Minor Project 9: Read & Blog

In Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, he discusses his first law of usability, "Don't make me think!"  I completely agree with this statement because I hate when I go to a website and can't figure out how to navigate to the information I need.  He then goes on to explain that it is not because people will navigate off of the page because it is frustrating; in fact most people try to find what they are looking for and blame themselves for not being able to find the information and not the site.  He also says that if the navigation is easier and better than the whole website seems better and is viewed in a better light.  It also makes the user feel better about themselves.  

Minor Project 8: Static Web Page Mockups

Minor Project 4/6: Wireframes Part 1/2

Minor Project 7: Schematic/Site Map

Minor Project 1: Setup Blog & mywebspace

http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/sbaccala/index1-1.html

http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/sbaccala/index2.html

Minor Project 5: Read & Blog

Information Architecture: Structural organization of content, it usually has a hierarchy and is easy for users to understand.  I puts information in a form that can be navigated with ease. 

Interaction Design: Shapes the experience of people as they interact with the website it displays the information and gives the user control.

Interface: The tool in which everything is displayed through.

Usability: The ease of the navigating through the design.  

Minor Project 2: Major Project brief. Client: CAS International Working Group

Samantha Baccala and Tashell Thompson

Purpose and Objectives: Without there being room for an actual CAS International Working Group building, there is a need to utilize the web space just as effectively as an office.  The goal is to make global education opportunities an integral part of faculty, student, and staff experience. Making the information easily accessible in the web space is also very important.   

Target Audience: Students and Staff of the Quinnipiac Community who are interested in global education opportunities.

The Core Creative Concept:  An interactive map resides in the background of each page and is enabled when used.  When not being used a transparent box of content will appear over it. 

The Overall Look & Feel:  Casual, Calming, Inviting.  We want to try a minimal approach and not bombard the viewer with unnecessary information. The colors we would use are hues of blue and green because they fit the global idea while also keeping with the cool and calming atmosphere we are trying to create.  We plan to use a San-Serif typeface because San-Serif typefaces are more easily read on websites and computer screens.  

Design Visuals and Hierarchy:  The Design for the entire website would be based on a global map which is interactive on some pages and a background on other tabs that have more informational content.  The tabs would be located on the top left side of the page and would be on a diagonal to conserve space.  A live chat link would open a separate window so that the user could chat while also viewing the page. 

Information Architecture:  We narrowed down the main tabs to Home, About Us, Academics, Multicultural Learning, Blogs, Events, and Multi-Media; in that order.  The Academics tab would include Students, Faculty, Courses, and Scholarship while utilizing the interactive map feature. On the interactive map there will be a filter where the user can tailor the map to what they are interested in.  The Multi-Media tab would contain Game, Media (news), and Resources.

The website is not in use anymore but the design is what helped inspire our design.

There is also a map in the Quinnipiac Magazine which was our first inspiration.