Ch. 7 Site Management

ISC325

Announcements

• Submit your project website (URL) by Monday (5/8).

• Submit your final project documents by Wed (5/10)– Submit your all files for the project on a CD or

a floppy.

• Class presentation on Wednesday (5/10)

• Final exam on 5/17 (Wednesday) at 2 pm

Three levels of Web development

• According to Jakob Nielsen– Interaction design

• Navigation support, layout, search, etc.

– Content design• The actual writing on the pages

– Web management

Web Management

• Evaluation– Reviewing your site before going online

• Web hosting services

• Maintenance– Keeping your site up-to-date

Testing a Web Site Before Publishing

• Self-Testing– Page display– Image display– Alternate text descriptions– Internal links– External links

• After conducting self-testing, correct any identified problems

Testing a Web Site Before Publishing

• Group Testing– What appeals to group– What disinterests group– Time spent on various pages– Visited / ignored links– Ease of navigation– Demonstration of confusion or annoyance

Evaluation

• Final Design Checklist http://www.state.fl.us/dms/betterwebsites/inspection_design.html

Evaluating a User Interface Design

• Evaluation without users (Inspection method)– Heuristic Evaluation– Other simple inspection guides for

novices • Evaluation with users (also known as user

studies)– Usability testing

Heuristic Evaluation

• Evaluation method without users• Fast and easy to carry out• Heuristics are “rules of thumb” for good

design• Heuristic evaluation involves inspection of

an information system through the “lens” of each heuristic in an agreed-upon set of heuristics

What Heuristics?• Visibility of system status • Match between system and the real world • User control and freedom • Consistency and standards • Error prevention • Recognition rather than recall • Flexibility and efficiency of use • Aesthetic and minimalist design • Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover

from errors• Help and documentation

1. Visibility of system status– The system should always keep users

informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.

2. Match between system and the real world– The system should speak the users' language,

with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

3. User control and freedom– Users often choose system functions by mistake

and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

4. Consistency and standards– Users should not have to wonder whether

different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

5. Error prevention– Even better than good error messages is a careful

design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.

6. Recognition rather than recall– Make objects, actions, and options visible. The

user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

7. Flexibility and efficiency of use– Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may

often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

8. Aesthetic and minimalist design– Dialogues should not contain information which

is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors– Error messages should be expressed in plain

language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

10. Help and documentation– Even though it is better if the system can be

used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Interactive Heuristics Checklist

• Interesting idea that the value of different heuristics changes with the application

• Developer: Catherine Barber

• http://www.id-book.com/catherb/index.htm provides heuristics and a template so that you can evaluate different kinds of systems. More information about this is provided in the interactivities section of the id-book.com website.

Details of Heuristics• http://

www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html• http://www.dimi.uniud.it/~giorgio/dida/ir/euristiche-gb.

html

• http://www.westendweb.com/usability/02heuristics.htm Usability Heuristics & examples

• http://user-experience.org/uefiles/writings/heuristics.html Usability Heuristics for the Web by Keith Instone

• A report sample for web site HE: http://www.bls.gov/ore/htm_papers/st960160.htm

• Usability evaluation checklist for web sites: http://www.infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources/evaluation/conductingusabilityreviews.asp

Pros and Cons• Pros

– Quick• No recruiting of users• No user sessions

– Inexpensive• No payment of subject• No observation equipment

– Flexible• Useful at any stage of development• Completely portable

• Cons– No users

• Can evaluators take all points of view?• Can evaluators assess levels of expertise?

– Subject to evaluator expertise/preferences

Other Inspection Forms

• http://www.cyberbee.com/guides.html Internet evaluation forms

• A guide for rating the curriculum content on web sites

• A guide for rating the design of a web site

• Website Investigator

Walkthrough

• Walkthrough http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/walkthrough.html

Considerations on Evaluation

• Use different web browsers• A variety of computer systems: different Internet

connections, different size screens, and different computer platforms.

• Areas to review– Page layout– Organization, a logic, relevance, and presentation of

content– Accuracy– Navigation links– Technical aspects such as loading time

User testing

• Goals & questions focus on how well users perform tasks with the product

• Major part of usability testing

• Focus is on time to complete task & number & type of errors

• User satisfaction questionnaires provide data about users’ opinions

Usability testing• Usability testing involves recording typical users’

performance on typical tasks in controlled settings. Field observations may also be used.

• As the users perform these tasks they are watched & recorded on video & their key presses are logged.

• This data is used to calculate performance times, identify errors & help explain why the users did what they did.

• User satisfaction questionnaires & interviews are used to elicit users’ opinions.

Measurement Plan

• What do you need to measure?– Task-based analyses

• Misunderstandings• Interpretations

– Performance-based analyses• Time to learn• Time to perform task• Error rate

Resources for Usability

• Usability Toolkit (http://www.stcsig.org/usability/resources/toolkit/toolkit.html )–   lots of samples for usability testing

• Test session checklist• Scenario package for a usability test• Usability and satisfaction survey for a web application product• Participant questionnaire sample form• A process for writing usability goals 

• Supper easy usability testing ( http://www.webword.com/moving/easytesting.html)

Resources for Questionnaires

• Questionnaire to test reactions

• http://www.acm.org/~perlman/question.html

• http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/djenni1/osg/ Online Survey Generator

Publishing the Web Site

• Acquiring server space

• Obtaining a domain name

• Uploading your Web site

Acquiring Server Space

• All files must be uploaded to a Web server

• Client-side vs. server-side functions

• Server space is available from– ISPs and OSPs– Free hosting services

Web Hosting Services

• The ISP (Internet Service Provider)– offers space on the Web server. – offers a range of other services such a site

promotion and management.

• Domain Name – Go to a domain server such as Network

Solutions (http://networksolutions.com)

Hosting Services

         Web server space - How much space do you have to store files? Minimum 30-100MB

        Bandwidth - How much traffic can I have at the website? Minimum 5-15GB

        Email accounts - How many email addresses do you need?

        Server-Side Software and Extensions - What do you want to do with applications such as forms, FrontPage extensions, and databases?

        Web Control Panel - What kind of control do you want over the website? What website statistics do you need?

Acquiring Server Space

• Consider the following– Monthly fee– Server space allotted– Naming conventions for files– Downtime for maintenance / backing up– E-commerce / Multimedia / SSL support– FTP software– Technical Support

Obtaining a Domain Name

• Domain Name System (DNS) stores domain names and their corresponding IP addresses

• DNS Servers translates domain names into their corresponding IP addresses

Obtaining a Domain Name

• Obtain a domain name through accredited registration sites

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

• Domain names will be associated with the computer you authorize during registration

Uploading Your Web Site

• Transmitting all files that comprise your Web site to the Internet

• Three methods– FTP applications– WYSIWYG software– Web folders

FTP Applications

• Used to transfer files on the Internet

• FTP Requires– Site name– Host/IP/URL– Host type– Username and

password

WYSIWYG Software

• Allows you to upload your Web site directly from within the program– Microsoft FrontPage

• FTP program is built in

Web Folders

• Web server must be configured to support Microsoft Web Folders

• Web folders allow you to easily drag and drop files to your remote Web site directory

Testing a Web Site After Publishing

• Determine that all images display properly

• Make certain that no broken links exist

• Ensure all interactive elements such as forms are functioning properly

• Make any necessary changes to the source file and then upload that file to the server, overwriting the old file

Marketing the Web Site

• It is important to announce your presence on the Web– Web-based marketing

• Search engines• Submission services• Reciprocal links• Banner advertising• Awards• E-mail newsletters and mailing lists

Web-Based Marketing

• Search Engines– Maintain a database of sites on the Web– Equivalent of having your name and number

listed in the Yellow Pages– Meta tags increase the chances of your site

appearing in search results– Spiders and robots search the Web for new

sites periodically– You can register with some search engines

free of charge

Web-Based Marketing

• Submission Service– Business that will

register your site with hundreds of search engines for a fee

– Reregister your site if you redesign or add substantial new content

Web-Based Marketing

• Reciprocal Links– Two Web site owners

informally agree to put a link to each other’s site on their Web pages

– Link exchange sites allow you to choose other sites with which you can exchange reciprocal links

Web-Based Marketing

• Banner Advertising– Intent is to motivate viewers to click the add,

which takes them to an advertiser’s Web site• Two methods of fee determination

– Click-through– Impression

– Banner Exchange Sites• Similar to link exchange sites• Usually a free service

Web-Based Marketing

Web-Based Marketing

• Awards– Beneficial to Web sites

only if they come from a credible source

• CNET• PCMagazine

Web-Based Marketing

• E-Mail Newsletters and Mailing Lists– Have potential to market your Web site easily– Inform visitors of new products and services– Newsletter should be personable, engaging,

and free of errors– Always provide a way to unsubscribe from the

e-mail newsletter

Traditional Marketing Methods and Advertising

• Word of mouth– Telling people about your site

• Print– URL appears on printed materials

• Promotional Items– Magnets, coffee mugs, coasters, pens, etc.

Maintenance

• Web sites = “living entities”• Web site designers should try to reduce future

maintenance costs through:– Proper technology choice– Use of structured design– Implementation of consistent markup and coding

styles

MaintenanceKeeping Your Site Up-To-Date

• New content and revisions for keeping it current

• Broken links

• Email requests– Be sure to include an email address contact

on every page of the website

Maintenance Considerations• Make website attractive

• Minimize load times

• Text should be displayed quickly

• Verify ordering information

• Encourage customer feedback

• Maintain & upgrade technology

MaintenanceKeeping Your Site Up-To-Date

• Monitoring Web site traffic with site logs– How many people over a given time– How many pages were requested– What pages were the most popular– What versions of Web browser used to view your site– Geographic location of visitors

• Popular site analysis programs like WebTrends

Maintaining and Updating the Web Site

• Add changing, timely content• Check for broken links, and add new links• Document the last reviewed date on Web pages• Include a mechanism for gathering user

feedback, and act on that feedback• Identify benchmark and resource Web sites

Maintaining and Updating the Web Site

• Steps for updating– Download the desired Web page from the

server to your computer– Update the downloaded Web page– Load the Web page into a browser and check

the changes and the page display– If the changes and the page display are

acceptable, then upload the updated page to the server

Reference for Web Maintenance

• Building better website http://www.state.fl.us/dms/betterwebsites

• Top ten mistakes of web management by Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9706b.html

• Explore some hosting services– SpunkyWorld

http://spunkyworld.com/

– Web Hosting Directoryhttp://www.webhostsonline.com/

– Web Hosting Ratingshttp://www.webhostingratings.com/

– 100-Best-Web Hostinghttp://www.100best-web-hosting.com/