What are the goals of Apple’s website? How does Apple’s website address the needs of a user who has just purchased their first MacBook?
To me, it seems that apples website tries to get new products on the website first, while making other products accessible with a lot of information to view.
For example, when you first get to their web page, the first thing you see is a minimalistic ad for their iPhone 7, that just says “iPhone, This is 7.” with a black and gray iPhone and a gold and rose gold colored ones peaking out of the corners. This information is the first thing you see, and it lets you know they have a new product right away.
If a user has just purchased a macbook, they can easily find the MacBook page, and it shows a tab where you can view mac specs and “find the best Mac for you.” A student buying their first MacBook can find necessary information and easily compare models to find a computer to best serve their needs.
What are the functional specifications of Facebook’s wall? If you are not on Facebook what are the specs for the signup page?
The functional specifications of Facebook’s wall, to me, is to be a home base for the website, with scrolling available to look through new posts by the user’s friends on the site. This helps to let the user connect with other users through shared content. Also, available are links to messages, pages, groups, games, and other links to explore different areas of the website.
What are four architectural approaches to information structure? Find one example of each.
The four architectural approaches are hierarchical, matrix, organic, and sequential structures.
Hierarchical structure is made up of nodes that have a “parent/child” relationship with other nodes. The child nodes represent narrower concepts within the broader category that is the parent node. And example of a hierarchical structure is family trees, classification trees (like the classification of living things), and other ways to sort needs.
A matrix structure is a structure that allows the user to move between the different nodes along two or more dimensions. According to the book, matrix structures can accommodate different needs of users, for example, browsing products by different categories. An example of matrix structures would be where structure in a company have dual reporting relationships, like between manager and product manager.
An organic structure is one that doesn’t attempt to follow any consistent pattern. The nodes are connected through a case by case basis and are useful for exploring a set of topics whose relationship is unclear or evolving. An example of an organic structure would be mind mapping as a use of brainstorming.
A sequential structure is one that is a flow of language that follows an order. the book calls this structure the most familiar one to most of us and the use of this structure is better for smaller scale structures like, for example, articles and instructional material.
What percentage of The Huffington Post index page is navigation, and what percentage is content? What about Google, Wikipedia, and Etsy?
It seemed to me the almost 100% of the Huffington Post home pages navigation. While there are titles with blips about the articles, the majority of those are links to content.
Google is the same way, as it is used as a tool to search for content.
Wikipedia is less so a navigational tool, as it’s index page has full content on it. The home page has a featured article that you can read on the same page without the need to redirect you.
Etsy is more of a shopping site, showing you clothing and other content for sale. The information is there right away but for more you are redirected to the products information page, where you can read reviews, comment, or buy the product.
How does http://landor.com guide the readers’ eyes and focus their attention on what is important?
This website guides the eye downward and through the content, with a few stops along the way to redirect you to content and information about the company. By leading the eye downwards in a sequential order through examples of their work and articles, they help control where the user is looking and what they have to look at.