1. Information Technologies Spring 2011 Megan Georgia, Alena Marchak, Aimee Slater

2. Information Technologies Spring 2011 Project Definition and Planning

3. Target Users / Purpose of the project Target Users: PMC Students Purpose: Pratt Manhattan is just outside the boundaries of the neighborhoods commonly known as Flatiron, Union Square, Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Meatpacking which means that retailers in the immediate area of the campus are rarely highlighted and PMC students are forced to fend for themselves in the immediate area.

4. Trends and Precedents  Numerous sites list cheap, cool and interesting things in NYC  No sites specifically geared toward Pratt students.  Most sites have a right-pane navigation and left-pane content. We modeled that.  A lot of websites have flashy, eye catching animation and images. None of us have that technical skill.

5. Inspiration – Brooklyn Vegan Navigation was inspired by their methodology – categorize everything and build the navigation as a custom menu from the categories.

6. Inspiration – Time Out New York TONY has great resources and ideas. Their layout is a lot busier than ours, but they have a lot of good content.

7. Inspiration – New York Magazine Though this website has a lot of additional content, they have great suggestions and ideas of what kind of content to include.

8. Information Technologies Spring 2011 Site Design and Construction

9. Template We chose this template for its clear, simple and uncomplicated design.

10. Typekit Free option to change the limiting typeface of the Coraline theme

11. Batchgeo Used to map locations and provide addresses

12. Content  Items that are in close proximity to Pratt Manhattan  Items that provide student discounts  Items that are free  Items that are must-see New York attractions  Items that will enhance the Pratt Manhattan Student’s experience, whether food, drink, an activity or a place

13. Interactivity  Facebook, Twitter, Tags  Email Us A Suggestion  Flickr Feed

14. Email us a suggestion…

15. Usability Evaluations

16. Scenario 1: 3 Hours to Kill FeedbackChanges  Lots of scrolling  Did not use tag cloud  No search bar  Broken Link  “Get Directions” Link Unhelpful  Comments closed on certain posts  Email button missing  Images don’t link to posts – is confusing.  Bring Tag Cloud up to featured  Add Search Bar  Fixed broken link  Added directions link to Map  Opened Comments  Removed email feature – substituted Facebook / Twitter  Make images link to posts

17. Scenario 2: Post-Class Socializing FeedbackChanges  Couldn’t find the answer to a question – finding a book after late class ends  Option to email suggestion was difficult to find  User suggested adding a food place that was open late (not just snacks)  Entry for the Strand was sorted incorrectly  Changed “Suggestion” on the menu to Email a Suggestion” to clarify  Good Stuff Diner added in “Things to Eat” – open 24 hours

18. Scenario 3: Family Visit FeedbackChanges  Did not notice tag cloud  Did not notice search bar  Found some of the links did not open up to another tab but rather redirected from our page  Moved tag cloud up  Moved the search bar up  changed the known links to open up in another page

19. General Usability Feedback  Because the tasks were specific, users requested a search box to complete the tasks.  Very few users used the tag clouds because they were hidden and hard to see  Over focus on right hand navigation with other content – make tag cloud the featured widget in order to make navigation as easy as possible.

20. Future Plan  Uploading content regularly would further fill out the tag clouds.  Bring in someone with the technical skill to “liven up” the page including transitioning images for each page of navigation.  Fully publicize our desire for Pratt Manhattan Students to add suggestions / places, and post those places as well.

21. Time Out Pratt 2011 Megan Georgia, Alena Marchak, Aimee Slater

22. Time Out Pratt 2011 (After usability tests)

23. Time Out Pratt 2011 Megan Georgia, Alena Marchak, Aimee Slater