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Web Site Genres

Web Site Genres. 13 February 2007 Kathy Gill. Importance of Pattern.

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Web Site Genres

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  1. Web Site Genres 13 February 2007 Kathy Gill

  2. Importance of Pattern • Structured communication enables the audience to concentrate on message content – the context creates boundaries on audience expectations. For example, after the words “Once upon a time …” those familiar with the fairy tale structure (genre) know what kind of story to expect. • http://bertplat.fastmail.fm/structureincommunication.html

  3. Patterns Also Relate to Function • Navigation/UI patterns • Using Interface Design Patterns explores recurring, functional components of websites • A lot of work has been done in architecture

  4. Challenge of Hypertext • But because hypertext is not linear, a web site visitor has to think about both the form and the content of a message. • Thus, you can argue that there is a larger cognitive load on a web site visitor than someone reading a book or watching TV • There are, however, things we can do to minimize this cognitive load

  5. Web: Porous and Dynamic • Porous: Most websites have more than a single point of entry (100% Flash sites may be an exception). Thus, we can’t expect visitors to follow a specific starting point • Dynamic: Web sites are notoriously changeable – new content, design, and technologies are being introduced all the time

  6. What’s a “Genre”? • “typified communicative actions characterized by similar substance and form and taken in response to recurrent situations" (Yates & Orlikowski, 1992, p.299) • “most genres imply a combination of purpose and form, such as a newsletter, which communicates ‘the news of the day,’ including multiple short articles and is distributed periodically to subscribers or members of an organization.” (Crowston & Williams, 2000, p.202)

  7. Genre Types: University • For university websites, these content genres are commonly used in research: • Course pages • Department pages • Faculty pages • Project pages • Student pages • Staff pages • What’s missing?

  8. Genre Types: eCommerce • Genre types on ecommerce sites: • Catalog • Product • Shipping • Shopping Cart • About Us • What’s missing? • Is a “shopping cart” standardized across the web?

  9. Classes of Sites • Academic • Aggregator (Google News, PriceGrabber) • Blogs (individual, group) • Community (Facebook, Flickr, mySpace) • Directories (phone, bus schedules, etc) • eCommerce (from Amazon to eBay) • Entertainment • Media / News • Organization (government, profit, not-for-profit) • Personal (from family to portfolio) • Porn • Search engines • Web applications • Other?

  10. Small Group Work • Break into three groups • Group 1: eCommerce • Group 2: Entertainment • Group 3: Government

  11. Small Group Work • Group – reach agreement on the definition of your web site class/genre. • Individually: • Find three sites that you believe best epitomize the genre. Also, try to find at least one that categorically fits but visually breaks the genre. • Identify what “makes” this genre immediately self-apparent – regardless of entry point • Identify content types found in this genre • Regroup – discuss – reach consensus. Try to agree on one or two example sites.

  12. Examples • eCommerce • Entertainment • Government

  13. Project Time • Here are some questions to ponder, if you haven’t done so already:

  14. What Experience Are We Going For? • What is our core area of expertise – let’s not try to "be all things to all people" • Amazon – online retail standard • Coca-Cola – liquid refreshment • Disney – innovative storytelling • FedX – on-time delivery • Starbucks – coffee culture

  15. Audience • General description • What types of content might appeal to audience(s) • What are their current practices? • What are their needs?

  16. Types of Users • Surfers, Casual Browsers • Novice or Casual Users • Expert or Frequent Users • International Users

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