This report gives a critique of The Times Online website using a number of design aspects which include searchability, Navigation, usability, design, interactivity and content. The main problems identified in the website include a mixture of main content with advertisement content, too long pages and some of the images appearing to be quite blurred. The recommendations for redesign include separating advertisement content from the main content by placing it on top of the page just before the logo, shortening the pages and using hyperlinks to get to various sections and using high resolution images on the site.
Table of Contents
Executive summary 2
Introduction 4
Design aspects 4
Searchability 4
Navigation 5
Usability 6
Design 6
Content 8
Interactivity 9
UARS. 9
Conclusion 11
Reflection 12
Reference 14
Introduction
The design adopted in the development of a website is a major factor that determines if the website meets its mandate or not. The design of a website is what attracts users to the site and even keeps them for prolonged periods of time on the website. This report gives a critique of The Times online website. This site can be categorized as an informative site. The mandate of this site is to provide information to users on a broad category of topics. These include sports, general news, community events, entertainment, classifieds among other categories of information. The critique presented in this report focuses on a number of aspects of website design. These aspects include searchability, navigation, design, interactivity and the content on the website. The findings are as discussed in the sections that follow.
Design aspects
Searchability
The site designers incorporated...
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...lem is that the pages should be shorter and hyperlinks provided to move to different sections. Very long pages require too much scrolling. This problem was common with the findings of other group members.
Conclusion
The designers of the website addressed most of the common mistakes that are found in most of the websites. The site is highly usable as the designers have adhered to the requirements of good website design. Therefore, the site meets its mandate of informing users.
Reflection
The above problems were the sole problems identified during the critique process. The average time that was spent in every aspect of the site was one day and a repetition of the process would follow similar steps and therefore no major differences in results.
Reference
Times Online (2013). Times Online. Retrieved from http://www.timesonline.com/
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Nov. 2013. The "LIFE AND TIMES.
Satire is form of comedy in which flaws in people or society are chastised in order to prompt change in the objects of criticism. Regardless of how long ago comedy itself may have existed, the concept of satire was introduced by the Roman satirists, Juvenal and Horace. The tones conveyed in their writing characterize the main modes of satire, being Horatian and Juvenalian, and are still used in satire today. Presently, two popular forms of comedy that employ satirical elements include parody news sources and comedic performances. Although satirical writing has evolved throughout history, many aspects of satire are still apparent in both the articles of parody news sources, like The Onion, and the performances of professional comedians, like
In the documentary film, Page One: Inside The New York Times, the inner world of journalism is revealed through journalists David Carr and Brian Stelter as the newspaper company The New York Times, struggles to keep alive within a new wave of news journalism. The film is dedicated to reveal the true inner mechanics of what modern day new journalists face on a daily basis and leaves the audience almost in a state of shock. It broadcasts news journalism as yes, an old school method of news generation, but it also highlights an important component that reveals the importance behind this “old school” methodology. We often think that progression always correlates with positive products, but the documentary insists that within the case of modern journalism, the new wave method is actually a detriment that can reap negative consequences.
The requirements were not well defined and the stakeholders kept on adding new features to during the development there were no clear goals defined. This led to the shift of delivery time and affected the quality.
Web sites are just like magazines, newspapers, brochures, menus, or even directions on how to make nitroglycerin from house-hold goods, in that they all have to be put together in such a manner that whoever is reading or browsing over it will be able to clearly distinguish this from that. In this sense, a critique of any particular web site will have justification, while carefully considering also that this is an altogether new medium of information exchange. Now, all of this talk of togetherness is actually a general reference to basic design principles, such as color coordination, if color is used, text size, font choice/ style, art integration, accessibility, and just plain and simple design of the page. For example, it wouldn't be all that appealing to the eyeball if a page being viewed had all the text jumbled up in a corner, so small your eyes were bleeding by the time you figured out that it wasn't even worth the trouble. Darn. It's important to rememeber, especially these days, that what you read is as important as how it looks. Have you ever tried reading an interview in a Raygun magazine? Kinda hard, right? Design totally for its own sake is nice, as art that is, and admittedly it looks cool. However, it's two in the morning and you're standing in line at the corner 7-11 trying to pay for your 40 ounce bottle of Kool-Aid, and you happen to see that your favorite MTV Pearl Crap-clone band is on the cover of this hip magazine and you go to read it, but you can't. It's not because to you failed elementary school three times in two years, but because the maestro in charge decided to get fancy with it and thought it'd be cool if he hid the text under a black box or likewise photograph. I like to loo...
basic charge of this criticism can be stated in the words of a recent critic,
My job is to capture the essence of your brand and design/develop a website that compels your visitors to choose you. One of the most common concepts I hear from web clients is what "they like" in a website. I am the "visitor advocate". I challenge you to think, "what would they
Time Inc., is the one of the largest magazine publishers in the world and at the crossroads of survival into the next century. Investing in global resources to produce content on a 365/24/7 basis for all types of electronic and paper consumption. Creating original video content from the most popular brands, trusted by consumers, and introducing pay-walls on the websites will lead to higher consumer engagement. This course of action will result in generating brand awareness, capturing market share and generating more revenue that can lead to a higher stock price for the shareholders. This strategy will keep Time Inc., relevant, well into the future; which will increase profits and company performance.Introduction of Target Organization
Now that we are living in an ever changing world, technology is viewed as the most resourceful tool in keeping up with the pace. Without the use of technology, communication would be limited to using mail for delivery and encyclopedias for research. Although technology has improved the way we communicate and find information for research, the information is not always valid. Unfortunately, for those of us who use the internet for shopping, research, or reading articles of personal interest the information is not treated the same as a your magazine or book. While such literature is reviewed by an editorial staff, internet literature or information can be published by anyone. In order to reap the full benefit of having the use of technology for any purpose, there are five basic criteria’s one must keep in mind as an evaluating tool for deciding whether or not the particular website is a reliable source for information.
Next is in terms of the design and aesthetics. Layout that being used for this website is a plain white which easier people to read the text that is in black, in contrast and suitable for the concept of showroom online. The font is also suits which is not too big and not too small to be read by people. To highlight the main subject or the main product, the font is being bold to alert customers that they choose the right one. There is no audio available for this website or even a video. But somehow, as it was a home furnishing website, most of the pictures being used by the website is in JPEG format to deliver a clear view of the products to customers.
An overview of the project, I was required to take an existing brand and redesign the online webpage for the body shop. The first step in this procedure was the “discover phase”. In this stage I inquired about the organization, what it resembled, the current audience, what it represented for and how it was recognized. The second stage was the “define phase”. In this stage I think up with those image features I would like the organization to symbolize. I also made a few strategies that would attract new target audience to purchase online products. Lastly, brand positioning was also the main things for the e-commerce organization. The third stage was known as the “design phase”, this is the point at which I made the new webpage design of the organization general look and feel and more. The last stage was the “develop phase”. This is where I took the old webpage design to enhance it in a better new webpage design.
The design of the Web site is very bright and appealing to the eye. Its layout is inviting and easy to navigate. Its design is consistent through all pages. There are many graphics including, photographs, illustrations, and animated buttons and GIFs. These graphics are placed in an orderly fashion and do not create a cluttered appearance. The site has its own search engine which assists in navigating throughout the site.
The Internet’s influence on our lives has spread throughout. According a 2009 US Census survey 74% of Americans use the internet and have access within their household.A number that has increased every year since 1990 and will sure grow in the future. In this survey they relieved that they did various activities on the internet including social media, (Facebook and Twitter) researching and reading news articles, watching YouTube videos, shopping and so much more all can be done with a computer or Internet enabled phone. With this ease of use and convenience it casts a shadow upon the future of printed and broadcast information. The Web’s instant and vast knowledge bank has changed ...
Newspaper and online media have both done a good job to spread news story to readers. Newspaper as a traditional media is accept by most people for a long time. But as the technology is growing up, online media become a competitor of newspaper. Hall (2001, p.2) state that there are 200 million people using the web regularly and the web page is around 800 million. Nowadays, the web users are still growing up very fast. But the newspaper still playing a important role in news area. These two major news media become a part of people's life. Both of them have advantage and disadvantage. Newspaper had developed for a long time, and web technology is new. But they are all produce information to audiences as soon as possible. For many years, newspaper is the most easy media for audience to get news. Cole and Harcup (2010, p.4) believe that newspaper is easy to take and read it in anyplace your want. It is fast and cheap for audience. That is why many people like newspaper in the past. But as the online media grow up these year. People can get free news on the website and the web news is much fast than newspaper. It offer people another convenience way to get news. In a multi-media world, the rates of those people reading newspaper is going down. Cole and Harcup (2010, p.7) state that newspaper is not going to died but the adult population of reading newspaper is going down from 77% to 50% from 1983 to 2006. And just 30% people think newspaper is popular in 2006. It is a huge challenge to newspaper after online news appeared. The newspaper and online media both use picture and language to tell reader story. But newspaper have a limited of picture and words. They could not use too many pages to show details. Website can add more pictures t...
...le is not recently published but the information it’s giving are so much related to my topic. This article gives plenty of useful facts about my research, but it is not as good as a source as some of the other sources sited.