During this team website design project I have realised the importance of considering who the website is being designed for. Though we have been taught to consider the user from the beginning of this course, this project, for me, has made me properly appreciate this point. This is perhaps because the project involves the design of a website that could be potentially used by the public.
Not only does this emphasise that we learn more from projects that are authentic or have a real component to them, but also that we are not just learning to develop content on this course, but also to design.
The reason this point was highlighted for me in this project was because of the needs of the different groups we have had to cater for in the design of the website. Content was needed to explain the relationship of the UL Practicum to the project. There were partners information that had to be publicised in the website. Then, of course, the public had to be encouraged to engage with the website and to become involved in the project.
During all of these considerations it is easy to lose sight of who is the user of the website. This is is of course, the public. The project does not work without them, and the website is one of the most important tools in generating their interest in it. The website can't be weighted too much towards the partners or the practicum therefore and the public must always be born in mind.
Therefore the website is designed for a specific purpose, with a specific audience, and is not just fulfilling a list of requirements, though these have to be kept in mind throughout the project also.
This is definitely a consideration to remember in further development projects.
Brian.
Here's a link on the subject of the user in web design: http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/articles/ucd%20_web_devel.html#1-involve-users
This is deep learning in action. We're all gaining conditionalised knowledge through this assignment actually, and, like you, I've found it very useful.
ReplyDeleteCollaboration is what makes it especially engaging in my opinion. I never collaborated with anyone at this level prior to taking this course. I now think it's strange and deficient that much of the learning which takes place in primary, secondary and tertiary education is so focused on working in isolation.
Anyway, the end user is also one of the things I tried to focus on during the EHP web design project. I found myself constantly think about how an older, non-internet-proficient user might find spry menus, links and sentence structure. Because the website readership is going to be so multi-generational, this was quite a challenge.