Web Content Development Dr. Komlodi Class 1: Introductions, Elements of Web Design

Introductions Dr. Komlodi Associate Professor at the Department of Information Systems Graduate Program Director for Human-Centered Computing Homepage: Research interests: –Human-centered computing: Interacting with information Diverse user groups

Students Name Major Year Career goals Last positive or negative experience with a web site Names

Web Content Development What is web content?

Web Content Is... Text (primarily but not exclusively) Images Video Audio Interactive Functions Applications

Selecting, structuring, organizing, and labeling information to make it easy to find and manage in websites The organization and navigation content adds to usability Both art and science Web Content Development = Information Architecture

Example Good: GREGRE Bad: UMBC Financial ServicesUMBC Financial Services

Information Architecture (IA) 1.The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation scheme within an information system. 2.The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content. 3.The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information. 4.An emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

Organizing Information Humans have been organizing information for many years in libraries Libraries had a simpler task than websites: –Uniform collections (books) –One way to access information through physical organization Websites provide more flexible access but content is more heterogeneous and more difficult to organize

What is not IA? Graphic design Interaction design Usability engineering Experience design Software development Content management Knowledge management

Syllabus Review

Information Architect Exercise Work in pairs Go to Enter: "information architect“ in the Quick Search box Make a list of the: –Skills required –Tasks to perform –Salary range Post an answer on the “Information Architect Exercise” discussion board on Blackboard with answers and your names