Convergence Website Redesign Project Progress

May 9, 20129 a.m.

Capstone Team:Ashley Crockett, Nicole Garner and Thomas KollConvergence Website RedesignClient Presentation

Project SummaryCreating a user-friendly, fluid website for the Convergence Journalism interest areaCurrent site datedDifficult for faculty to updateNot meeting all student and faculty needs

Second semester of the projectSorting through previous work to continue projectPrevious WorkOnline SurveySampled Convergence students regarding needs100% completion by 31 studentsPoorly constructed questions

Faculty InterviewsDiscussions with faculty members regarding needsInformation was not passed along to current team

Research into Content Management Systems (CMS)Final report inconclusive, difficult to interpret

Team created a rough site we were able to expand from

Client NeedsShaped how we addressed site redesign project as a whole

Less research, more constructionShort amount of time to complete site migrationLast team spent more time researching than building

Determine student, faculty needs earlyQuick re-interviewing of facultyUsing our own opinions/experience as a student perspective

Explore CMS/platforms used by similar online entitiesClient NeedsOne client, multiple audiencesFaculty site for class organization/referenceStudents using site for class information, reference, help filesProspective students looking for program informationOnline audience yet to be exposed to website or who might have stumbled across the website

While only one client, we had to consider all of these audiences for site reorganizationNext slide has the information about audience wants/needs5Client NeedsClient WantsAdditional things client was interested in7Client WantsAdditional things client was interested in8Initial Planning and ResearchProject broken down into two segments:Pre-site constructionUnderstanding, developing list of client needs through interviewsExploring and researching similar websitesDetermining a CMSMigration of site content

Post-site constructionUser Experience Testing (UX Testing)Final site corrections and editsSite publishingResearching Comparable SchoolsSpent time looking at other journalism schools and their websites

Main observations:The design of the siteSite building technique (hand-coded or CMS?)Need for a webmaster (can anyone without a web background update this?)

Javascript heavy

No apparent CMS

Would require a webmaster

Clean designColumbia Journalism SchoolHTML5

No apparent CMS

Would require a webmaster

Clean design but lacked flowNew York University Journalism School

Specifically hand built by a team

Would require a webmaster

Generic design overloads the eyes with textWalter Cronkite School of Journalism (ASU)

Used a Wordpress template

Does not necessarily require a webmaster; school does have a web master

Clean, catchy designBoston University College of Communication

Uses a Wordpress template

Does not necessarily require a webmaster

Busy design distracts eyesMissouri School of Journalism

CMS SelectionWordpress as selected CMSCurrent site ran off Wordpress, potentially making site migration easierFamiliar to faculty, staff and studentsEasy to update and accessWould not require a webmaster or web design pro to maintain

Site ConstructionUpdates and pluginsOld site was five updates behindObtained needed plugins: video embedding, spam control, calendar, creating backup files

Major ChangesChanged the theme to Colorway ProOne time cost of $45Allowed us to access HTML/CSS for futher customizationAllowed a photo slider to display more content on front pageSite ConstructionDesignKept with black and gold color schemeUsing pre-made Colorway Protheme for pagesCreated a less dated banner Ashley created multiple banners before we settled on one we liked

Updated navigationCreated two main navigations on home pageInterior pages also hold navigation and quick links19User Testing and FeedbackSpent time researching user testing methods

Created own test consisting of six tasksRequired user to find their way to a particular portion of siteRequired user to find a particular itemAllowed user to give us feedback on design or portions of the site that were not naturally easy

Goal was to target multiple kinds of users:Students in a variety of Convergence coursesNon-journalism usersFaculty (less testing, more feedback)User Testing TasksRecorded information about each test takerAge, journalism status, computer and Internet skillsNormal online activities, previous visits to Convergence site, computer/browser information

First glance feedbackAsked about the interpreted purpose of the siteQuestioned first glance design appeal

Six tasks:Locating contact information of a faculty memberFinding a specific student-produced storyLocating Frequently Asked QuestionsFinding a student blogLocating information about lab equipment and checkout proceduresFinding a specific assignment on a syllabus

UX Testing FeedbackProblems EncounteredServer connectionHad some issues with the server connection often times slow

CMS control and customizingMany fancier websites are built/maintained by private companies; those sites use fancier techniques that would require a webmasterHad to keep much of site relatively simple and easy for future managers

Task team issuesAfter dividing up work and creating a scheduled work flow, we lost a group member and had to re-saddle the amount of workFinal ProductCheck out the upgraded, finished websiteSustainabilityCalendarWe suggest having a TA, project managers or department administrative assistant regularly editing this

Student workProject managers will be able to log in, add a new page and upload contentThis system takes responsibility off faculty and gives project managers something to show for efforts

Course informationFaculty can easily edit syllabus and course information on one page no longer a series of pages for each week of the semester

Enable CommentingToo much spamhad to temporarily disableOnce Justin enables automatic updates, the spam plugin will work

Project Manager InclusionSimple as creating a blog post, also gives experience with SEO and web publishing

Project Manager logs in, creates new postAdds content to postCategorizes as student workCreates tags, potentially an excerptSelects a featured imagePublishes!

Questions? Comments?Lets discuss.