Talk+Site+Design

6-14-07- Site Design - Eric Ammerman
A Good Site Design: - Should have a minimal amount of links from the home page. You don’t want your user to become confused. - Labels for various links are not similar to one another or ambiguous. - Designer has considered the possible needs of their students. - Actual site design itself uses a color scheme and shape scheme to minimize confusion. Things Jacob Did Well: - Only has six links from the home page, which is pretty good. - Considers the needs have his potential students well. Things Jacob Could Improve: - Uses ovals for all the primary links but grades, which confuses me as to why. - Has two links which are very similar: Contact Teacher and Teacher Contact, but they are in two different sections.

6-14-07 - Site Design - Meaghan Allison
Rules for creating the organizational scheme for a website: 1. Make sure each sidebar link is used frequently and holds important information. 2. It should only take about 2 clicks to get to information used most often. 3. Ensure that students know where to go to find the information they are looking for, such as assignments or help. Positive: 1. Well organized people sections which makes finding contact information for individual student very easy. 2. Good use of color and size in the appearance of the site design. Improvement: 1. Could possibly eliminate some arbitrary links and make finding summaries easier. 2. Could add a link for science tables, charts and useful data charts.

6-14-07 Site Design- Christina Nelson
__Christina’s site map rules and analysis__


 * 1) The table of contents on the homepage is concise
 * 2) Supply a “help” link for navigation of the Wiki and homework purposes
 * 3) Keep the links down to a minimum so not to confuse the students or parents

Maryanne has a great usage of colors and shapes in her Inspiration site map. This makes it easier for her to set up the page when the time comes. She also included important contact information and helpful resources for both the parents and the teachers under her help link and media/helpful resources link. I would change the “home” link and consider the listed table of contents to all be on the homepage. I would also separate the media/helpful websites. Instead, I would have media as one link and helpful websites under the “help” link.

6-14-07 – Site Design – Sommer Taylor
Websites for instructional use should be completely clear to all students and users of the page, so there is not too much text grouped together without organization. Links should have simple titles so there is no question where that link leads. There should not be too many links that make finding material within the site difficult. Links help users navigate, so too many can be overwhelming with too much information. Three links is ideal.

Christina gave a great example of a website that has had extensive thought put into it. She did a great job identifying her Resources link and the different options that would be available to students. It is important to remember that link titles should be short and quickly identifiable, so rather than having a sentence to identify a link, on her real site, Christina will probably just use the word Syllabus. Teachers must also be careful when posting student numbers and missing homework assignments online, because parents or students may become upset by this. Christina’s Help link is really wonderful in that the links are clear and wi