DEVELOPING ONLINE CONTENT HAMMERICH HARRISON 2002

DEVELOPING ONLINE CONTENT HAMMERICH & HARRISON 2002

PRINT READING Vs WEB READING

THINKING GLOBAL

COLOURS: RED

TEXT IN THE CONTEXT OF DESIGN AND NAVIGATION

ORGANIZING A WEB SITE • TWO PIVOTAL SKILLS: – YOU KNOW HOW TO STRUCTURE INFORMATION SO THAT THE FLOW OF CONTENT IS LOGICAL AND COHERENT – YOU’VE LEARNED TO WRITE/EDIT WITH THE READER CONSTANTLY IN MIND

ORGANIZING A WEB SITE • ORGANIZING INFORMATION IS ABOUT DEMONSTRATING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ITEMS IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY ARE EASY TO FIND • THERE IS NO SINGLE SOLUTION TO ORGANIZING ONFORMATION

ORGANIZING A WEB SITE • 5 WAYS TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION: – ALPHABET – TIME – CATEGORY – LOCATION – HIERARCHY • EACH DIFFERENT METHOD OF ORGANIZATION THAT YOU USE WILL CREATE A DIFFERENT MEANING FOR USERS

HOW TO ACCESS CONTENT VIA: • INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE (IA) • NAVIGATION DESIGN (ND) • GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE • IA IS THE ORGANIZING OF INFORMATION INTO LOGICALLY RELATED GROUPINGS SO USERS CAN NAVIGATE EFFECTIVELY THROUGH THE CONTENT AND FIND THE INFORMATION THEY SEEK • ARCHITECTURES CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ON USABILITY

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE • IA IS THE CREATION OF CONTENT WITHIN DESIGN, USING KNOWLEDGE OF COGNITIVE ISSUES SUCH AS LEARNING STYLES, AND SO FORTH, TO MAKE A SITE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR USERS (>STANDARDIZATION) • IT IS THE OVERALL PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING PLANNING, ORGANIZING, DESIGNING, DRAFTING, TESTING, GATHERING FEEDBACK, AND KEEPING CONTENT UP TO DATE

IA MODELS OF INFORMATION WEB SITES (1)

IA MODELS OF INFORMATION WEB SITES (2)

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IA HAS TWO DIFFERENT ASPECTS : • CONTENT – KNOWLEDGE MANAGER – INFORMATION ARCHITECT/DESIGNER – CONTENT STRATEGIST • TECHNOLOGY – DATABASE ARCHITECT – NETWORKING ARCHITECT – DATA MODELER

NAVIGATION DESIGN • ND IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN IA AND GUI • THIS CONNECTION IS REPRESENTED BY LINKS: – MAIN NAVIGATION LINKS – SHORTCUT LINKS – CONVERGING LINKS – HYPERTEXT LINKS – REDUNDANT LINKS

NAVIGATION DESIGN • MAIN NAVIGATION LINKS: provide pathways to and from the main site sections. • SHORTCUT LINKS: allow users to access important information without drilling down the site (e. g. Press Releases, Privacy Policy) • CONVERGING LINKS: bring users from different locations to the same point • HYPERTEXT LINKS: create additional connections • REDUNDANT LINKS: are duplicated in the web page

PRIORITY OF NAVIGATION ELEMENTS

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE • GUI IS WHAT THE USER SEES ON HIS/HER SCREEN FROM THE ‘HOME’ PAGE AND THROUGHOUT THE SITE. • IT REPRESENTS THE ARCHITECTURE AND THE NAVIGATION OF THE SITE AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE SITE’S INFORMATION WITHOUT REVEALING THE ORGANIZATION BEHIND IT

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE • GUI HAS 3 MAJOR FUNCTIONS: – HELP USER TO DEVELOP A MENTAL MAP OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE SITE – PROVIDE A GOOD OVERALL LOOK-AND-FEEL TO THE SITE – ASSIST USERS IN REACHING THE INFORMATION THEY WANT

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE • ELEMENTS OF A WELL-DESIGNED GUI INCLUDE: – VISUAL METAPHORS (immediate comprehension) – INTERNAL CONSISTENCY IN THE LOOK-AND-FEEL of different site sections, as appropriate for users – CONSISTENCY IN THE USE OF ICONS (e. g. ‘Help’ button: text or icon) – LACK OF CLUTTER (users can find easly what they need)

MIND MAPPING: IA REVEALED

A WEB MODEL

TRADITIONAL NAVIGATION PATTERNS • THE TOP NAVIGATION BAR FOR LINKS TO CORPORATE INFORMATION, SEARCH ENGINES, AND SITE MAPS • THE LEFT-HAND NAVIGATION BAR FOR MAIN CONTENT SITE SECTIONS • BOTTOM-OF-THE-PAGE LINKS FOR UTILITY ITEMS SUCH AS POLICY LINKS, PRIVACY LINKS, COPYRIGHT STATEMENTS • THE RIGHT-HAND NAVIGATION BAR FOR ADD-ONs SUCH AS ADVERTISING, SPONSORS, SURVEYS, OPINION POLLS etc

canlearn interactive website today • http: //www. canlearn. ca/eng/index. shtml

WEB WRITING STRATEGIES

E-RHETORIC. A NEW FORM OF PERSUASION • THE WEB IS TRULY A NEW AND DIFFERENT MEDIUM, REQUIRING JUST AS MUCH CREATIVITY ON WEB WRITER’S PART AS ANY INFORMATIONAL PRODUCT BASED ON PRINT • HOWEVER, WEB WRITER/EDITOR HAS TO ADJUST HIS/HER THINKING ABOUT MANY ASPECTS OF TEXT, FROM ITS DEVELOPMENT TO ITS PRESENTATION.

RHETORIC • ARISTOTELE DESCRIBED RHETORIC AS “THE FACULTY OF OBSERVING IN ANY GIVEN CASE THE AVAILABLE MEANS OF PERSUASION • LANHAM (1976: 4) STATES: ” RHETORICAL MAN IS TRAINED NOT TO DISCOVER REALITY BUT TO MANIPULATE IT” • “LANGUAGE THAT IS ELABORATE, PRETENTIOUS, INSINCERE, OR INTELLECTUALLY VACUOUS” (American Heritage Dictionary)

RHETORIC • IN THE INFORMATION AGE RHETORIC IS THE ECONOMICS OF HUMAN ATTENTION-STRUCTURES • THE CONCEPT OF WRITING FOR THE WEB IS BASED ON THE RHETORICAL TRADITION, WITH ITS FOCUS ON PERSUASION THROUGH THE CHOICE OF WORDS, EMPHASIS ON THE AUDIENCE, AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION IN WHICH THE WORDS WOULD BE PRESENTED

RHETORIC • RHETORICAL STRATEGIES ARE: – ORAL SITUATION: MODULATION AND PITCH OF VOICE, CREATION OF PAUSES, PHYSICAL STANCE, HAND GESTURE, EYE CONTACT etc. – WRITTEN SITUATION: GRAPHICS (FONT TYPES, SIZE, COLOUR) AND VISUALS

E-RHETORIC • WEB RHETORIC IS A COMBINATION OF ORAL AND WRITTEN TRADITIONS AND INCLUDES AS WELL MULTIMEDIALITY AND INTERACTIVITY • IT ALSO INVOLVES QUALITY WEB CONTENT WHICH IS BASED ON THE FOUR Cs: – CREDIBILITY – CLARITY – CONCISENESS – COHERENCE

CREDIBILITY • 5 CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING CREDIBILITY: – AUTHORITY – ACCURACY – OBJECTIVITY – CURRENCY – COVERAGE AND INTENDED AUDIENCE

TIPS TO DEVELOPING ONLINE CREDIBILITY

CLARITY • WRITING WITH CLARITY IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS USING PLAIN LANGUAGE (INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE) - A TERM WHICH MEANS MAKING TEXT UNDERSTANDABLE, PARTICULARLY GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE USED BY THE PUBLIC

TIPS TO CLARITY IN ONLINE WRITING

CONCISENESS • BEING CONCISE MEANS HAVING THE SKILL TO PRESENT A TOPIC IN THE MOST ECONOMICAL MANNER POSSIBLE, THAT IS, USING AS FEW WORDS AS YOU CAN BUT STILL MEETING THE USER’S NEED FOR INFORMATION • THE AMOUNT OF ECONOMY REQUIRED OF WEB TEXT DEPENDS ON WHERE THE TEXT IS ON THE SITE AND HOW THE READER WILL USE IT

TIPS TO CONCISENESS IN ONLINE WRITING • DETERMINE PRECISELY WHAT THE DOCUMENT WANTS TO TELL YOU, THAT IS THEME • SELECT KEY WORDS OR THOUGHTS THAT WOULD BE THE BASIS OF MAJOR HEADINGS IN YOUR REVISED DOCUMENT • BUILD SENTENCESAPPLICABLE TO THEME AROUND THE KEY WORDS • ONLY USE ONE OR TWO KEY THOUGHTS PER SENTENCE. PUT THOSE SENTENCES IN A LOGICAL SEQUENCE TO CONVEY THE NARRATIVE OF THE DOCUMENT • ADD SOME TRANSITIONAL WORDS TO MAKE THE ABBREVIATED TEXT FLOW SMOOTHLY (CONJUNCTIONS)

TIPS TO CONCISENESS IN ONLINE WRITING (CONT. ) • CONTINUE TO RE-WRITE UNTIL YOUR TEXT ACHIEVES THESE FOUR GOALS: – YOU’VE REDUCED PRINCIPAL CONCERNS TO THE FEWEST WORDS POSSIBLE – YOU’VE PROVIDED A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE SITUATION – YOU’VE ENSURED THAT THE CONCEPTS OF CAUSE-ANDEFFECT ARE CLEARLY DIFFERENTIATED WHEREVER THEY OCCUR IN THE TEXT – YOU’VE RETAINED A CLEAR SENSE OF SUBSTANCE AND QUALITY IN YOUR DOCUMENT

COHERENCE • ALL PARTS OF THE TEXT CONNECT TOGETHER IN CLEAR AND LOGICAL WAYS, ENHANCING ITS ABILITY TO PERSUADE READERS. • TEXTUAL COHERENCE OCCURS THROUGH 3 INTER-RELATED ELEMENTS: – THE STRUCTURE OF INFORMATION – THE TIES THAT HOLD TEXT TOGETHER – USE OF THE USER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

COHERENCE: THE STRUCTURE OF INFORMATION • COHERENCE IN THE STRUCTURE OF CONTENT ON A SITE DEPENDS ON THREE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS: – WELL-BUILT INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE – INTERNAL LINKS THAT MAKE LOGICAL SENSE – WEB PAGES THAT CAN STAND ALONE AS RHETORICAL UNITS OF INFORMATION

COHERENCE: THE TIES THAT HOLD TEXT TOGETHER

COHERENCE: THE TIES THAT HOLD TEXT TOGETHER (CONT. )

COHERENCE: USE OF THE USER’S BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE • TO CREATE COHERENCE, USERS CAN COMBINE THE TEXT AND THEIR PRIOR KNOWLWDGE IN FOUR WAYS: – GENRE RECOGNITION – UNDERSTANDING OF CONVENTIONS – LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE – BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

TIPS TO BUILDING ONLINE COHERENCE

USEFUL RHETORICAL CONJUNCTIONS