A6: Web Site Re-development

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A6 Web Site Re-development

• Miles Banbery,University of Kent at Canterbury

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Abstract

• How often should redevelopment be done?
• How can we get institutional support for the
  necessary work?
• How do you assess what needs doing and the
  effectiveness of your current provision?
• Re-development in-house or buy-in?
• What user testing should/can be done?

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Timetable for the session

• 09.15 - 09.45 Introductions
• 09.45 - 10.15 Overview of re-development
  issues
• 10.15 - 10.45 Kent redesign case study
• 10.45 - 11.15 Coffee
• 11.15 - 11.55 Group work
• 11.55 - 12.15 Reporting back (5 mins per
  group)

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Introductions
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About you ...

• Who are you?
• What re-development do you want to do?
• How do you know?

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Overview ofredevelopment issues
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What you have to know ...

• Where are you coming from?
• Where are you going to?
• Why?
• Who wants it / needs it?
• How much will it cost?
• How long will it last?
• How will you know if it is successful?

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But we did the Webtwo years ago!
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Who do you have to convince?

• Budget holders
• VFM / cost effectiveness
• Strategists / Management
• Key to delivery of other, wider aims and
  objectives - must tie in with institutional
  strategic aims
• Providers
• Easy to use, better quality information, more
  professional look/feel - they need to identify
  with it
• Users
• Better service - accuracy, personalisation,
  interest

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Magic phrases?

• Our competitors are doing
• Legislation (accessibility, widening
  participation, trading standards)
• More content / less maintenance per item
• Fast/pretty/useful - razorblade of life
• Design no longer portrays institution as
• We can make more sales, recruit more students by
  ...
• Our users said ...

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(Re-) Development stages

• Strategy
• Structure
• Interface
• Graphics

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Strategic design

• What type of site are you?
• Audiences
• Types
• Needs
• Providers
• Available Information
• Wants
• Available resources - centrally and
  departmentally
• How will you know how it is performing?

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Assessing the audiences

• Who do you want to come?
• Potential students / staff
• Current students / staff
• Potential conference bookings
• Corporate clients / partners
• What is it they need?
• User questionnaires / analysis
• Market research
• Focus groups
• Comparing rivals Web sites

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Assessing effectiveness

• Sales
• Link popularity
• Hits (Web stats)
• Return visits (cookies)
• Downloaded files
• Solicited feedback
• Unsolicited feedback
• Availability of enhanced services
• Cost-effective maintenance

• Registered users
• User testing
• Trade publications / peer review
• Awards
• Share of e-business against traditional modes of
  delivery
• Comparison with competitors
• World standards

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Structural design

• Information organisation / architecture
• Putting things where people can find them
• There is always more than one way
• How it appears on the screen may not be how the
  files are arranged in the folders - but it is
  easier that way!
• This is a subjective task

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Criteria for organisation

• Dependent on type of site - product driven or
  audience driven?
• Sorted by type of interaction
• Sorted by user intent or user identification
• Hybrids - Major sections plus exceptions and
  inter-linked services
• Shallow organisation against deep structure
• How many links to each page should you have?
• There must be more than one way to use the site

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Interface

• What components are on each page? (Dont forget
  the content)
• Navigation
• Usability
• No colour or size at this stage

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Graphic design

• Colour
• Fonts
• Shape
• Size
• Pictures / icons

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The old problem ...

• In house
• Staffing hungry - additional to normal service
• Short-term contracts
• Recruitment problems
• Control kept on-site
• Custom features
• Matches the institutional needs
• Needs re-writing when that is no longer the case
• Wheel re-invention?

• Out-source
• A new view - fresh ideas
• Varied expertise available at short notice
• External credibility
• Lack of control
• Unknown resource applied to your project
• Lump sum hungry

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User testing

• Do not rely on your own knowledge of you customer
  - use your customers
• Time implications
• Massive gains if mistakes found early on
• The customer is not too stupid to use your site
  (on the whole)
• Controlled environments - set tasks
• Watch mistakes and record them - do not prompt

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Discussion groups
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What we have to do now

• 1. Problems
• 2. How we tackled them
• 3. Recommendations for UK HE institutions
• 4. Recommendations for external agencies

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What you have to do now

• Get into groups of 3/4
• Nominate a reporter
• Pick a topic from the list of four
• Consider three problems of your choice and find
  three possible helpful suggestions or ideas for
  each