1. A case study of University Websites and their interactive usability for prospective students By Naomi Kinoshita COM597 Final Project

2. Motivation  my experience helping a friend look for graduate schools  researching our own program in my Branding and Marketing class  Jared Spool’s lecture on the lack of websites with user-centered design  For the assignment making airline reservations, I noticed all of companies had the same format for entering reservation information.

3. Research Proposal  I am going to study University websites from the prospective of applicants, paying particular attention to the international student, since the websites must be user-centered for all applicants.

4. Desired Results The final result of my research is to set recommendations for Universities, so that there will be similar paths to finding information.

5. Research Method  All of my research was done first-hand. When I researched schools, my goal was to see what degree programs each school offered and to find the details of admission requirements. Because my actions were very task oriented, I wanted to find information as quick as possible and as specific as possible.

6. Research Criteria  degree program information  entrance exam requirements (i.e.- GRE)  Application & application deadline  Tuition costs & availability of loans and scholarships  International student services  Diversity  Navigability and Organization( Web design element)

7. Research Subjects Three Large State Schools  University of Washington  University of Texas Austin  Texas Tech University Two Ivy League Schools  Princeton University  Stanford University Two Alternative Schools  New College of California  Antioch Univ. - Seattle

8. Example websites http://www.washington.edu http://www.utexas.edu http://www.ttu.edu

9. Preliminary Results  Home page – Should be divided into categories for certain people  Should be prospective students info. 2clicks away  Comprehensive information listed on one page  Should be Inter. Students cervices info on admission page or student life page

10. Limitations of Research  Small sample size  Non-random sample  Lack of other criteria (ie – libraries, computers, recreation, clubs, etc.)