PBA Front-End Week 1

Communication Why do we communicate…?

Communication Pass information Persuation Coordination …?

Communication

Why do we make websites…?

Communication The purpose of a website is to communicate! The purpose of a website is (usually) not to demonstrate technical brilliance What can we do with this wonderful web programming technology…? How can we implement this wonderful web design…?

Communication Specific purposes of communication can be as diverse for websites as for real life: – Pass information [READ THIS!] – Persuation [BUY THIS!] – Coordination [DO THIS!] There are obvious overlaps…

Communication What is the specific purpose (with regards to communication) for a website for: – A political party (UK Labor Party) – An online bookstore (Amazon) – A web design tutorial (WebStyleGuide) – An aid organisation (Red Cross) – An online universe for kids (Club Penguin) – A social media (Facebook)

Communication How does communication work…?

Communication Computers are lucky!

Communication In the ideal world – The sender has a certain ”mental state” about some information – The sender communicates something about this information to the receiver – The receiver is now in the same ”mental state” about this information

Communication Humans don’t work like that… Oh John, listen, I’ve decided to come out of the closet! What were you doing inside a closet…?

Communication What hinders ”perfect communication”? – Language (verbal and non-verbal) – Noise (actual and ”semantic”) – Context (culture, background, assumptions,…)

Communication Many theories and frameworks for analysis of communication One prominent theory/model: Social Constructionism The Constructionist View: ”How you say something determines what the message is” Cannot separate form and content

Communication Wassup, d4wgg..?

Communication How are you today, my dear friend of African-American ethniticity…?

Communication If we accept the Constructionist View, what are the consequences? – No absolute truths – No absolute messages – People – and groups of people – construct their own reality (consensus reality), so… – Always consider the point-of-view of the receiver of any information

Communication Consensus reality – Is Nike the best brand of sports shoes…or have enough people agreed that it is so? – Is Global Warming a scientific fact…or have enough people agreed that it is so? – Is Facebook the best website for social inter- action…or have enough people agreed that it is so?

Communication Cognitive bias – The tendency for people to make ”poor” decisions, based on a particular situation – Is this relevant when designing websites…? – Depending on your purpose – cognitive bias can be ”exploited” – Example: Red Cross (I would rather help ”this one child”, than all these anonymous thousands…)

Communication

Web Development Process Where do websites come from…?

Web Development Process All websites start with an idea! Wouldn’t it be great if people could find information about my company online…? Wouldn’t it be great if people could buy our products online…? Wouldn’t it be great to make a site so interes- ting that millions would visit it each day, and then earn millions on ads…?

Web Development Process Wouldn’t it be great if people could buy our products online…? Now you know enough, start working!! …and the deadline is in three weeks, btw!

Web Development Process Clearly, the idea itself is not enough From idea follows purpose (mission) Often close to the idea, but somewhat more specific The website should enable people to buy a broad selection of our products online, at the same prices as in our physical stores

Web Development Process Informa- tion Presentation Communication Sales

Web Development Process Information: – ”Hello, world” – Basic information about company/organisation – Contact information – One-way communication – Very static, rarely updated –

Web Development Process Presentation – Information, plus: – Presentation of products/services – Search function – Still one-way communication – Needs more frequent updates (Changes in prices, new products, …) – How are updates handled (CMS, Service,…)?

Web Development Process Communication – Presentation, plus – Possible to ask questions (and get answers) – FAQ, guides,… – Chat, , Twitter,… – Two-way communication – Users expectations rise (fast response to questions, etc.)

Web Development Process Sales (web-shop) – Communication, plus – Online sales of products and services – Standard solutions exist (Templates, CMS) – Numerous examples

Web Development Process Informa- tion Presentation Communication Sales Some websites will not fit this model! Useful model for initial work on establishing purpose

Web Development Process Purpose established! The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Can be start designing now…?

Web Development Process The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience …and one year later, how will you know if the website was a success…?

Web Development Process The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Subjective!!!

Web Development Process The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Try to define objective goals instead!

Web Development Process ”Easy” It must be possible for 80 % of the users to complete an online purchase within 90 seconds, when starting from the landing page of our website

Web Development Process ”Broad selection” At least 90 % of all the items in the company product catalog must be available for purchase online

Web Development Process ”Positive user experience” At least 80 % of the users participating in a user survey must give the item ”overall user experience” a rating of 7 or more on a scale from 0 to 10. At most 5 % must give the item a rating of 3 or less.

Web Development Process Goals established, can we start working now? Remember Social Constructionism The Constructionist View: ”How you say something determines what the message is” Who are we talking to…?

Web Development Process Defining a Target Audience

Web Development Process Purpose and target audience will often – but not always – be rather closely related Ideally, everybody should like our website! In practice, only certain specific groups will be appealed to by our product, message, form of expression, etc. Who are they…?

Web Development Process How can you characterise a certain Target Audience? – Geography – Demography – Psychography – Level of competence

Web Development Process Geography – Local/regional/national/ international – Urban/suburban/rural – Climate – Workplace/home

Web Development Process Demography – Age – Gender – Civil status (single, married,…) – Occupation – Education – Income level – Ethniticity – …

Web Development Process Psychography – Interests – Behaviour – Beliefs – Values – Culture/Subculture

Web Development Process Level of competence (with regards to Web usage) – Novice – Casual – Intermediate – Expert

Web Development Process Why is this relevant – what can the practical consequences be? Imagine these target audiences: – Children age 5-8 – Senior citizens, age 60+ – Adults (age 18-60), elementary education What is the influence on our design decisions?

Web Development Process