines web site has many usability problems. First, it is visually it is disengaging, plain and doesn’t offer any depth of information to what Fox River Wines has to offer. To solve this problem, I would like to completely revamp the layout and display of the site pages using Macromedia and include a search engine on the homepage. Additionally, I would leverage the use of conventions to display information about Fox River Wines and what they offer.

Secondly, the site is not fluent from page to page. Each page link from the homepage displays a different layout and there are no standard links to other pages least the homepage for ease of navigation. This may cause confusion for users moving around the site to search or find the information they are looking for. Additionally, users are not able to easy view where they are in the site therefore I would implement a navigational tool such as ‘breadcrumbs’ (Krug, 2006) to visualise the site hierarchy to the user.

I would also like to look at creating visual enhancements such as buttons and links, obvious to what is clickable and where users have been (Krug,2006) (i.e. links they have already clicked). This will be achievable by thorough userbility testing of a revised site.

Thirdly, as the site offers an on-line ordering facility, there is a need for a dynmanic web environment. The page should list all products on offer with a simple order form and secure online payment facility (i.e. for credit cards, bpay details and paypal). Additionally, an effective way of requesting information or asking a question to the business owner is lacking on the current site. To overcome this, I will look at creating a streamlined contact and order form with the use of Macromedia.

Fourthly, the current website doesn’t feel like it promotes the business or its products and its affiliation with larger winery groups in the region. Rather, it detracts from the quality of the business image and potentially the products it may have to offer. To achieve a quality feel to the web site, I will create a simple, clean layout with minimal instructions and removal of ‘happy talk’ (Krug, 2006).

Finally, the site does not display when the site has been udpated. I feel this is important to the user to identify if the information is current and up-to-date and if what is on offer is relevant.

Survey ...

I have set up a survey for the first assessment ... if you're interested in participating in the survey, I appreciate all responses received.

Click here to take my Online Survey

Basis for Project Survey

For the basis of my survey I will look at finding out the following information to leverage my recommendation for the Project at hand:

• Minimal Required Functionality : What will the website be used for (i.e. Winery promition / Wine Sales / Information etc)
• User constraints : What limitations will users visiting the site have (i.e. Bandwidth / Browser limitations)
  
• User preferences : How do users want Web site to act? Are the users familiar with web-browsing or are users new to the internet? Do your users have cookiephobia? (IE 6 has a default configuration that blocks many cookies). Fast downloads with few graphics or lots of streaming audio & video?
• User habits : How do users currently carry out tasks? Do users view competitor's sites?
  
• Existing Systems : What kinds of systems (i.d.home PC etc) do users operate?
  
• User dislikes : What do users hate about the existing site or comparible sites?
  
• Personal Data : Who are users? How old are they? What's their level of Internet know how? How educated are they? What sites do they use the most? Are they current customers of potential customers? Where do they live? How many computers do they have at home?
  

(Curtin, NED23, 2007)

Intial Web Page Analysis

My initial reaction to the Fox River Wines web site is almost irritating. Apart from a nicely chosen graphic of a fox by the river, the home or index page is rather bland, uninteresting and doesn't really tell me what the company offer or rather, what they are providing. Secondly, the layout is very patchy so navigation to 'find' information is difficult.

Moving off the home / index page to the first link on offer, the 'About Fox River Wines' page is uninspiring and almost feels like I'm viewing a MS Word document. Next, there seem to be no links or navigation channels back to the index page or to other pages on offer - I need to use my web browsers 'Back' button to navigate back to the home page.

The third and fourth links for 'Company Profile' and 'Mt Barker Region' offer a similar layout to the 'About' page. There are no navigational links or offers to move off the page, and a simple layout is lacking in interesting features / layout / graphics. Additionally, the only way to view all information on the page is to continually scroll - one of my pet web-hates. I would consider amalgamating these pages together and even moving this information under the 'About' page.

The 'What's New' and 'Wine List' display a different layout to the previous three pages and home page. There are now visible navigation links to other pages and there is no scrolling required here. The information contained within the frame fails to load with a warning message : Warning: main(/home/httpd/reynolds/wines/wine_display/wine_display_fox3.phtml): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/httpd/foxriverwines/winelist.phtml on line 12, which leads me to think the wine list is not maintained by the site owner and has become redundant or been removed after a period time out.

A logo and a link to Goundery Wines is display on the bottom left hand pane and provides a gateway to an alternate web site (this may be undesirable if your wanting people to stay within the confines of your page to maximise traffic and potential online sales if that is what you offer). Additionally, an e-mail link opens the users preferred e-mail system and a link to the web site developers home page.

The last page offers online ordering ... a very simplified version of online tools. Again, the document links are broken so we are unable to view what was supposed to be displayed. There is no area to input what you would like to order i.e. types or number of bottles of wines. Another item to note is the site does not offer any credit card security (i.e. Verified by VISA or Secure Server) for credit card customers. The order form has been built using FormMail V 1.92.

Overall, a very uninteresting web site design that is hard to use and move around. A complete overhaul and review of the web site information and layout is appropriate for the Project Proposal Assessment Task 2.

Video Consent Form

Just checking out Steve Krug's site, and he uses a simple consent form for test users to authorise video recording of usability testing.

This is mentioned in his book, but I thought I'd post it here for others to download a copy and customise for their own use ...

A good point will be to append the signed consent forms in the report for Assessment Three (and Four).

Update on Site Permission ....

Just a quick update ... Edwin has confirmed since I won't be actually uploading pages I don't need to obtain permission from the site owner at this stage ... I'll post a link to the class discussion shortly.

YAY!

Website Redesign

Fox River Wines

After a few attempts at selecting a site to base my research and project on (and grateful feedback from Edwin and Students) I've settled on a very basic site for Fox River Wines that is a great initiative ... especially since I love wine :)
(Might need to do a few wine samples along the way, eh!)

• Site was created by a web developer ... although it is simple in nature, there may be many reasons to why this site is the way it is:

• Site owner requested a simple layout
• Low budget and therefore basic page service
• Add-on pages as required, therefore resulting in broken links and no uniform layout from on page to the next
• Site not maintained on a regular basis
• Web page not important to the owner (however this is a downfall I will address in later posts)
• Web developer not experienced or lacks usability knowledge
  

• Site developed with HTML Frames - a total of 7 pages
  
• Pages are very simple, basic colours and uninteresting - almost un-engaging
  
• The 'About Us' page doesn't contain links to other pages at all, therefore using the back button within a browser is required to access alternate page links
• There is little or no consistency of links between pages ... they appear in different locations and layouts from page to page making it difficult to navigate the site
• The Wine list page contains broken links (suspect developer has removed pages or changed attribute)
  
• A small yet unnoticeable link to a parent site (Goundrey Wines) and the developers link (Reynolds Technology) is present only on the Wine List page.
• The site has a simple order system with ability to enter credit card details .. however, the site is NOT encrypted (oh dear)
• Snail Mail postage details are visible
  
• The site also includes a radio button to subscribe to a mailing list (however, it doesn't specify if this is an electronic or snail mail subscription OR what the subscription provides)
• The site does not have any facility to 'unsubscribe' or 'cancel' orders. I assumed this would be done over the phone
  

Proposed Site Objectives

• Revisit current content and update as necessary
  
• Repair or remove broken links and / or pages that not functional
• Assess current pages and add / remove as required
• Create a simple, snappy and easy layout for navigation, speed and information
• Update images, fonts and colour scheme
• (Additional objectives to be review as research continues)
  

Comparision Sites for Research and Usability Testing

1. Foates Ridge Boutique Wines
2. Margaret River Wine Centre
3. Goundrey Wines
   

Next Steps
From here, I'll begin checking out some easy and functional sites. In addition, reading and research on successful site development and usability will take place.

Officially on Firefox ....

What took me so long? After reading several blogs and recommendations of fellow students, I'm a converted Firefox user. Its so simple and compact and very easy to navigate ... even for a desperate die-hard to convert to MAC, I'm loving the option to have a MAC OS Skin on Firefox.

One item of interest I did stumble across when checking out the Add-ons was a cool little tool called FLECK. Fleck allows you to add Notes and Bullets to websites, then share the annotated pages with other people .. could be a really useful resource for NED23 :)

Permission ...

I'm just wondering if we need to obtain permission to base our Assessment Project on a website for NED23? From what I understand, this would be the basis for NED36?

If I find out, I'll let everyone know.

WOW ....

I'm really impressed! Kathy and Suzanne have gone for Gold!

Kathy I can't believe how much work you've already completed on your Blog and Assessments ... Gosh now I'm biting my nails in hope I can be as organised as Kathy!

Suzanne your Blog is so Fancy - job well done ....

Ok, I really need to get cracking and choose my subject ...

Assessments ...

I have some thoughts around the Assignments that have been set for NED23 SP1 ...

Assessment One ...
Obviously, that is this Blog. However, the Task also calls for a sketchbook to plan, organise sketch and design pages over the course of the semester ... Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that what the Blog is for? I take it that our blogs represent our electronic sketchbooks, rather than cutting and pasting traditional scrapbooks.

Anyway, this is my first go at a Blog so bear with me if I get a few things muddled along the - I've already learnt so much since got this up and running on Monday! Woo Hoo ... FYI, I feel Blogger from a Usability point of view is simple, clear and to the point ... Google always seem to get it right.

Assessment Two ...
OK, I only read over this late last night so I'm not really sure what direction I'll take with a Website to base my project on ... talk about pressure! If you know me, I'm usually one to change my mind a MILLION times before I'm happy with my choice ... Actually, it would solve half of my battle if there were a list of subjects / sites to choose from (I wonder if Edwin or Berlina could help out).

Other than that, I think this task is relatively straight forward, albeit I still need to write the report (YIKES) ...

Assessment Three ...
Gee ... I hate hate hate videoing myself ... Also comes with the minor problem I don't have a Video Camera to record the testings... A colleague of mine from work is a bit of a gadget techie guru so he might be the way to go (its a start at least) to find some hardware. That leads to me to my next point of testing comparative sites - See Assessment Two. Once I understand which direction I'll go in, that will be my foundation for building blocks.

Another point to note is there is no explicit instructions or guidelines on setting up a Usability Testing Environment. What are the expectations on Video Presentation - does it need to be edited before we send it off? For someone who hasn't used a Video Camera before this will be my major challenge here. My second thought is should I be creating a standard guide for all my testing subjects to follow - a set of instructions or things to look for OR do we just let them go for it? I think the later would result in little discussion on camera so if there is an agenda it may promote conversation (I'll check with Edwin on this on).

Assessment Four ...
Again, until I know where I'm heading with my project I won't give much thought to this assessment. However, on reading the task it seems like its the next phase from Assessment Two. The only thing I can mention is there really isn't much guideline around expectations for report presentation ... I've had a gander at the Hall of Fame documents, but I find it hard to follow - is this the standard Edwin & Berlina are looking for? I'll write more on this one at a later date ... First, what am I going to pursue?

Keep you posted!

(pardon the pun)

Reading ...

Well, I think I've now come to terms with how much reading and research there will is for this subject. That said I've found my fellow students posts quite interesting and some an eye opener for me too.

What I'm not so sure about is how much reading we are supposed to do each week from Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think". I think to get my head around Usabiliy (since I'm yet to take NED11) is to read the book in one sitting and just get on with it. I think if I can gather as much sense of this at once this should be good grounding for my research and group discussions.

Welcome ...

My first of what I'm sure will be many many posts to come over SP1 for NED23 : internet usability. This forum will be used as a tool to gather information, thoughts and ideas relating to usability. I hope you'll enjoy my findings and I welcome your discussion.
Happy days!
Kelli