/ShepherdZunzanyikaIAReport by Miguel Angel Dorantes

Carol Shepherd and Lisa Zunzanyika IDC 6180: Information Architecture Summer 2010 cshepher@spsu.edu, lzunzany@spsu.edu July 9, 2010 Stephanie Coleman SPSU Webmaster 1100 South Marietta Parkway Marietta, GA 30060 Dear Ms. Coleman: Subject: ETCMA Web site Information Architecture Report We are pleased to submit the attached information architecture report. From May through July 2010 our team analyzed the English Technical Communication and Media Arts (ETCMA) department’s public web site. During our analysis we made some assumptions concerning the purpose and scope of the site. We followed a structured process—content audit, competitive analysis, audience persona development, wireframe prototyping and search zone development—supported by research activities to arrive at our recommendations. We strived to see the web site through the eyes of both prospective and current students. Our primary goal is to provide thorough recommendation data to assist you during the Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) web site re-design. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via our email addresses listed above. Regards,

Carol Shepherd Lisa Zunzanyika IDC 6180: Information Architecture lz Enclosure: ETCMA Web site Information Architecture Report

2010

ETCMA Web Site IA Report

Prepared for

Stephanie Coleman Prepared by

Carol Shepherd Lisa Zunzanyika

Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide information architecture (IA) recommendations to stakeholders of the ETCMA public facing web site. The web site strives to support the needs of both current and prospective students. The ETCMA programs cross the SPSU student population: undergraduate, graduate, and certificate students attending SPSU as both distance learners and traditional campus attendees. In this report you will see specific recommendations for a new ETCMA web site framework that supports the capabilities of a content management system. These recommendations address the following areas:

 Findability — or search engine optimization (SEO) — in order to support the marketing goals of the web site.

 Division of navigation of the web site by audience segments: current and prospective students

 Review of all content for accuracy migration before migration  Content development strategy that focuses the efforts of both students and departmental resources

In order to arrive at these recommendations our team followed a structured process that included the following activities:

 Inventory of existing web site and linked content  Competitive analysis of web sites of similar academic programs  Card sort analysis to determine our target audience’s perception of site content and labels

 Development of personas for a prospective and a current ETCMA student along with an accompanying task analysis

 Prototype content layout and navigation using wireframes  Search zone development By addressing content ownership issues at the business level, applying creative techniques to harness content development resources, and using the power and capabilities provided by the new contentment management system we hope that you, the stakeholders, can provide the vision needed to develop a web site that exhibits the design principles taught in the ETCMA programs. These combined efforts should result in a web site that becomes a standard and serves as a shining example of the quality of work that SPSU resources can produce.

Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... i Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................v Tables ..............................................................................................................................................vi Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Step 1: Initial Site Analysis .............................................................................................................. 4 Audit of Current Contents........................................................................................................... 4 Method 1: Automated Content Discovery ............................................................................. 4 Method 2: Click Serendipity .................................................................................................... 5 Audit Results ............................................................................................................................... 5 Quantitative: Content Inventory ................................................................................................ 5 Qualitative: Hunt and Click ......................................................................................................... 5 Noteworthy Deficiencies............................................................................................................. 6 What We Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Find .................................................................................................................. 6 Connections to the SPSU Site ..................................................................................................... 7 Initial Site Analysis Conclusion .................................................................................................... 7 Step 2: Competitive Analysis .......................................................................................................... 8 Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Competitive Analysis Findings .................................................................................................... 9 Competitive Best Practices ......................................................................................................... 9 Step 3: Card Sort Analysis ............................................................................................................. 10 Open Sort .................................................................................................................................. 10 Closed sort ................................................................................................................................ 11 Alternative Card Sorts ............................................................................................................... 11 Card Sort Results ....................................................................................................................... 12 ii

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis ...................................................................... 13 Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student......................................................................... 14 Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student .................................................................. 14 Scenario for Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student .................................................... 15 Sitepath Diagram for Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student ...................................... 15 Scenario for Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student ............................................. 16 Task Analysis Flowchart for Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student ..................... 16 Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy ............................................................. 17 Landing Page ............................................................................................................................. 17 Prospective Students ................................................................................................................ 19 Common Areas.......................................................................................................................... 20 Content Development Strategy ................................................................................................ 21 Student Community for Current Students ................................................................................ 22 Multiple Paths ........................................................................................................................... 24 Heat Maps ................................................................................................................................. 24 Step 6: Search .............................................................................................................................. 26 Search Zones ............................................................................................................................. 26 Navigation Pages ....................................................................................................................... 27 Destination Pages ..................................................................................................................... 27 Indexing ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Content Components ................................................................................................................ 28 Keywords................................................................................................................................... 29 Visual Example of Search Results ............................................................................................. 29 Error Page.................................................................................................................................. 30 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 31 General Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 31 iii

Recommendations for the Graphic Designer ........................................................................... 33 Creative Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 33 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Appendix A – Competitive Analysis Criteria ............................................................................. 34 Home Page ............................................................................................................................ 34 Navigation ............................................................................................................................. 34 Design and Maintenance ..................................................................................................... 34 Search and Search Results .................................................................................................... 34 Site Organization ................................................................................................................... 34 Links and Labels .................................................................................................................... 34 Readability ............................................................................................................................ 34 Performance ......................................................................................................................... 35 Content ................................................................................................................................. 35 Clarity of Communication ..................................................................................................... 35 Consistency ........................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix B – Competitor Schools’ Web Sites .......................................................................... 36 Appendix C - Competitor Web Site Analysis Benchmarks ........................................................ 37 Appendix D - Competitive Analysis Scoring .............................................................................. 39 Appendix E: Persona Mood Boards .......................................................................................... 41 Appendix F: Task Analysis for Primary Persona 1 a Current Graduate Student ....................... 43 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 45 References .................................................................................................................................... 46

Table of Figures Figure 1. Information Architecture Implementation. Adapted from “Topic Overview: Information Architecture,” by Gene Leganza, Alex Cullen, Rob Karel, and Mimi An, 2010, p. 12. 2 Figure 2. Cylindrical Site Diagram of HTTP://spsu.edu/tc as of May 27, 2010 ............................... 4 Figure 3. Top level conceptual sitemap .......................................................................................... 4 Figure 4. Highly linked pages found at HTTP://spsu.edu/tc as of May 27, 2010 .......................... 5 Figure 5: Top respondent generated categories from the open sort........................................... 10 Figure 6: Patrick Wedding ............................................................................................................. 14 Figure 7. Sonya Padilla .................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 8: Sitepath diagram for Patrick Wedding .......................................................................... 15 Figure 9. Landing Page .................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 10. Prospective Students ................................................................................................... 20 Figure 11. Mind Map..................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 12. Student Community for Current Students................................................................... 22 Figure 13. Multiple paths to reach the same content .................................................................. 23 Figure 14. Student Community Heat Map .................................................................................... 25 Figure 15. Heat Map ..................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 16. Sub Domains/Search Engine Friendly URLS ................................................................. 26 Figure 17. Navigation Page ........................................................................................................... 27 Figure 18. Destination Page .......................................................................................................... 27 Figure 19. Explicated generic search result for a single asset (document or content component. ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 20. Example of a course, directory, textbook content component along with metadata for a multimedia asset search result for multiple assets: course, directory, textbook, video ..... 30 Figure 21. 404 Error Page ............................................................................................................. 30 Figure 22. Patrick Wedding’s Mood Board ................................................................................... 41 Figure 23. Sonya Padilla’s Mood Board ........................................................................................ 42 v

Tables Table 1 ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Table 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Table 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 28 Table 4 ........................................................................................................................................... 29 Table 5 ........................................................................................................................................... 39 Table 6 ........................................................................................................................................... 43

Introduction

Introduction This report describes the information analysis (IA) process we followed and the results and recommendations we produced while examining the public web site for ETCMA located at http://spsu.edu/tc/. The team consisted of two students currently attending SPSU and enrolled in two of the department’s graduate programs. We were able to use the research feedback and discussions provided by our instructor and fellow classmates. Our team adhered to the IA process prescribed by our instructor. The scope was limited to the resources and personnel available to us. At the end of this report we provide specific recommendations for the web site re-design project implementation team. We found that we could not address the question “are we solving the right problem for the business within the resources available?” Forrester Research (Leganza, Cullen, Karel, & An, 2010, pp. 9-11) recommends the following IA project implementation steps: 

Start by creating a vision- more than a page but less than a 200-page tome— and stop there with the initial planning documents



Then select and execute projects- projects that can embody the IA principles if handled with the appropriate architecture activity



Evangelize good IA practices- Craft arguments that address the key concerns of the most important organizational roles you will need to win over.



Insert early-stage governance- IA governance is more difficult than technology governance as it requires the participation of business-side roles.



Build regular interactions with appropriate parties- IA success is dependent on the relationships you build and your ability to convert a series of ad hoc discussions into formal, regular processes.

Our team struggled with the problem of scope and purpose. How does the ETCMA content fit with or flow into the content available on program subsidiary sites — Information and Instructional Design (IID) http://iid.spsu.edu/index.html and Information Design and Communication (IDC) http://idc.spsu.edu/grad_prog.htm. Should the course catalog, a central piece of content that crosses the entire program, live in the ETCMA site or their respective program sites? These are questions best left to the organization as they follow along lines of funding and organizational responsibilities. The visualization (Figure X) describes a process 1

Introduction where the vision is continually readjusted and refined. Forrester’s implementation steps should provide a framework for vision, governance, and iterative development. It is the purpose of IA to address the problem of information redundancy and maintenance. Consider the following quote from Leganza, Cullen, Karel, & An (2010, p. 8.): “The IA practice lead must establish business owners of information sources and then get those owners to a consensus on the ‘single source of truth’ when there is redundancy in information entities — which is most of the time.” Who is the “single source of truth” for a course description? Is it the entire department or the faculty member that teaches that course? During our online discussions, our instructor was vehement concerning the issue that the individual faculty members were not responsible for marketing their courses online. This is an organizational decision, fraught with concerns of politics and technical competency, and should be addressed by business process owners in the organization. During our research we interviewed Mike Parks the Technology Service Manager for Georgia Tech Enterprise Technology Innovation Institute. His department provides technical support for an open source content management system used by eight different organizations. The organizations he supports own the content and he provides the technology framework for information publishing. In our interview he stated, “I will occasionally post content for them if they are in a time crunch, but mostly we teach them how to fish for themselves.” Information architecture provides framework for structured description of an enterprise’s information assets — including structured data and unstructured or semi-structured content — and the relationship of those assets to business processes, business management, and IT systems” (Leganza, Cullen, Karel, & An, 2010, p. 3). The SPSU organization is adopting a content management system (CMS ) in order to facilitate change throughout the Figure 1. Information Architecture organizations’ web presence. The new Implementation. Adapted from “Topic Overview: content management system should Information Architecture,” by Gene Leganza, Alex allow for the capabilities of structure data Cullen, Rob Karel, and Mimi An, 2010, p. 12. or content types. Management of this information requires a mix of technical and content development skills; once the work is done the CMS can provide the heavy lifting for maintaining indexes and pruning old content. Again, 2

Introduction we struggled with the scope of not knowing the capabilities of the chosen CMS; nor did we know the extent of add on modules or professional services procured. We found that Leganza, Cullen, Karel, & An’s statement — “If you care about getting the right information to the right people at the right time, and you want to do it consistently across the enterprise, then you need to care about IA” (Leganza, Cullen, Karel, & An, 2010, p. 2) — summarized our teams’ approach quite well. We made assumptions about project scope and organization and then trundled on to focus on the right people: prospective and current students. Faculty, staff, and the program assistant Donna McPherson, are secondary users of the system and content owners. Alumni, parents, prospective employers and other community members are less significant members of the web site audience.

Step 1: Initial Site Analysis

The ETCMA site shows poor hierarchical categorization of information and no evidence of tags or consistent metadata. Readers following the berry picking model (Bates, 1989) will find the content organized as if in Alice in Wonderland: clicking on a link may transport of you off site and inconsistent breadcrumbs do not help you know where you’ve visited. Systematic search is difficult. Much of the content requires updating or pruning before migrating to a new system.

The English, Technical Communication and Media Arts (ETCMA) Department houses the Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) programs that teach students to be both written and visual communicators. Unfortunately, the ETCMA site’s is not effective in achieving the two main goals of the site: inviting prospective students to consider the program and aiding current students with school related workflows. This report will analyze the current ETCMA site and present findings regarding existing content — specifically geared towards information architecture.

Figure 2. Cylindrical Site Diagram of HTTP://spsu.edu/tc as of May 27, 2010

Audit of Current Contents

Halvorson (2010, p. 48) asserts the benefits of the audit are in “providing to stakeholders the magnitude of content that needs to be considered”. We audited the ETCMA content using both an automated content discovery tool and human guided qualitative search. Method 1: Automated Content Discovery

Figure 3 shows the results of a Microsoft VISIO 2010 automated crawl of the ETCMA web site to two links deep. The cylindrical diagram indicates that there are a few root — highly connected 4 Figure 3. Top level conceptual sitemap

Step 1: Initial Site Analysis pages on the site — but that most of the pages are not highly linked. Further crawls, with settings adjusted for deeper searching, produced the same results. Method 2: Click Serendipity

In the second audit we navigated around the ECTMA site — systematically clicking on links — attempting to discover the major categories or important links connected to the site index page. The conceptual sitemap, Figure 2, reflects the global navigation, breadcrumb categories, and offsite links found during our discovery activities. Audit Results

The following describes the results of both the quantitative and qualitative audits as well as highlighting some glaring deficiencies with the current ETCMA web site. Quantitative: Content Inventory

Figure 4. Highly linked pages found at HTTP://spsu.edu/tc as of May 27, 2010 Figure 4 lists the highly linked pages on the ETCMA site. Interestingly, these were the only pages with titles included in their metadata. This list only includes links within the ETCMA site. Qualitative: Hunt and Click

The ETCMA site presents a variety of information about the programs available in this department. Sadly, it does so in a manner that is not very attractive to potential students. Recruitment is job one and the primary business objective for this site. Yet, there is no evidence of intended audience identification. Even if there were, the content is falling on deaf ears as the voice of this site is dull and monotonous. The site lacks an obvious call to action which is to “Apply Now!” The ETCMA lacks effective information architecture. “An information architecture

Step 1: Initial Site Analysis must balance the needs of users with the goals of the business. (Morville & Rosenfeld, 2007, p.5) A heuristic evaluation showed that the site provided numerous access routes to the same information, but its taxonomy needs improvement. Some of the label language is geared towards internal staff or current students. There is a consistency in the general structure and design of the ETCMA pages via local, global, and embedded navigation systems, however dramatic flaws are discovered once you delve deeper into the links such as the ETMCA registration link or the IDC program. According to Steven Krug (2006, p. 70), a common problem in Web design is “failing to give the lower-level navigation the same attention as the top.” Noteworthy Deficiencies

The following are the prominent information architecture issues discovered during the ETCMA site analysis:  Breadcrumbs for content consistent for most on site content. Breaks down for offsite links.  Inconsistency in the faculty directory and faculty listing on subsequent child pages.  No indication of the page author or owner.       

No indication of the page creation date or date of last modification. The page footer, while consistent, contains a link —unnecessary on short pages — to scroll the user’s browser the top of the page. 28 broken content links. Archive pages indicate the abandonment of the process of maintaining meeting notes over time. Link to an abandoned under construction page. Link to a corrupted media file and a questionable iTunes feed link. Quicklinks— neatly hidden — vary from page to page with no discernable pattern.

Additionally, the automated inventory returned files — with no discernable difference — from two different sources. Further investigation is needed to determine if these are duplicate files or the result of a server level redirect. The duplicate URL is http://www.spsu.edu/htc/home/index.htm. What We Didn’t Find

The web site did not contain any substantive multimedia files: audio, video, animations or even images. 6

Step 1: Initial Site Analysis Connections to the SPSU Site

It is uncertain if this is on purpose, but the ETCMA pages and the IDC pages— two related and subordinate sites — are dreadfully disparate in design and information architecture. But worse, is the lack of visual connection to the SPSU home page. This disconnection has caused a less than desirable outcome and negative feedback from some of the current student population. Our classmate Janique Burke stated, “At first glance, the SPSU site is confusing and visually unattractive. It lacks effortless mobility throughout. There are too many links to follow to get the user to their intended page. Such as in the case of the IDC graduate program home page.” Other students have made the following statements regarding their SPSU web site experience:   

Makes me feel stupid and lost Poorly organized It takes seven steps to find the Projected 2-Year Graduate Class Schedule

Initial Site Analysis Conclusion

Based on our analysis, the ETCMA web site redesign goal is to “restructure the navigation and architecture to enable our target audiences to more easily and completely find information of interest to them” (Powel and Gill, 2003, p.47). The ETCMA site shows poor hierarchical categorization of information and no evidence of tags or consistent metadata. Readers following the berry picking model (Bates, 1989) will find the content organized as if in Alice in Wonderland: clicking on a link may transport of you off site and inconsistent breadcrumbs do not help you know where you’ve visited. Systematic search is difficult. Much of the content requires updating or pruning before migrating to a new system.

Step 2: Competitive Analysis

Step 2: Competitive Analysis Our competitive analysis showed that the ETCMA and SPSU web sites were not as visually connected as other organizations. The ECTMA site is devoid of engaging multimedia content. Major improvements are needed in navigation, site organization, and content areas in order to be on par with the competition. The web site should actively integrate with social media and user-generated content as well as provide a customized portal for current students to meet the highest expectations. A competitive analysis was conducted on the ETCMA web site and its competitors to assist the SPSU Web site Redesign Project. The goal was to determine where the ETCMA web site ranked amongst the competition and extract key features to benchmark. Of the seven schools evaluated, ETCMA tied for the lowest rated. The primary areas of improvement are navigation, site organization, and call to action. Methods

We conducted an internet search for schools that had a program that was similar to SPSU’s ETCMA program. Most of the schools chosen had English programs with a Technical Communication section. We narrowed our selections to the following schools:       

University of Georgia New Media Institute George Mason University Louisiana Technical University Mercer University North Carolina State University Georgia Institute of Technology Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta

We chose schools with web sites that appeared to be well designed and well functioning and we selected those that were lacking in these areas. In doing so, we would best be able to determine where SPSU fell amongst is competition. Using Thomas Myer’s (2002) approach to web site competitive analysis, each school’s web site was examined using the criteria listed in the appendix and rated on a scale of 1-5 (1 = bad, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good, 5 = outstanding).

Step 2: Competitive Analysis Competitive Analysis Findings

Our team evaluated each competitor web site individually and then we averaged our results to give a final team score of each school. Table 1 Competitor Analysis Scoring Results SPSU

Team Overall Score

UGA New George Louisiana Mercer North Media Mason Technical Univ. Carolina Institute Univ. State 1 = bad, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good, 5 = outstanding 4.25

3.5

2.75

GA Tech

SCAD

3.5

The ETCMA site manages its home page, search capabilities, consistency, and readability fairly well. Unfortunately it is drastically underperforming the competition, specifically in the navigation, site organization, and content areas. According to Morville & Rosenfeld (2006, p. 58) these are critical areas of attention because “the organization of information in web sites and intranets is a major factor in determining success.” Therefore the bulk of the ETCMA web site redesign focus must be centered on these areas to not only meet the rankings of its competitors, but to exceed them. Competitive Best Practices

Our extensive review of the competitor’s web sites revealed areas worthy of benchmark. Implementation of these recommendations will significantly improve the ETCMA site, thereby increasing recruitment potential and improving current student usability. We have reviewed the successful elements of the competitor web sites and identified the following items for inclusion in ETCMA web site redesign:     

FAQ section Multimedia content-featuring student testimonies, faculty introductions, and student projects Highly visible call to action-such as “How to apply” and “Request Info” Internship page-that provides requirement information, application process, and suggested companies to intern with Right and left side local navigation-displaying links geared toward prospective and current students on one page provides a central point for key information retrieval 9

Step 3: Card Sort Analysis

Step 3: Card Sort Analysis The card sort indicated that the ECTMA site should avoid departmental jargon and labels for new visitors--prospective students--to the site. Even the commonly used label, archives, proved confusing. Consider using longer, more descriptive labels rather than short cryptic versions. We learned that labels we perceived as obvious were unclear to others. In order to understand our target population’s perception of the ETCMA site content, our team has performed two card sorts. Morville User Categories and Rosenfeld (2007, p. 106) describe card sorting exercises “as one About the school Academic Information of the best ways to learn how your users would use information.” We Access adapted the card sort methodology outlined by Usability.gov (U.S. Archives Department of Health & Human Services n.d.) for use with an online Career Resources Communication Resources remote card sorting tool — Chalkmark from OptimalWorkshop.com Courses

To prepare for the card sort we culled words and phrases found on the current ETCMA site as well as those sites used in the competitive analysis. We narrowed the list to 30 — a limitation set by the free software we used — by ranking the terms and extracting the most valued. This list, our content inventory (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) indentifies the most frequently appearing content. Open Sort

For our first sort, we used a population not currently associated with SPSU or the ETCMA program. We received eight responses to 12 invitations. The following is a breakdown of the demographics of our respondents: 



Age o One respondent aged 20 – 30 o Two respondents aged 30 – 40 o Four respondents aged 40 – 50 o One respondent aged 50 – 80 Professional role o Three web designers o One student o Three professional communicators o One software architect

Career Help Current Students Degree Programs Degrees Do not know Feedback tools Get Help Graphic Design How do I? How we do it Jobs Learning Center More Stuff Peers; Best Practices & Insights Programs Resources Search Student Resources What we do What you can learn

Figure 5: Top respondent generated categories from the open sort

Step 3: Card Sort Analysis For this open card sort we asked the respondents to read through the content inventory list and then group the items into categories. The respondents were also asked to provide descriptions for each of these categories. Unsurprisingly, the following keywords appeared in most of the respondent generated categories: courses and degrees. Figure 5 lists the category labels generated by the respondents. Closed sort

For the next card sort we collated the respondent generated categories. We grouped categories that seemed to represent the same idea with slightly different phrasing. The card sort recommended using not more than 10 categories so we further culled these groupings — removing overlapping labels. This time we targeted current ETCMA students. Five students responded. The sort was open from Friday to Sunday; perhaps not the best time for such a request. Categories with responses from 80% or more respondents:        

Academic information Archives Courses Current students Feedback tools Get Help Peers; Best Practices & Insights Student Resources

Alternative Card Sorts

Do these categories support the previously identified business objective of recruitment or instead do these categories to reflect the needs of current students? Using a population of prospective students may have yielded different answers. If server logs for page access and search terms were available, we could have seeded the open card sort with content harvested directly from user experiences. Halvorson (2009, p. 150) suggests that discovering how users behave on a web site is instrumental in determining and prioritizing improvements. Would the sort terms differ if we were able to focus on our user’s actions — on content they could not find?

Step 3: Card Sort Analysis Card Sort Results

Card sorting is a user centered design method that gives us insight into how our target population thinks about our content (Spencer & Warfel, 2010). One of our respondents, a professional communicator, provided long and formally phrased labels. Several respondents indicated that they did not understand ETCMA jargon. One respondent to the open sort gave up without completing the task — he is a graduate of Emory’s English program. One respondent pointed out that we had over emphasized the graduate programs and had failed to include terms relating to the undergraduate technical communication courses. The following are quotes from some of the card sort respondents: 

“It will be good if can give more description of what does each items mean (for several items, tooltip is not provided)” Lianping



“I wanted some more information on what the cards were, like to tell a course from a degree program. So for some of these I had to guess because I had no idea. Also, I left three things hanging outside group because I didn't know where they should go. "Ask Donna" seems like a homepage or utility navigation button or a page feature for a template used on the whole site. I don't know what "Communications Archive" is and am not sure where "Small group teaching" fits either.” Wendy Darling



“Interesting. Without more context, how do you know that what you meant and what I understood are the same thing?” Burk Hufnagel

The most frequently appearing categories were as follows:  Academic Information  Archives  Courses  Current Students  Feedback The following are clarifications for two of the labels that we thought were obvious; our respondents and early readers did not share the same opinion: 

Archives refers to links of a temporal nature that collect into groupings (month or year ) over time. As links to content roll off the landing page (current events, news), links to that content roll into CMS generated collections known as archives.



Feedback tools refers to mechanisms--email drop box, content ratings, comments--by students to faculty. For example, our online discussion area has a thread we should name "The Summer of Discontent with ETCMA". While difficult for faculty to digest, informal feedback mechanisms provide direct content for process improvement. 12

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis Personas provide an idealized user with a name and a face; it helps the designers relate to a specific - if fictional -- human. As we learn about our user population we can add that knowledge as facets to enrich our characters. Personas help with role playing and storytelling. For example, if testing uncovers that your target audience has visual acuity issues add that as a facet to the persona. We developed two graduate student personas and recommend that the team do the same for undergraduate students; these are distinctly separate populations.

In order to develop a more user centric web site, our team developed personas, mood boards, and task analysis for an identified target audience of the ETCMA web site. According to Willis (2003) "personas focus on specific user characteristics, this creates a hierarchy, and hierarchy forces tough (but essential) decisions." Personas, used in other mediums to represent the goals and behavior of a real group, are a method for us to develop a rich archetype (Wodtke & Govella, 2010) of a humanized audience. During a brainstorming session our team identified the following user personas (or audiences) for the ETCMA web site:       

Prospective undergraduate student Prospective graduate student Currently enrolled undergraduate student Currently enrolled graduate student Support staff Faculty Community members, alumni

We developed two personas to help our team create an improved user experience for ETCMA site. A design team can use these personas to make the web site “design simpler, cleaner, and more valuable” (Wodtke, 2010, p. 130). We highlight a current vs prospective student to show the difference between the two in terms of their needs.

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis

Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student

Patrick Wedding, age 41, is a currently enrolled graduate student. He has not decided between the IDC and IID programs so he is sticking to a Figure 6. Patrick curriculum path that Wedding hedges his bets for both. He and his family live in Lawrence, KS; their house is located walking distance from the town square. Patrick likes order. His desk is organized in a way that makes sense to him: journal and pen kept in the top left drawer, scissors kept in the bottom draw with a lock (a habit he developed after having young kids in the house). Patrick operates his own consulting business out of his home but travels frequently to meet clients. Useful and beautiful gadgets abound in Patrick's home. He owns both a Mac and a PC but prefers his Mac for creative work. Patrick is a primary user of the ECTMA web site. He has a high bandwidth internet connection when he works at home but spotty coverage when he travels. Patrick likes to read but he is an avid listener to business, history, and science fiction audio books. Favorite Quote: "Expect the unexpected" Miles Teg charater in Frank Herbert's Dune series Social Media: Follows @uxcrank, @uxmag,and @janeforshort on Twitter.

Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student

Sonya is a 45 year-old Hispanic woman who lives in Smyrna, GA. She is single and has no children. Sonya is a Figure 7. Sonya Padilla vibrant outgoing person with an active social life. This is a person who is bored easily and likes a challenge. Two months ago she took a leap of faith and left her career as an investment banker in hopes of embarking on a new and more stimulating career path. Sonya determined the first step of that journey begins with choosing a graduate program. Reading habits: She is an avid reader. She recently finished “Committed” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. Internet Usage Sonya lives on the internet. She checks her email, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts with her morning cup of coffee, during lunch and after dinner. She has a smart phone so she stays connected 24/7. Sonya banks online, shops online, and even keeps in touch with her friends and family overseas online via Skype. Favorite Quote “Better, stronger, faster,” from The Six Million Dollar Man. 14

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis Scenario for Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student

The following narrative outlines in broad strokes Patrick's system usage scenarios: Patrick wants to plan his multi-year engagement with SPSU. He would like to find the balance between when classes are offered, his professional workload, coursework he finds challenging or easy, and his kid's summer schedule. He also wants to know about upcoming events â&#x20AC;&#x2022; virtual or on campus â&#x20AC;&#x2022; so that he can socialize with his student peers. Patrick has not decided between the IID and IDC programs; he wants to learn about other student's experiences in the program so that he can decide his exit strategy: master's degree, certificate, leave the program. Sitepath Diagram for Primary Persona 1: Current Graduate Student

The sitepath diagram (Figure 10) shows the activities described in Patrick's narrative; it provides a visualization of the content centers he expects to find to accomplish his task (Willis, 2003).

Figure 8. Sitepath diagram for Patrick Wedding

Step 4: Personas, Mood Boards, and Task Analysis Scenario for Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student

Sonya’s friend told her about their great experience at SPSU, so Sonya has decided to look for a graduate program in the ETCMA department. Sonya has a degree in accounting, but she wants to become more technologically savvy. In this scenario, Sonya will explore the ETCMA site to see the programs offered and start the application process. Task Analysis Flowchart for Primary Persona 2: Prospective Graduate Student

Table 2 Sonya Padilla Task Analysis Flowchart

1.0

5.0

10.0

Google SPSU ETCMA Site

Click the “ETCMA” link at top of page

Click the “University Graduate Admissions” link

2.0

6.0

11.0

Click “IDC” Link

Click “IID” Link

Click “MSIDC Admissions” link

3.0

7.0

12.0

Click “Short Guided Tour” link

View “Flash Presentation”

Follow admissions instructions

3.1

8.0

12.1

Click the Back button to get back to IDC page

Click the “Back” button to get back to ETCMA page

Problems? Click the “Back” button twice and call Donna

4.0 Click the “Programs” link

9.0 Click the “Admissions” link

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy Wireframes provide high level guidance to the content developers, technical developers, and graphic artists on the team. We have attempted to incorporate well-known CMS features to enhance the traditional hierarchical navigation. We strongly suggest the use of multimedia content; our wireframe research showed that all respondents would choose a prominently placed student portfolio multimedia piece as their click upon landing on the site. Additionally, we have provided a sampling of information architecture and content development strategies with consideration to both ownership and content development timelines. We developed several wireframes for the ECTMA site to provide a visual representation of the content and links on key sample pages. According to Morville & Rosenfeld (2007, p. 307), â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wireframes stand at the intersection of the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s information architecture and its visual and information design.â&#x20AC;? In this section you will find a landing page, prospective student page, current student page, and a 404 error page. As we discussed in persona and mood board section, we chose to separate our content along the dividing lines of current and prospective students. Landing Page

Our ETCMA home page features a large logo area aside a simple navigation bar; only three choices are offered. Tucked into the right, in the expected position, is a search option. We would like to see this implemented with a dynamic overlay to hide and show advanced search options. The eye catching feature of the page is a rotating portfolio and featured content display. The content in this featured area, depending on the technology container, could be an image or a movie. The wireframe is shown in the context of a desktop browser window. Above the logo and the site search are the links back to the parent site. The ETCMA site should have its own subdomain for easy browser navigation: ectma.spsu.edu. Any other campus branding or outer navigation should appear in this topmost area. The right column contains three navigational mechanisms to find content: calendar metaphor, recent and popular news items, and keywords in a tag cloud. Each of these navigational schemes should be generated by the CMS.

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy

Figure 9. Landing Page

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy Prospective Students

The body content of the landing page is directed towards prospective students. Current students should bounce off this page quickly onto the resource rich pages designed for them. Links in the body will lead the reader into information about the undergraduate and graduate programs. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve separated these audiences immediately, although some content (i.e., faculty listings) crosses these boundaries. We wanted the readers to self-identify quickly. The wireframe intended for prospective students outlines one of the content chunks a level below the graduate student audience pathway page. Notice that this page has breadcrumbs across the top of the body content area, links to content embedded into the content, a call to action below the content. As the eye moves down the content from top left to bottom right, the reader is led to the next logical piece of content or several related content items. For this wireframe we used an accordion control to house the hierarchical navigation on the left side of the page. The current reading position in this navigation control is indicated via highlighting.

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy Common Areas

The rest of the page remains the same as the front page except that the logo area shrinks in size. While it is not necessary for the persistent and local navigation to be a carbon copy of one another, they must be visually similar enough that the reader recognizes that they are one and

Figure 10. Prospective Students

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy the same with a slight variation (Krug, 2009, p. 108). Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also chosen to use a fairly large footer that contains a succinct site map. (See commercial example at WSJ http://online.wsj.com/home-page). Content Development Strategy

We developed a mindmap in order to be sure we analyzed all of the existing content for the ETCMA site. Then we added what we thought was missing based up conversations with other students over the past semesters.

Figure 11. Mind Map Over the past weeks Dr. Palmer discussed the lack of organizational responsibilities and funding available for maintaining the current ETCMA web site. Considering her response, we can make an educated guess that there are no resources available to update or generate new content during the CMS migration. Accepting this political reality, how can we as information architects affect the outcome of the project?

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy First, we need to capture good content as close to the creator as possible. This means faculty should be responsible for their own biographical abstract, course descriptions, and syllabi. When they answer questions via email that are good FAQ candidates, we ask that they also send those answers to a generic email queue. In addition, we request that Donna do the same during her workday. Some CMS systems have the ability to create new content by way of an email. Over time Donna may be able to reduce the volume of student phone calls and emails as she builds useful content generated by real inquiries. Student Community for Current Students Consider that the best showcase of the program is student work. Not just polished portfolio pieces but helpful hints, tutorials, and useful starter templates. To support that group of content developers we wireframed a student community section.

Figure 12. Student Community for Current Students 22

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy Below are sample student tips/observations that have been shared during this IDC 6180 course: “I would never have looked under Banner Web to find my grades for classes that have just finished, but that's where it is. First, I would have expected them in VISTA. No dice - they're under Student Services and Financial Aid, which I don't need, and then Student Records. It should be higher up in the hierarchy.” Ann Giles “Just the other day, I was looking for the end of semester dates on the main site. After a few minutes of looking and not actually finding what I wanted, I Googled it and found it instantly.” Andrew Watson

Figure 13. Multiple paths to reach the same content

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy Multiple Paths Our navigation mechanisms offer multiple paths to the same content. In “Fix X” the stars represent various ways that a reader might pick up the scent for a course. Redish (2007, p.54) states that people will “follow that scent of information to a successful end. If a link gives off a good scent people are confident that they are on the way to what they want.” The site should have two or three types of listings that describe courses: any course that could be taught, a featured course that will be taught in the near future, and a pathway page of courses. "Pathway pages are like a table of contents” (Redish, 2007, p.54). Users can find the course by means of search, a link in an article, a secondary navigation item, tag cloud keyword, or content that bubbles up automatically in the recent and popular section. Additionally, readers read about a course while never visiting the web site when using an RSS feed aggregator. An RSS feed or Really Simple Syndication feed is “a document that contains either a summary of content from a web site or the full text of a web site. RSS feeds make it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites automatically rather than checking them manually” (SEO Partner, n.d.) When queried, three out of 16 IDC 6180 students responded that they use an RSS reader. But RSS feeds aren’t merely for humans, they are also useful to other CMS systems. For example, the IID and IDC web sites are subordinate to the ETCMA site. ETCMA acts as an umbrella. The ETCMA site could use the RSS feeds generated by the IID and IDC sites and use the content (i.e., headlines and teasers) to populate the recent and popular section. Heat Maps

As a part of our wireframe discovery process, we used a tool (Chalkmark) to generate a heat map for our wireframes based on a series of questions. “A heat map is any data visualization which uses color to represent data values in a two-dimensional image. Most heat maps use mapping techniques to represent their data rather than charting and graphing techniques, thus providing unique views of data not available in charts and graphs” (Lab Escape, n.d.) The following are our findings:  

When presented with a landing page featuring a rotating view of a student showcase, every user envisioned the image in the showcase in Figure 18. When asked to choose the next piece of content on a page representing a section of content, most respondents primarily chose the link embedded in the content, however others chose to follow the left hand navigation or the bottom right “next article” link. 24

Step 5: Wireframes and Content Development Strategy 

We asked open ended questions and presented the reader with a page that aggregates — provides a pathway to — collections of user generated content. Some of the respondents chose to explore information concealed behind tabs and others found the “Ask Donna” search on the bottom right.

Figure 14. Student Community Heat Map

Figure 15. Heat Map 25

Step 6: Search

Step 6: Search Provide advanced search capabilities that allow a search to span the ETCMA subdomains: IID and IDC. Ensure the CMS can deep search across PDFs and content components. Use keywords that have meaning to your audience — students — instead of departmental jargon. Add a temporal facet to your search results using metadata and document dates; content relating to current and future semesters should appear first in a search results list. Our team conducted a content analysis, card sort, and competitive analysis of the ETCMA sub site. The goal of this extensive examination is to improve the usability of the ETCMA site. Quick and accurate information retrieval is vital for current and prospective students. This section details search recommendations we compiled based on the results of our evaluation. Search Zones

In order to provide the best search results for readers, a site must utilize an organization scheme upon which to construct search zones. Morville and Rosenfeld define search zones as “pockets of homogenous content…allows users to focus their searches” (2007, p. 151). These zones allow users to search the “silo” or in this case the ETCMA sub site versus the entire SPSU site. Including advanced search options enable users to search the Information Design and Communication (IDC) and the Information and Instructional Design (IID) programs within the ETCMA sub site. We analyzed the feedback we gathered and developed the following search zones:    

Faculty Courses and Syllabi Textbooks and Recommended Reading Academic Calendar

Additionally, sub domains or search engine friendly URLS are a way to aid users when seeking content for a named entity such as a department.

26 Figure 16. Sub Domains/Search Engine Friendly URLS

Step 6: Search Navigation Pages

Navigation pages direct readers to the destination pages that contain the information they seek. Information retrieval accuracy is largely dependent upon the use of organization schemes that designate which pages are navigation and which are destination. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Navigation pages may include main pages, search pages, and pages that help you browse a siteâ&#x20AC;? (Morville & Rosenfeld, 2007, p. 153). This is an example of a navigation page featuring search zones identified in our research. The reader types their keywords, selects the zone and clicks the search button.

Figure 17. Navigation Page

Destination Pages

Once the reader has entered keywords into the search field on the navigation page, they will be led to a destination page containing their requested information. The example below is a destination page; some searches will yield a page containing links to other possible destination pages.

Figure 18. Destination Page

Step 6: Search Indexing

We have chosen to index the content by audience. ETCMA crosses both graduate and undergraduate boundaries for both prospective and current students. Adding another dimension at the graduate level, there are now two distinct programs offered: technical communication (IDC) and instructional design (IID). Some content, such as faculty and generic program promotional materials cross all audiences. Content Components

A Content Management System (CMS) targeted for universities should have the capabilities to "manage content at a granular level (component) rather than at the document level" (Wikipedia, n.d.). Implementation of this feature is dependent on building the necessary CMS display templates and forms. The following content components (metadata fields) should be tracked with their accompanying metadata fields: Table 3 CMS Content Components

Course Title Summary Teaser Reputation Stars Audience

Owner Tags Date created Date updated Effective Semesters Keywords

Directory Entries Name Title Teaser Role

Department Tags Date created Date updated Active or Emeritus

Multimedia Assets Title Summary Teaser Reputation Stars Audience Media Type

Owner Tags Date created Date updated Keywords Expiration Effective Semesters

Step 6: Search Keywords

We gleaned these terms after surveying our existing site as well as that of our competitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The following terms are suggested as keywords in the <meta keyword> section of the HTML documents. Table 4 Keywords 2 year Academic Calendar Fall semester courses

Bookstore Graphics

Information Design Multimedia Journalism Admissions Syllabi Software requirements Distance Learning Usability GeorgiaView Vista

Instructional Design Digital Media Arts Certificate Faculty bio Graduate Thesis T-COMMONS Hornet Connect

Spring semester courses Summer semester courses Information Architecture English Technical Communication E-portfolio Full time Undergraduate Internship Class Schedule Banner

Visual Example of Search Results

We have selected several of the CMS content component metadata items for display in the search results. We have provided examples for different content types and audiences; no order or hierarchy is implied.

Figure 19. Explicated generic search result for a single asset (document or content component).

Step 6: Search

Figure 20. Example of a course, directory, textbook content component along with metadata for a multimedia asset search result for multiple assets: course, directory, textbook, video

Error Page

Figure 21. 404 Error Page

Recommendations

Recommendations ETCMA’s tagline “English, Technical Communication & Media Arts” should shine through the information provided on the web site. Do we practice what we preach? Both faculty and students reported that their initial impression of the program was poor based on their engagement with SPSU’s online marketing materials. The program offers courses in multimedia yet the homepage offers no compelling multimedia content. Our wireframe research showed that all respondents would choose a prominently placed student portfolio multimedia piece as their click upon landing on the site

General Recommendations

Navigation   

When designing the navigation for the web site, segment the audiences into prospective and current students. Include prominent items central to the page to guide prospective students through the graduate and undergraduate program marketing materials. Increase usage and functionality of local navigation. Current students and return visitors can scan the side areas for updates to the site or links to pathway pages that assemble links to resources for convenience.

Keywords The updated web site content should use keywords to aid in the findability of the program and to clearly articulate its benefits. For example, Adobe skills are a desired commodity in the workplace. According to Google Adwords, there are approximately 18,000 monthly searches on the term Adobe. Adobe skills are highly sought after in the workforce, but the ETCMA web site fails to highlight the fact that it provides this valuable training. Yet, the keyword Adobe is only mentioned deep in the ETCMA web site regarding required software. From our research using keyword analysis tools such as Google Adwords, Alexa,and Wordtracker, the following are suggested keywords or phrases:     

Technical communication degree Mike Markel Multimedia Instructional design Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator

    

Instructional systems design Instructional design degree Web site development Instructional design model Elearning, E-Learning 31

Recommendations

CMS Ensure the ETCMA department adopts the CMS as a tool for managing the temporal nature of content: last semester’s content should roll off the front page of the site and into the archives section automatically. Additionally, the tool will allow for distribution of web site authoring, editing, and publishing responsibilities through the use of roles and security. We recommend that all of the online information be reviewed for accuracy before migrating. T-Commons.org Consider discontinuing the support of the T-Commons.org site. The content doesn’t integrate with the official department web site and the discussion forums appear to be empty. We recommend that the active parts of T-Commons.org — news, job and internship postings — can be incorporated into the new ETCMA web site structure. Competitor Benchmarks To improve the content provided on the ETCMA site, consider following the competitive trail blazed by Scott Schamp at UGA’s New Media Institute. He highlights his program by promoting the students’ projects. He periodically produces a communication to highlight current events and how they relate to his program or students’ projects. Above all other competitive web sites analyzed, his site truly supports the tagline “innovation with communication technologies”. We recommend improving the visual design and layout for the ETCMA site by looking to our local competitor SCAD. Their site clearly segments their audience and provides visual interest with their generous use of graphics. Their landing page — intended for prospective students — provides clearly labeled routes across the top and interior pages and provides links to recent or related content in the right column. There is a private MyScad link to support current students. SCAD.tv integrates video and a twitter feed. The recruiting staff at SCAD reaches out to students using social media — meeting the students in their community.

Recommendations Recommendations for the Graphic Designer

 Provide a visual indicator for offsite links  Provide a visual indicator for multimedia items (video, audio) or PDFs  Add missing contact information to the wireframes  Consider developing two logos for the site: a large and bold logo for the site home page and a smaller and subdued logo for the interior pages

 Krug states “the Site ID on the Home page is usually larger than in the persistent navigation, like the large sign over a store entrance…” (2009, p. 108).

 The Help menu item should dynamically expand on rollover to display at least the following items: “Ask Donna” and FAQs.

Creative Recommendations

 Develop specialized pathway pages such as curriculum maps for the graduate and undergraduate degree programs. Help students visualize their path to completion; consider using an information graphic that links directly to individual course descriptions.

 Provide an Excel template to help students chart their way towards program completion.  Continue the persona development process for undergraduate students. Our team was populated with graduate students.

 Hang a poster with the personas and wireframes near the ETCMA classrooms and labs.

Broadcast PDF versions to distance learners. Encourage the students to annotate them with their own perspective and graffiti.

 Move toward a physical wireframe design by incorporating components found in the CMS; we made a best guess based upon experience with other CMS tools.

Appendix

Appendix Appendix A â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Competitive Analysis Criteria

We rated each competitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s web site using a 1-5 scale based on the 12 criteria items listed below. Home Page

Is the home page informative? Does it set the proper context for visitors? Is it just an annoying splash page with multimedia? Does it load quickly?

Navigation

Is the global navigation consistent from page to page? Do major sections have local navigation? Does the site use (approximately) standard link colors? Can you get to your sub-section's home page from the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main page (or a significant top-level page)?

Design and Maintenance

Are there dead links? Is there a call to action? Is there a contact form or email address on the site?

Search and Search Results

Is there a search engine? Do the search results remind you what you searched for? Are there basic and advanced search functions?

Site Organization

Is the site organization intuitive and easy to understand?

Links and Labels

Are labels on section headers and content groupings easy to understand? Or are they ambiguous and uninformative ("click here" or "white paper")? Are links spread out in documents, or gathered in sidebars or other groupings?

Readability -

Is the font easy to read? Are line lengths acceptable?

Appendix -

Is the site easy to scan, with chunked information, or is it just solid blocks of text?

Performance -

Overall, do pages load slowly or quickly? Are graphics and applications like search and multimedia presentations optimized for easy Web viewing?

Content

Does the content match the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission and the needs of the audience? Is the site developing its own content or syndicating other sources? Is there a good mix of in-depth material (detailed case studies, articles, and white papers) versus superficial content (press releases, marketing copy)?

Clarity of Communication

Does the site convey a clear sense of its intended audience? Does it use language in a way that is familiar to and comfortable for its readers? Is it conversational in its tone?

Consistency

Does the site have a consistent, clearly recognizable "look-&-feel"? Does it make effective use of repeating visual themes to unify the site? Is it visually consistent even without graphics?

Appendix Appendix B â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Competitor Schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Web Sites

The following schools were included in the competitive analysis: SPSU http://www.spsu.edu/htc/home/ University of GA New Media Institute (NMI) http://nmiuga.weebly.com/index.html George Mason University

http://english.gmu.edu/

Louisiana Tech

http://www.latech.edu/tech/liberalarts/english/html/technical_writing/

Mercer University

http://www.mercer.edu/mstco/

North Carolina

http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/graduate/ms/msprogram.php

GA Tech

http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) http://www.scad.edu/writing/index.cfm

Appendix Appendix C - Competitor Web Site Analysis Benchmarks

UGA New Media Institute (NMI) -

Branding. This site has a very clean design aesthetic and effectively uses its logo throughout the site.

Taxonomy. The terminology of the global navigation is succinct and very well targeted to its intended audience.

Business Objective. The inclusion of the “Connect” button which leads to the site’s social networking tools is a testament to its tagline “Innovating with Communication Technologies.” It’s very relevant, audience specific, and serves as a recruitment tool.

FAQs. The NMI site has a well-placed FAQ section under a prospective student header.

Multimedia Content. This is the only site to host current multimedia content of student presentations and guest speakers. You feel as if there are real projects and real students behind the site. They don’t tout their program as much as show off the results of their program. NMI also has a good use of archives to display previously highlighted content over time. Program Director, Dr. Schamp has a personality that is developed online. He is the face of the program through the web site, blog, emails, and events.

George Mason University (GMU) -

Navigation. Ease of navigation and placement of information is highly effective on the GMU web site. The site makes good use of breadcrumb navigation so you not only know where you are but how you got there.

Call to action. A benchmark that SPSU should utilize is the “How to apply” call to action located in the global navigation. Many university sites provide great information details about the programs offered but don’t visually prioritize applying to the program.

Content. Each page is consistently designed so that the school’s/program’s identity remains intact. News articles are short with a long reading line length. Additionally, current content is highlighted on the left hand side as you navigate the site. News articles have a date thus increasing findability. Faculty pages are nicely arranged with (when populated) consistent formatting of information.

Appendix Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) -

Design. This site is extremely visually appealing and well suited for the type of students it seeks to attract.

Internships. The school dedicated a page to internships, by area of study, how to apply as well as info regarding on campus recruiting. This is crucial for those struggling to find the right internship fit.

Call to action. This site features a well developed call to action section that lets prospective students know they can contact the school to apply, request info, visit, or online chat. The school uses all methods of contact: social media, phone, email, or snail mail.

Navigation. Good utilization of bottom right navigation with related links and related programs. This gives the reader exploratory options.

Site Organization. The use of sections on the main page are useful for grouping content, however they would be stronger if a they were a real tab metaphor . The arrows (subordinate, changing direction) broke the content into further chunks.

NC State -

Navigation. The use of local navigation on both sides of the home page makes it a one stop shop for information. The prospective student doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to hunt and click to find the information they are most interested in (i.e., degree programs and admission requirements).

Appendix Appendix D - Competitive Analysis Scoring

We rated each web site using a 1-5 scale based on the 12 criteria items listed in the methods section. The color coded numbers in the columns represent our individual scores. An overall web site median score was calculated from each evaluatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 12-category assessment. Next the overall web site median scores from both evaluators were averaged to give a final team score of each school. Table 5 ETCMA Competitive Analysis Details