types || tours

Example

Later in the module, we're going to turn these categories into classifications by grouping them and organizing the groups according to a relevant principle such as chronology or structural metaphor.

The more we have to work with, the better. Because this is a small class, I'd like you to each submit at least ten new ones, several of which you will take us on a tour of.

We'll work our way to standards, that is, to the criteria to judge good and bad. Right now, let's concentrate on description. However, if you want to know what I think is quality work, here's a course project at the University of California at Santa Barbara that would get an A from me, especially for elegant design.

Web Types

fiction

poetry

non-fiction

information

marketing

reporting

entertainment

training

persuasion

sales

commercial

expressive (images)

linear

dynamic

Web Tours

Watching the Olympic athletes this week, I am struck by how smart their bodies are. Kinesthetically, they're very intelligent. I am also struck by the enormous number of hours it takes to make muscles that smart.

What about our brains? You are going to rise to Olympic levels with hypertext:

	by exploring and discovering a lot of hypertext
	by thinking critically about hypertext structures
	by using those structures to make your own hypertexts

On this evaluation form, please dash through the first three parts on content, language, and mechanics so that you can spend your time on the web's structure. Use your oral presentation time in the same way.

Email the form to me or print it and hand it in.

Title of web ___________________________________________________
URL http://____________________________________________________
Publisher (host, sponsor, copyright holder)
_____________________________________________________________
Last revision or copyright date _________________________________

Content

Primary purpose (rank in order of importance #1 most to #4 least)

to inform _____
to educate _____
to entertain _____
to persuade (or sell) _____

Primary audience___________________________________________

Language

Graphics / sound / video

decoration only _____
decoration and information _____
crucial to understanding _____

Mechanics

Vocabulary

Did you see any objects you didn't know the name of?
(examples: type of button; some geekspeak on an error message)

Further information

Was a contact person or email address readily available?

Structure

Nodes and links

How many of each?
How large are the nodes?
Are the links all the same graphically?
How many different types of links can you distinguish?

What portion of a typical node is ...

... content?
... decorative graphics or white space?
... structural aids (navigation and orientation)?

Navigation

Does it make you wait or can you go anywhere anytime?
How long did it take you to learn to navigate comfortably?
Did a click ever take you somewhere you didn't expect to go?
How many clicks apart are the nodes?

Orientation

Do you always know where you are?
What devices, images, or structures help you?

Organizing principle

How is the site organized overall?
(examples: like a book; chronologically, product by product)

Can you arrange the nodes into a familiar shape or pattern?
(examples: like a star, caterpillar, tree)

Please draw a picture or diagram of that organization. See concept maps.

General

What did you like best?
What did you like least?

In print, how would it be done?

as well __ better __
couldn't be printed because ...

Person to person (no computers, no books, no pictures), how could it be done?

as well __ better __
not as well because ...

Overall rating (#1 great to #5 terrible)

Comments

Discussion Questions

At the end of your tour, ask a few questions to get us thinking. Think of it as an opinion poll: What about the web's structure and navigation do you find problematic? Ask us to vote and to explain our vote.

history || theories || hot topics || audience || info viz
navigation || models || language || toolkit || resources