Redesigning the Convergence Journalism Web SiteErick Ward & Ryan Spencer

Background

• Current Convergence site designed three years ago

Background

• Reasons we chose this capstone project:

• We wanted more experience in web design• It presented an opportunity to leave a

lasting impact on the Convergence program

Research

• Meetings with Convergence faculty • Updating the current site by using

Dreamweaver—is there a better way?• Current site is not template driven and

the coding is complex—focus on using clean, simple coding• New site should feature a search

function, something the current site does not have.

Research

• Meetings with Convergence faculty • Logo: Karen and Lynda disliked it, Mike

had no gripe with it• Give a place to feature good examples of

student work—On the Verge• Mike: current site optimized for 800x600,

we should aim for 1024x728• Resources need to be updated and

added to• A more public face for the Convergence

blog?

Research

• Student use survey • Administered online through

SurveyMonkey• 61 completed the survey• Results weren’t surprising, but did

provide good information on what students used most on the site and what they most wanted to see on the front page.

Goals

• We set four primary goals for our redesign

• Make the site easy to update and manage for the faculty• Make the site easy to navigate and use

for students• Provide a prominent place to showcase

examples of student work• Give the site a more modern, visually

appealing design

Choosing a CMS

• We examined several possibilities for the CMS for the redesigned site

• Dreamweaver– Pro: Faculty familiarity– Con: Requires program & access

• Drupal– Pro: Powerful CMS– Con: High learning curve

• Newsy proprietary– Pro: Proven with multimedia– Con: Too costly

Choosing a CMS

• We examined several possibilities for the CMS for the redesigned site

• On the Verge proprietary– Pro: Would have been nice to keep a

consistent CMS between OTV & the site– Con: Meghan and Kelly seemed frustrated

with it, lack of support

• WordPress– Pro: Easy to learn and use, yet very feature

rich – Con: Lack of experience in Theme design

Designing the Site

• Our first draft of the homepage was done in Dreamweaver with the intention of importing it into WordPress.

• We ran into difficulties successfully importing the design, so we began to explore alternatives.

Designing the Site

Designing the Site

• We spoke with Karen to pitch the possibility of using a pre-made theme that maintained a similar look and feel to the page we designed in Dreamweaver

• We decided this would be an acceptable alternative. We found Arthemia to be a nice recreation of our original design

Designing the Site

Designing the Site

Redesigned Convergence SiteRedesigned Convergence Site

Post-production research

• Karen gave us the opportunity to conduct site usability testing in her J4802 lecture class

• We made handouts that informed students of our project, then asked them to find answers to four questions by navigating the site

• Handout also asked for feedback, suggestions, and other comments

Post-production research

• The vast majority of students were able to find the answers in the site with no problems

• Some confusion about what industry resources encompassed• Also some thought For Students/Staff

could be more clear

Post-production research

• Positive feedback• I like how everything was pretty easy to

find.• The simplicity of the home page is an

asset.• I like that student work is on the site.• I like how the class schedules and grading

seem more organized and clear cut.

Post-production research

• Constructive criticism• Needs link to main journalism site• Needs more multimedia, photos of

students working with equipment• I don’t particularly like ‘telling compelling

stories, no matter how’• I feel the logo banner is too large

Next Steps

• Convert links from IP address to convergence.journalism.missouri.edu

• Add dates next to week numbers in course schedules and sidebar

• Reviewing and updating course schedules at the beginning of each semester

• Updating and adding links to senior e-portfolios

Future Possibilities

• Using WordPress to change purpose and execution of student blogs

• Adding a Convergence Introduction video

• Adding more multimedia (such as video how-tos for equipment)

• Adding an alumni profiles page (similar to the main Journalism site’s alumni database)