DBR port folio #2

According to Cobb & Gravemeijer some specific issues should be clarified during the preparation phase. These issues include clarifying the instructional goals and documenting the instructional starting points. This includes describing a envisioned learning trajectory and finally, setting a theoretical framework (p. 69). In the following I am going to reflect upon these issues in relation to the design of the web site focussing on designing labels for different target groups.

The instructional goals of the design can be divided into two categories: 1) the users should be able to find information that they are looking for and 2) be inspired to explore the web site and find additional information of interest. Both goals should be fulfilled leaving the user with a feeling of having had a good experience where their individual wishes have been taken into consideration.

The instructional starting point is documented by looking at the different users and their knowledge about the company so far. In relation to this Cobb & Gravemeijer stress that you shouldn’t document the level of reasoning typical of e.g. students at a specific age, but the consequences of their prior instructional histories (p. 69). In relation to the users of the web site I interpret this as not looking at the characteristics of the specific target group, but at their existing knowledge of the company or of the concepts that we want to present at the web site e.g. “adventure holidays”.

The company already has experience with the target groups and their information needs and a lot of the content from the old web site is going to be transferred to the new one – just organized and to some degree labelled differently. The target groups also already have knowledge about the services and experiences that the company offers. But a lot of these offers are not very visible at the old web site and because of that, the marketing has so far been characterized by passing from mouth to mouth. The challenges in building upon the old design are therefore to organize and label the offers that the users maybe already know of. And when doing so keeping the soul and the personal touch that has very much characterized the (missing) marketing strategy so far.

This brings me further on to the envisioned learning trajectory because when designing the web site, it is important to make sure that the users feel that there is a person in the other end so to speak. Maybe the users have been used to just calling the staff in the reception when they needed information. With a well structured and information rich web site this call should be unnecessary. But this also requires that the web site has this personal touch and individual offers for the specific target group. More specifically the design is a complete re-design of the old web site using some of the content from the old one. Focussing on the labelling of the web site the new labels should ensure that the content of the web site is labelled with the user’s language.

The theoretical framework used in the design process will be theories about information architecture. More specifically Morville & Rosenfeld’s Information architecture for the World Wide Web. Hereunder theories about labelling and organising content. The method used for collecting data, card sorting, is also a method described by Morville & Rosenfeld. Besides that the foundation of my way of executing the method are also inspired by articles found on the Internet – for instance: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide

This article describes card sorting in at very concrete and “how-to” way. There are several ways of analysing data from card sorting and I have not decided on how to do it yet.

The chosen way of approaching this design is influenced by my professional background as I spend last semester on information architecture and got inspired by the methods and theories that I was introduced to. I have not worked specifically with labelling content before by I find it very relevant and essential when it some to user-centered design.