1. As described in the Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett site objectives are most often objectives in general terms. Mostly all business websites have one of two fundamental goals: to make the company money or to save the company money. I believe that the first fundamental holds true to Apple’s website as well; They want to make money. The website has a lot of information on it, but the reason that content is there is to promote their products and encourage sales. Their website also enhances their brand identity, which could be a site objective in itself. Apples brand identity is innovative, imaginative and empowers people through their technology. I believe that their website exemplifies these characteristics well. The aesthetics and feel of the site are representative of Apple’s brand identity. This impression is surely a result of conscious choices designers made.
For a person who has just purchased their first Macbook, the website should address this new customers needs very well. One of the most important reasons that the Apple website, or any website for that matter, should effectively address a new customers needs is because gaining a new customer is fairly easy, it is retaining the customer that takes skill and expertise. For a person who has just purchased a Macbook they may want to know how to use certain controls, tips and tricks on the trackpad, and information about the programs that are already pre-installed on Macs. The first element I noticed on the Apple website was User Segmentation. According to the text, user segmentation is dividing your audience into smaller groups consisting of users with certain key characteristics in common. When you click on the “Mac” button on the nav bar, the site directs you to a page dedicated to their computers. At the very top, there are different options one can click on including Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, iMac etc. By allowing users to choose the computer they have/want, you’re categorizing the user and providing them and abundant amount of information about the computer they chose. Upon being directed to the computer of your choosing, the usability of the page was well done. For example, I clicked on Macbook Air because that is the laptop that I have. The homepage for Macbook Air includes simple sections emphasizing the laptop’s high points. At the top right of this page is also a navigation bar that allows users to browse, or find what they are looking for quickly. As for the new Macbook customer, the OS X tab would be the most useful. This tab includes information about the operating system, connecting your Mac and iOS, different apps, iCloud, and how to use the multi touch methods. In my opinion, I think the name in the nav bar should not be OS X. For new users, they may not now what that is or means. To even further usability, I would label it “Getting Started”, or “About Your Macbook”. Overall, I think the site effectively accomplishes their goals and gives new users an outlet to learn about their computer and find information they may need.
2. A functional specification is a document used to describe in detail a product’s intended capabilities, appearance and interactions with users that is given to software developers. In essence, the functional specification is a guideline and reference point as the code is being developed. Facebook’s wall probably has an extensive functional specification that continues to evolve. One specification definitely was the profile picture. When Facebook was developed in 2004, the profile picture was displayed in the lefthand corner of the wall as a sqaure, as it is today. Other specifications include the status bar, where one can write their own thoughts, add pictures or videos, or declare a new life event. Within this, a user can tag their friends, add and emotion, add their location and even choose who they want to see their status. Mentioned in the text, specifications are, like the name intends, to be specific. When describing what you want the status bar to be able to do functionally, one must use a lot of detail. Other specifications on the Facebook wall are the cover photo, the about section, the timeline and the timeline year clickable on the right. In order to get exactly what you want out of your functional specifications, you must write in in a positive manner, use a lot of details, and avoid subjective language.
3.
Hierarchical Structure:
An example of a hierarchical structure would be the Robert Morris University website. In this type of structure, nodes have a parent/child relationship with related nodes. Not every node has children, but every node has a parent. Most webpages are set up in this structure. On the homepage, you can go to many pages that lead to other children pages, but they all lead back to the homepage in some way.
https://sentry.rmu.edu/
Matrix Structure:
A matrix structure is a structure that allows a user to move from node to node along two or more “dimensions.” The books explains this structure by using an example of a person who wants to browse a selection by size and also by color. By learning this, zappos.com is an excellent example of a matrix structured website. When looking for a pair of shoes, not only can you search in the search bar, but you can choose the type of shoes you are looking for, the size of the shoe, the width of your foot, the brand of shoe, the color, the price, the season, the preferred insole and even he weight of the shoe. The matrix structure can accommodate for this type of searching.
http://www.zappos.com/
Organic Structure:
Organic Structures don’t follow any pattern in structure.There are no sections and encourage free-form exploring on a webpage. An example of an organic structure would be Pinterest. When you go to pinterest.com, there is no order to the posts that come up. Some things may be very interesting to you and some may not. It can be tailored a little bit to your interests, but other than that, the posts are random and in no order. This type of structure can be a problem for those users who want to visit the same piece of information again. It may be very difficult to see the same content again without some extensive digging.
http://www.pinterest.com/
Sequential Structure:
Sequential structures are just what they appear to be: sequential. Information is displayed in order, like it is in books, articles and videos. The website I stumbled upon that displayed this structure was the evolution of the Porshe. It is a single-page site that acts as a timeline and gives users information in a vertical fashion according to different years.
http://porschevolution.com/
4. The Huffington Post index page is mainly content. To me, about 80% of the page consists of content and only 20% is dedicated to navigation. Because it is the index page, all of the previous articles are being showed.
As for Google, I think the homepage and when you make a search vary in regards to content and navigation. On the Google homepage, I believe that 95% is navigation – the search bar, the Google login, the Google+ notifications, and the click ables in the footer. The only content would be the Google Logo or the picture in place of it. When you make a search however, the percentages change. Content becomes the majority of the site and navigation take on a lesser role.
Wikipedia, on the other hand, is 60% content and 40% navigation. Wikipedia provides a plethora of information on a number of things but has less navigation. There is a bar on the left hand side strictly for navigation including links to their main page and language changes, but the majority of their navigation lies within the content itself. In just a few sentences you may have five or six links to other wikipedia pages.
I would consider Etsy similar to Wikipedia, with 70% content and 30% navigation. There is a navigation bar at the top which includes a search bar. The page includes a footer as well. But other than those two things, the rest is content leading users to different products available to purchase.
5. Landor.com guides the readers eye very nicely. The text book says that successful designs have two important qualities. The first is that your design follows a smooth flow. To me, the site seems guide my eyes very well. The first thing I notice is the Landor name in the top left corner in the yellow square. The next thing that catches my eye is the colorful news rectangles in the center of the page. Once I explored this, I noticed that the smaller, black and white squares surrounding these two things were rollovers and provided more information about the picture. This arrangement of rectangles and squares had nice contrast while still maintaining uniformity and communicating to the user.
The second quality of a successful design is giving the users a “guided tour” of the possibilities available to them without overwhelming them with details and intricacies. This quality was a part of the Landor site as well. Along with the black and white square, there is a navigation bar and also a footer.
Another element of the surface plane is internal consistency. As for internal consistency, the site maintains similar designs throughout the pages I clicked on, mainly having a main, colorful section with the details of the page, surrounded by black and white squares. Although each page looked relatively the same, I found it a little bit overwhelming at times. I would like the site more if the smaller squares were a little bit more muted and there was a border around the main information.
