Topic Proposal Essay 1.1 Due 1
From WRIT-2510 Spring 2007 Wiki
In class today, 1/26/2007, you will work with your colleagues to generate ideas for your first submission of your first essay. In general, I subscribe to the philosophy that two (or more) heads are better than one. Today in class, you will too. In all seriousness, however, it is good practice to get "outside of your head" and hear how another audience (your colleague) thinks about some of the same issues your essay will raise.
Notice that the assignment sheet says, ". . .before you can even begin to work on the assignment you’ll have to figure out what is the site’s purpose, who is its audience, and what are the needs of the designers and users (are they the same, different?)." I want you to work in pairs to flesh out these ideas. First, take a few minutes to jot down your answers to these questions. You should be as descriptive as possible. Then you will each take a turn explaining your answers to each other. You should be helping one another develop even more detailed responses. You should also talk about all the possible criteria you might use (brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm, look as Aristotle says, at all your available means of persuasion) and discuss which ones are most useful for your site. By the end of the workshop each of you should have posted a topic proposal as a response titled "Your Name's Topic Proposal 9/11" to this main article. It should do the following:
1. Identify and link to the website you will be evaluating. Identify who authored the site, and what type of site it is; i.e., what is its purpose?
2. Briefly describe why you chose the site (no more than 2-3 sentences).
3. Describe the audience(s) for the site, intended, unintended.
4. Identify the site's purpose.
5. Explain whether you think the site is "good, bad, ugly." Note that the position you take here should develop into the main argument (or thesis) that guides your essay.
6. List the criteria you used to reach the conclusion in question five.
7. List a multitude of features you might discuss as evidence of your claims. The more you can jot here the better. Ultimately, you will need to be selective in what you include for your final essay, but for now, the purpose is to generate ideas and options.
Remember the purpose of this exercise is to get you started and moving--it is a beginning and not an end to your writing and revising process for this essay.
When you post your responses, please make sure to title it with your name, i.e. Dr. Jan's Topic Proposal, and then include your answers to all 7 questions in your response. Contents
[edit] Keve Zoltani's Topic Proposal
1. I chose http://www.cardplayer.com/, a commercial site for poker information. The site is authored by cardplayer magazine and hosts many different articles related to poker.
2. I chose this site because poker is very interesting to me and I visit the site frequently so it would be a good site for me to evaluate.
3. The audience for the site are all poker players, those seeking to learn more about poker and players wishing to be sponsored since cardplayer is one of the larger poker corporations.
4. The sites purpose to educate everyone who is interested in poker how to play, better their game, news updates on poker events and other tools to help advance one's game.
5. The site is a good one. It achieves it purpose in a effective manner. Although it does have its faults, the benefits far outweigh the defects.
6. Looking at the sites general set up shows that there is not too much junk such as advertising to ruin the site. It is very informative in all aspects of information and is consistent in design.
7. The sites general set up, tools available to the users, web site design are all effective in communicating to the user. There is a consistent design in all the part of the web pages so the user knows all the pages are related. There is good contrast to keep the attention of the reader. The actual content of the page is very factual and understandable.
[edit] Chris Jaeger's Topic Proposal
1. http://www.zhongwen.com is the site, aptly named "Zhongwen.com", as the characters translate. Means "Chinese", as in the language. The author is Rick Harbaugh, a professor at Indiana University majoring in Economics and East Asian Languages and Culture. The site is an Educational Site.
2. I chose the site because it is a site with a good purpose and a useful goal. Unfortunately, the site is particularly inadequate at achieving this goal.
3. The audience for the site is intended as people who are interested in Chinese, whether it's the language or the culture behind it. The site caters to both. However, unintendedly, it best caters only to casual learners or people with less than a vested interest.
4. The site's job is to help people with the Chinese language. It informs people of the meaning behind character structure, the system of the language, and the culture behind it. It is also, first and foremost, a dictionary, to help you find the characters you need, or translate the ones you find.
5. The site is in my opinion a bad site because it ultimately fails to accomplish its main goal due to numerous problems within its structure. While it may have a wealth of information and a high technological interface, it does not cater to actually distributing it.
6. The criteria I find are the poor structure of the site and its circular navigability, poor interface for people who wish to use the site, and a self-defeating existence.
7. It has poor structure due to the poor organization of frames and the mysterious and infernal link navigation through the frames. The poor interface arises from inconsistency among search forms, difficulty to find them, and the lack of contrast to help navigate. Finally, the design of the site, to use images, hampers the efforts of learners by catering to a more closed section of the more open audience.
[edit] Robert Augelli's Topic Proposal
The site I have chosen to critique is http://www.ruckus.com. More specifically, the website I will be evaluating is the site after the login, so in effect login information may be required. The Ruckus Network is a commercial company and as such is not created solely by one person, but rather the company. The site offers a legal alternative to download music. More specifically, the purpose of the site is to try to pull people, mostly college students, towards their service and away from the desire to illegally download. In terms of the company’s best interest, their main goal is to make money and to create and sustain a successful business model.
I chose http://www.ruckus.com because I use the site frequently and have often stated that I think it has a terrible interface. I feel like with the amount of professionals working on the site they could have certainly come up with a friendlier user interface. To me, this site perfectly represents aesthetically pleasing yet rather clumsy layout design.
The website’s main intended audience is college students. All of their marketing is focused on this demographic as they require a valid @”college”.edu email address to access all of their media. Otherwise, they have a small intended audience of alumni and faculty that may gain access for a small monthly fee, but most of their marketing is not geared to them. In terms of unintended audience, most of this is taken care of by needing login information to access the material. On the other hand, people looking for a legal music alternative may stumble upon the site merely based on word of mouth or may stop by http://www.ruckusnetwork.com for a more news based, company, informational site.
Again, the site is maintained as a means to provide legal media to a demographic who is often likely to use the types of media offered. In the corporate eyes, the company wishes to make money and spread its word so others will use their service, thus gaining word of mouth and revenue.
I believe that http://www.ruckus.com is a poorly developed website, but not an ugly one. Aesthetically, baring some advertisements needed to help pay for the site, the site is pleasing to the eye and professional looking. The interface however is not user friendly and could use a great deal of work.
I used lots of different criteria to come to the above conclusion. Really though, my site interaction had brought to light some of the issues. I based most of my criteria off of some of the readings we have done so things such as Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast were taking into consideration.
In terms of proper design layout, the website lacks proper proximity between images and its text. It also is not consistent (repetitive) from page to page where things are located (such as the most downloaded songs). The different tabs are very difficult to properly locate and do not have proper importance associated with them. Also, each of the sub-sites these tabs link to are very different from each other, lacking cohesiveness. Finding help is hard to locate as well (Alignment). Last but not least, it is very difficult to tell when new information has been placed on the site since smaller images are used as a means of updating.
[edit] Daniel Wong's Topic Proposal
1) http://www.backcountry.com/Backcountry.com has a variety of products that it has for sale. Their merchandise is geared towards the outdoors, ranging from ski jackets to camping tents. This site also offers similar products from different brands and companies, allowing its users to discern which product are most suitable.
2) I chose this site because I have personally used it myself to purchase ski jackets and accessories. Thus I am familiar with the process and information that this site provides in purchasing products.
3) I think that intended audiences for Backcountry.com are people who enjoy the outdoors and wish to purchase equipment for their hobbies. The unintended audiences are the people who come to their site by referral or drawn by an advertised sale that this website often has.
4) The site’s purpose is to provide its customers with the information and specifications in order to make a conclusive decision about which products to buy.
5) I think that the site is pretty decently made that is easy to navigate. Overall I think that Backcountry.com has many features which give enormous benefits and accessibility that other websites of the same category cannot.
6) Navigability, content, appearance and appeal, feedback and interaction.
7) Live chat with a representative, an outlet section with special deals, search capabilities, best seller suggestion box.
[edit] Eric Wyler's Topic Proposal
1. I will be evaluating The World's Healthiest Foods at http://www.whfoods.com. The site is authored and maintained by the George Mateljan Foundation, and it's purpose is to share information regarding the benefits of healthy eating and to help people live a lifestyle that includes healthy food choices. The site is entirely non-commericial and non-profit.
2. I chose this site because it is a resource that I use quite often and have found to be very beneficial. The information is presented in a simple and concise manner, yet there is an incredible abundance of easily accessible resources available for those wishing to further explore healthy eating.
3. The intended audience for the site could be deemed to include the entire human population. Everyone can stand to learn a few things about healthy eating. The only audience you could call unintended is one which is comprised of people disinterested in or distinctly skeptical of the effects of food on health.
4. The purpose of the site is to spread the wealth of information on how food can profoundly affect health. The site is designed to bring together the results of many different studies in one place, as opposed to simply being a repository of information that must be slogged through. It also makes attempts to make healthy eating as easy as possible by offering services such as eating for specific diseases, recipes, and graphical nutrient analyses.
5. This is a good site. It provides a clear and pleasing user interface and adhears to many of the guidelines of good web design that have been discussed. The only real issue present is the lack of repetition of the navigation bar on one or two pages, but even then only part of the navigation bar is missing. Also, there is no indicator of what page you are on in the navigaton bar. However, those are minor issues, and looking at the big picture, the site is designed well.
6. I used my general reaction at first glance, the various guidelines that we have read about, and also just basic usability. I thought of different tasks that I may want to perform on the site and then attempted to complete them. It was always easy to figure out what I was looking at and where I could go next. Also, the content was easy to read, and separate elements on the page were easy to differentiate between.
7. The repetition of the navigation bar is (almost) foolproof. The top of bar is always present and unchanging but the one on the left disappears on one or two pages. The text is always easy to read. Images are used well, adding style to the pages without making the words seem crowded. Graphic displays of nutrients are precise and can be scanned quickly. The color scheme is soothing to the eyes. Text does not run across the entire screen, making it difficult to read, but is rather in nicely organized columns. Elements are spaced out enough for simple scanning and reading. Items are aligned well (and it is done consistently), and it is easy to tell one element from another (good contrast). The site can also be used quickly, which seems very important in today's society. Also, the number of clicks required to navigate to most places is minimal; it is easy to relocate information that was previously discovered. The results of a search are also exceptionally well-organized and so the site appeals to link-happy and search-happy people alike.
[edit] Terry Isabella’s Topic Proposal
I chose to evaluate http://www.watchblog.com. This site is authored by BlogCorp which is a full-service consulting firm that builds online communities and blogs for businesses. Watchblog offers blog space to people interested in writing political commentary.
I chose this site because I’m personally interested in finding out what supporters of the Republican, Independent, and Democratic parties are currently thinking.
The intended audience of this site seems to be those with a serious interest in contributing political commentary. The site is not intended for those on a nonsensical tirade.
The site’s intention is to help those who are confused about which political party or candidate to support and offer them place to go for help.
I think that the site is good. From what I have read so far, the site seems to have respectable postings. It is well organized in to three columns one for each of the three parties previously mentioned. Each entry is clearly dated and includes a link to the authors Web space which offers a biography as well as previous site-postings.
The site is well organized considering its nature. The postings are well laid out as well as dated. I didn’t find the layout to be confusing. Each column is clearly labeled and colored making them distinct from one another. All of the text is well aligned, and an obvious theme is present.
There are links to each editor as well as to articles being commented on within the editor’s text. Links are available following each article for commenting (the commenter does not have to be a member/editor). Easy access to archives and resources under each party are available. Sponsors are placed to the far right of the main body of the piece in a very non-distracting manner. The layout is very consistent.
[edit] Jeff Connolly's Topic Proposal
1. The website that I have chosen to use for my rhetorical analysis paper is www.espn.com . This site is run by ESPN, which is an affiliate of Disney. It is a sports site that offers information about a wide variety of sports topics.
2. The main reason for my choice in this site is because it is a site I visit on a regular basis. I am familiar with it and believe that it is a very well organized site, even though it contains a lot of information about a wide variety of topics.
3. The thing that separates this site from other sports sites is its diversity in audience. It was not setup for one particular sports fan in mind. You can say that sports fans are one, but when you take a closer look it is broken down. It is intended for anyone interesting in sporting news.
4. The purpose for this site is too provide up the minute updates about sports topics ranging from high school scouting throughout college and into the pros. It provides its audience accessibility to scores and highlights not only on there computer but on there portable electronics. So that makes its purpose one to keep sports fans on top of sporting news and scores.
5. I believe that this is a good site for several different reasons. It has accessibility on different mediums and offers more than one point of view on sports analysis.
6. Things that helped me to draw my conclusion were that accessibility to the site fairly easy and navigation is even easier. It puts out information in headlines, highlights and spotlights which touch upon several different audiences. Thos who like to read articles can read an article while someone can also watch a highlight clip or even just get an up to the minute score.
7. Some features that help in supporting my claims is how often the site is used. It allows live chats during an up to the minute draft show. It continuously updates its highlight clips and the headlines are constantly updated with new and important information. It offers a diverse selection of sports and sports related topics. It appeals to anyone interested in sports.
[edit] E. Filipov's Topic Proposal
1 For this assignment I chose to examine www.labellapc.com which is a construction company website run by La Bella Associates, P.C. The overall goal of the website is to provide several audiences with information about the company in turn running a more successful business and making more money.
2 My main reason for choosing this website was that I am currently looking for a job in the field of civil engineering and this site seems to be far superior to any other such source that I have come across.
3 The audiences served by this website include sponsors who might invest in the company, customers who are interested in design services, secondary contractors who work for La Bella A.P.C. and finally job seekers such as me. I think this site experiences very few unintended visitors and is usually used by the audiences who are looking for specific information about the company.
4 The site’s purpose is to portray La Bella Associates P.C. as a credible company that provides effective services. This will in turn ensure customers and sponsors to work with the business and will convince secondary services and qualified job seekers to work for La Bella. With theses steps accomplished the company will manage to provide better service and earn more revenue.
5 I believe that this is a very good site because of its Ease of Use, remarkable Design and Informative Content.
6 Primarily the site is extremely effective and easy to use, it holds some very clear topic headings and it is extremely easy for a user to navigate and interpret the site. Furthermore it has an attractive design that keeps the reader concentrated and at the same time shows the reader the main advantages and accomplishments of the company. Finally the content of the site includes both text and pictures which makes it easy to understand all the facts portrayed.
7 The most effective features of the site are black background, well organized links, altering images, loading indicator, effective combination of writing and pictures, informative texts, separate section for each audience.
[edit] Brian McEvoy's Topic Proposal
1. The site I have chosen is www.guitarcenter.com. At heart, it’s a commercial site but it does have some elements of an educational site. The site is authored by Guitar Center Inc to get online sales while augmenting store sales.
2. I chose this site because it’s a site I’m familiar with and have used in the past. Also, I thought its twofold purpose for online and store sales makes for an interesting dynamic.
3. The site’s intended audience is anybody interested in music or anyone who knows someone interested in music. The site sells everything from tee-shirts to pro audio. Guitar Center captures virtually all music bases with the exception of those looking for orchestral or jazz instruments.
4. The site’s purpose is to help Guitar Center Inc retain and expand its share of the market. The site is used to persuade the consumer that Guitar Center is the best music outlet. To say they have products or cheaper prices the competition doesn’t have. The ultimate goal is to make money and the site’s purposes are all geared towards helping that goal.
5. In my opinion the site looks great. I think that Guitarcenter.com delivers on all fronts, accomplishing all of its goals.
6. To develop my opinion I used both my initial reaction and some of the criteria laid out in class discussions. The site is aesthetically pleasing and uses several techniques to yield, in my opinion, a professional look.
7. The site fits very well on computer screens, leaving plenty of room on the left and right sides so the eyes don’t have to scan much. Everything is in alignment and relatively clean and simple looking. This is aided by excellent use of contrast and proximity. Focal points are various product ads without being obtrusive. Product search and store locator are also in plain sight being in the peripherals of the ads. The site is easily browsed by various means including brand, price and instrument. The sidebar navigation seems to be organized by popularity further adding to the ease browsing. Also, important sections are all in plain sight so no scrolling is needed.
[edit] Matthew Fyffe's Topic Proposal
For my site analysis, I chose to study “The Best Page In The Universe” at http://maddox.xmission.com. The site is a blog run by a man named Maddox and offers social/political criticism on a wide range of subjects. Maddox does not hold back his feelings and does not worry about being politically correct.
I chose to do my analysis on this site because it has an interesting place on the Internet. The site receives over 1 million page views a month, is the number 1 ranked site on google for the search “Best Site on the Internet” and yet is very simplistic in its presentation. I feel that the site sends a strong message about the importance of content and of ideals in developing a web site.
The audience for the site is predominantly teenage males. Maddox often uses very crude language and the pictures are similarly obscene. In addition, his open social criticism is presented in a humorous fashion that would be found most appealing by the age group ranging from 14-25. Despite this, the intelligence of Maddox criticism allows his site to appeal to all men.
The site’s purpose on the Internet is to offer a humorous, crude and yet intelligent discourse on today’s society. Maddox is willing to go against the grain and criticizes businesses, people and social norms. Completely devoid of ads, the site is not a commercial venture and instead, serves as Maddox chance to speak to the world around him. It offers him the chance to have a voice and to be recognized by the many Internet users while allowing visitors the chance to look more deeply into current issues.
The most interesting aspect of the site is that, despite being incredibly ugly, the site is good. It is ugly because of its apparent disregard for the rules of the internet, utilizing huge text, little to no structure, no real navigation, and requiring visitors to scroll a great deal to see anything. Nevertheless, this spartish presentation contributes to the site’s “take no prisoners” attitude, reflecting Maddox feelings that he doesn’t care what visitors think and is saying what he wants, how he wants. By looking awful, the site is dependent purely on its content, in which Maddox shines.
[edit] David Crolius's Topic Proposal
The site I have chosen to evaluate is http://www.wsj.com. The site is authored by Dow Jones & Company, Inc., which also publishes the Wall Street Journal. This site is a news site, specifically financial and economic news.
I chose this site because I use it on a regular basis, both here at RPI and where I worked over winter break. It is a very useful source of information.
The audience for this site has the potential to be anyone and everyone, but is primarily investors, economists, and people interested in both financial news and financial implications of other types of major news.
The site’s purpose is to provide access to financial news and financial data (like stock prices, interest rates, etc.) to people, and especially to subscribers to the Wall Street Journal.
I believe that the site is a good one overall. It uses linear design extensively as well as contrast. It accomplishes the purpose of providing financial news quite well. It uses multiple columns of headlines in order to give a sense of organization. The site makes use of the contrast between black and white and blue and white. The site is easy to navigate and there are both descriptive links and pop up descriptions
[edit] Andrew La Padula's Topic Proposal
The site I am choosing is A List Apart (http://www.alistapart.com). It is an online magazine "for people who make website." Their articles focus on the design, development, and meaning of web content. It is authored and produced by a number of different people, including Dan Cederholm, the author of our Bulletproof Web Design textbook.
The main reason why I chose this site is because it is one that I visit somewhat frequently. The articles are informative, clear and to the point. The Web has millions of pages dedicated to design and code - this site is surely one of the best of them.
The site's audience is definitely intermediate and above web developers. They use code lingo that I am sure novices would not understand. They also tend to use strict code in the middle of their articles and do not necessarily explain what everything does and assume the reader already has a working knowledge of web design.
The purpose of the site is to change the way its audience works. It is not simply a site about nifty CSS hacks or JavaScripts - they like to publish revolutionary code techniques, challenge the design community to stop bad practices, and refute common wisdom about the WWW and its viewers.
I think that the site is designed very well. It meets all of the requirements we learned about already. There is good proximity between content that belongs together and content that does not. The alignment of text on the page stays consistent. The site is repetitive everywhere except for the text in the center, thus navigating the site is a breeze. The colors chosen on the site provide great contrast. The site is very easy to read and is aesthetically pleasing. Everything seems to have been designed with great care, from the position of the text to the hyperlink:hover styles. It also actually tends to meet my expectations as it almost always has articles that introduce new ways of thinking about your design. Everything on the site "fits" very well and nothing seems out of place, even the advertisements on the side which can come in a big range of colors.
[edit] Daniel Jones's Topic Proposal
1.)The link I chose to evaluate is http://www.ign.com. There is a huge team that works on the site but Peer Scneider is in charge of site content. It is a commercial site that is geared to provide information on entertainment media such as video games and movies.
2.) I chose this site because I use it regularly to find out what is new in the gaming industry and to read reviews of various products, such as games, movies, or mp3 players.
3.) This site is intended for video game or entertainment enthusiasts. This can be be men, women, boys, or girls, but the site mostly gets young male viewers.
4.) The site's purpose is to provide the vistor with information regarding many facets of entertainment media through reviews and news articles.
5,6,7) In my opinion this is a good site because of the way it is broken down. Each area of entertainment media is broken down into catorgories(channels is the name given by the site)which are listed on the left and on top on every page. That sastisfies the need for ease of navigation and consistency. Furthermore, every channel's homepage has the latest updates to that section in a slideshow along with a list of the latest news pertaining to the channel and latest media. The alignment is strong and similiar throughout each page and each area of media is grouped accordingly, resulting in a well organized site.
[edit] Chris Dromms' Topic Proposal
1. The website I have chosen is www.worldofwarcraft.com. This is the community site to the game World of Warcraft by Blizzard entertainment (the website is made by them as well).
2. I play the game the site is for and frequently visit the site. I would be part of the primary audience the website is intended for.
3. There are two primary audiences to the website. The first is the players of the game that already play the game (so they can communicate and look for info). The other primary audience are people who are interested in games but don’t play this game.
4. The site contains forums for players of the game to communicate with the developers and with other players. This website also contains links so an individual players can check settings on their own account to the game (similar to how a person would check their online banking website). It also contains a lot of information pertaining to troubleshooting problems in the game. Another purpose of the website is that it contains some basic information about the happenings while playing the game (maps, rewards to be won, background story, etc). Lastly there is a lot on information listed on the website to entice those that don’t play the game and get them interested in it.
5,6,7. In my experience using the website, I would say this website is very well designed. This website is probably significantly larger and more visual than most websites that are seen. First, the website exhibits an extreme amount of repetition and unity between different pages on the website. Every page has similar color schemes and setups, with many cases the navigation tools being exactly the same. The navigation bars make moving through the site consistent and easy to do.
[edit] Marissa Hecker's Topic Proposal
1. For this assignment, I chose http://www.myspace.com. The authors of the site are Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe. Myspace is a social network site and its purpose is to offer an online network to share blogs, photos and music with friends and create personal profiles to meet new friends.
2. I chose this site because I am an active user of it and I check my profile daily. I believe I can provide a solid argument about the site since I am experienced with Myspace for over 3 years.
3. According to the site, Myspace is intended for everyone. From finding long lost friends to networking for business opportunities, the site attracts all World Wide Web users.
4. The site’s purpose is to offer an online network to share blogs, photos and music with friends and create personal profiles to meet new friends.
5. Overall I believe the site is decent site. A user can create a personalized web page so not every page follows the “good web site” convention. However, the default Myspace pages have good contrast and repetition so a user knows all the pages are related.
6. The criteria that I based my conclusion on about the site were the good design factors we learned about in class: alignment, proximity, repetition, and contrast.
7. Common interest groups, online chat, picture and video upload, create profiles to advertise bands, movies or comedy acts, consistency between sites, and user friendly.
[edit] Malcolm Rose Topic Proposal
Topic for Website Critique: http://www.richbuyer.com
The site that I chose for my evaluation is http://www.richbuyer.com. The site was originally developed by Richard Buyer the owner of the site and his gradually developing web team.
I chose this site because I believe it is a good representation of a professional site. He owns a web developing company and all his works are posted on the site.
The site is intended for potential clients and for students because Rich Buyer is also a professor for Fordham University.
The site is a representation of all his work and an advertisement in itself. He is promoting his work and attracting cliental with his attractive site.
I think his site is a good site and establish its purposes professionally, vividly, and efficiently. Unlike sites on like Myspace.com and other similar sites, www.richbuyer.com shows a professional and social outlook for web pages.
Using the readings we discuss in class and my own personal observation between sites, I concluded that his is effective in balancing key factors for a good site. The visual representation, the proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and even the focal point were taken into consideration when creating the site.
The layout design is most likely the most prominent feature about this site. He also has various other sites that illustrate good web design.
[edit] Ryan Bobrowski's Topic Proposal
The website I am evaluating is http://amazon.com. The site was created by Jeff Bezos in 1994, and was launched in 1995. Its name at that time was ‘Cadabra.com,’ and was solely an online bookstore; but one of the first online stores on the internet. In 1996 the company changed the site’s name to Amazon.com, and in 1997 it had its initial public offering. The purpose of the site today is to offer an extremely wide variety of products that suits every need, everything from electronics to groceries.
I chose Amazon because I felt it would be interesting to choose a site that does almost everything right. In this way, I could get a sense as to what aspects I would need to incorporate into my own sites in the future.
The intended audience for this site is comprised of average consumers that have a desire to shop online. The unintended audience consists of people like me who are critiquing the site, as well as companies who want to learn more about what a great website is all about. In fact, Amazon’s affiliate program (where other companies with web sites will link a product to Amazon’s site and receive a commission if that product sells) has been copied by several companies.
Amazon.com’s purpose is to make money by being the place to go for online shopping. The site is very large right now because it has consistently offered many new and interesting features that have enticed many consumers.
I believe the site is great as far as its features go. Even for non-registered members, the site lists for you recently viewed products, products that you would like based on what you have already looked at, and even an interesting system that tells you what people have bought after looking at the current item. As far as the look and feel of the site is concerned, it is very simple, which makes it easy for those who are not very experienced with computers to shop online. However, it does not have a mind-blowing design, and it can get a little cluttered sometimes, though this clutter is at least always composed of relevant information. Also, the site is extremely helpful to those uncomfortable with online shopping, or those who are just confused for whatever reason. There are links to help and contact information on every page, and the privacy statement is extremely in-depth.
The criteria I used to judge the site are Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics (http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html) for interface design. Things like aesthetic and minimalist design, user control and freedom, and help and documentation are what I based my judgment on.
In addition to the features already mentioned, other features that make Amazon.com a great website are: special offers and sales on products, account management, reviews for products, wish lists, constant product updates, used products offers, comment system for reviews, and much more. As far as the design of the site goes, the white background and easy-to-see text and pictures make for a simple yet adequate interface.
[edit] Cory Anderson's Topic Proposal
www.wikipedia.com Wikipedia was created by volunteers from all over the world. This is a free encyclopedia, which anyone can use. Its purpose is for people to be able to easily look up information on almost everything. I choose this site because I think it is very user friendly and has excellent navigation. There are many features on wikipedia that make it very convenient and easy for anyone to use. The audience for this website is very broad, but usually it’s for people looking up factual information that may be very hard to find anywhere else. The sites purpose is to supply information on almost everything, because the interface allows many different users to post their information. Wikipedia is a very simple but efficient navigation. The site is plain but very easy to read making it and excellent site. The reason Wikipedia is so easy to navigate is because of all the hyperlinks available. When searching there are highlighted links to relating information allowing the user to further investigate information. The way Wikipedia is set up makes it very easy to post new information everyday further extending the available information daily. Also the many hyperlinks within each searches information allow the user to view similar information which may also be valuable to him or her. The actual design is very simple, there is good contrast and the text is easy to read.
[edit] Michael Princevalli's Topic Proposal
1. I have chosen to review the site http://www.worldofwarcraft.com. This is the official site of an incredibly popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that I enjoy from time to time when my schedule permits. It's purpose is both to draw new players into the game by presenting a fun and enjoyable experience, and to provide information to those already playing and in need of help resolving an issue, or some tips and tricks, etc.
2. I chose this site simply because I am a gamer, and while I do spend a lot of time surfing the Internet, I spend more time interacting with the world that Blizzard has presented us to explore. It's a significant interest of mine, and I find it interesting to look at one of my forms of entertainment from a standpoint quite different from the normal.
3-4. As stated, the audience of the website is both current and potential players of the game, and its purpose is to draw new people to play and to provide information to those already subscribed.
5-6-7. I think that the website falls under the good category quite comfortably. The layout is presented well, with a multitude of cool images to check out without them becoming an eyesore or overdone. It's very easy to navigate the site, and even easier to head back to where you came from. Also, the information provided is helpful and clear, and the addition of a large number of forums where players can help other players with odd issues or interesting questions is definitely a nice touch.
