Group Feedback: Website Draft

Overall Impression
Overall impressions of the site indicated the amount of work that was put into the site. The color, font, and design were mostly seen as a positive. Even though there was some question to the size of the font. Complements were given regarding the slideshow and its operation within the site. Overall, not too many problems were mentioned regarding the site. Most of the problems centered around unfinished components due to it being a draft version of the site.

Specific Criticisms & Praises

Several criticisms were common amongst the different group members. Listed below are the most common criticisms and praises: Criticisms Programme vs. Program: A common remark amongst group members. Why was the former used when we typically use the latter? Lack of color. A lot of white space on the home page Text is too small. Color added to the site. Colored text within the site appear as link, but are not. Buttons on some pages, but not all. Image included on the first page, doesnt lend to what the site is about. Praises Use of the prezi to introduce the IB page. Use of Wisemapping was a nice touch, but many found it difficult to navigate. It was noted that the PDF was a nice touch. Diagrams on the Organization page were interesting. The navigation is easily accessible, links work throughout site, presentations are embedded and information is easy to read and organized in an efficient manner. Informative content and resources. Visual interpretation of concepts and contact information are provided. Well written.

Suggestions for Improvement

Grammatical mistakes within sentences. Most seem to come from inattention to detail -- such as, not finishing a sentence.

o Wording within certain sentences do not lead to a complete thought, or lead to confusing statements. Dropdown menus: o Suggested to put the information on the main header, then also copy it into a dropdown page so that it is in both places. This was a suggestion offered to one of my members from the CEP 807 class. This suggestion allowed the reader to get the information even if they skipped the main link (it was found that many people dont click the main link when drop down menus are present). Be consistent: include buttons for advancing on all pages, or none. Programme vs. Program o Suggestions for correcting the spelling of program. The UK version of the word is used throughout the site due modeled practice from trainings I have been to. Since the program was developed abroad, the spelling of program has always been used as programme within any documentation referring to IB. After further discussion, I am going to check with my IB coordinator on this.

Reflecting on the feedback. Was it helpful?

I felt the feedback was helpful. Anytime you can get help on developing something, it is a good thing. I was worried about the look of the site, and had some worries about its appearance and the use of the dropdown menus. I appreciated the help from Bobbi Jo who had experienced some of the same difficulties with this type of menus. The feedback that Bobbi Jo presented was very valuable in finding a configuration that worked.

Color
When designing the site, I was going for a minimalist approach. Other sites that I have made in the past had a lot of color. This time, I wanted something that was of a simpler design. I think I achieved that, but it appears that the use of more colors is warranted. Several group members commented on this, and I think they are right. I did try to add color to indicate the main words to focus on in certain paragraphs. While this did draw attention to the words, it made them appear to be linkswhich they are not. Ill be removing the color on those words and sticking to a standard black bolded word.

Grammar
I didnt realize that I had that many grammatical errors. Fixing these errors produced a chance to improve the verbiage of the site.

Home Page
A few comments were made regarding the home page. The need for an IB logo or picture has been mentioned, but there are certain guidelines that I have to be careful not to cross. This site is being produced as a site for staff members to go to for

information and resources regarding the IB Programme. Restrictions that come from the International Baccalaureate Programme limit how I can use their name. I cannot directly say we are an IB school (because we are not), and in doing so, seems to come in conflict with their licensing. Once we become and IB school, then I can use their likelihood in relation to our site. I can, however, talk about KPS becoming and IB school. I bring this up because the using their likelihood while not officially being an IB school is the reason why I cannot put their logo on the site.

Overall
The feedback that was given has provided a path that I can take to correct, and improve my site. I have made corrections while they have come in, and am ready to push the site out to a target audience. I did not change the wording regarding the spelling of programme. I am going to discuss this with my IB coordinator and see what her recommendation on this is. Also, I am going to seek recommendations from my test audience on the size of the font and the home page.