Nate Hull’s Weblog

Part I 

Alibris — Summary page

1. Find a list and descriptions of books by Janet Evanovich. Delores just finished reading a Janet Evanovich novel and wants to know if there are more books by the same novelist. From the main page she types “Evanovich” and receives a list of other books.

2. Buy a gift certificate for a friend for Christmas. Dexter wants to purchase a gift certificate for a friend. After scanning the main page for any information, he decides to click on the “help” link at the top. He is given a list of topics to choose from, none of which address gift certificates. He gives up and chooses another online retailer.

3. Compare prices for a used copy of Barack Obama’s biography. Peggy wants to find the cheapest version of The Audacity of Hope. She enters the book title in the search box on the main page. She notices the “sort by” drop down menu at the top of her results, and changes “Top-Selling” to “Price.”

4. Try to obtain a refund for a damaged book. Jimmie Dean received a used book a month late and in poor condition. He first scrolls down the main page and sees “money back guarantee” under the Account section in the left column. He follows the illustrated four-step process described on this page.

5. Locate an out-of-print copy of John Crowley’s Little, Big. Ned wants to find a first edition copy of John Crowley’s Little, Big. He goes to the Alibris homepage and clicks on the “books” tab, and then realizes that the books tab is the same as the homepage. He clicks “rare books” under the books tab, types “Little, Big” in the search box, and clicks on the button “first edition.” He sees that his search resulted in 500 titles, and the first page of results do not include Little, Big. He sees that the search box offers to narrow the search by author. He types “Crowley, John” and clicks the search button. This time he gets the results he was looking for.

Three tasks not considered:

• Purchase a gift certificate. This is an essential feature for online book/music/movie retailers. The lack of this feature likely leads users to spend their money at competing sites, such as Amazon.
• Get recommendations of items similar to a specific book or album. For users who are simply browsing the website, this feature helps them narrow down an item they might like. Some users may expect this feature.
• View a friend’s wishlist by entering the person’s name. Alibris offers a wishlist feature, but in order to view another person’s wishlist, users must know the person’s email address used in the Alibris account. In a time when many people have multiple emails, this structure is a hindrance.

Washington State Department of Transporation — Summary page

1. Find out if conditions on Snoqualmie Pass require chains. Nate wants to go to Yakima for the weekend. At the WSDOT homepage, he sees “Snoqualmie Pass” in a Most Requested box near the top left of the page. This takes him directly to a page listing pass conditions, driving requirements, and a live camera of the pass.

2. Find the completion date for a construction project in Everett. Nelly is frustrated with the bottleneck in traffic due to construction next to his house, and wants to find out how long the construction will last. He clicks on “Project” in the global navigation bar, and then clicks on the interactive map of Washington State. He then scrolls down a list of projects to “I-5, Everett” to find an update on the current construction project.

3. Find weekend ferry times between Anacortes and Friday Harbor. Mal wants to find the last ferry sailing to Friday Harbor from Anacortes on Friday. He scrolls down the main page to find a Ferries category. He clicks on “Schedules” and then sees a link for “Anacortes/San Juan Islands.”

4. Learn about proposals for changing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Lief wants to learn more about potential changes to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Just before he clicks on “Projects” in the navigation bar, he sees a Projects category farther down the page. One of the links in this category is the Alaskan Way Vidaduct.

5. Get a live update of traffic on the 520 bridge. Preston is planning on leaving Kirkland for downtown Seattle. He wants to know how bad the traffic is over the 520 bridge. If traffic is bad, he may delay his departure. From the main page, he clicks on “Traffic & Roads” in the navigation bar. On an interactive map of the state, he moves a box over the Seattle area and clicks. He receives a close up map of the area — including the 520 bridge — that shows there is no traffic by way of color-coded lines.

Three tasks not considered:

• Find a map or detailed directions of a detour around a construction project. The WSDOT site provides helpful information on construction projects, but the site could add information for those who want receive a detailed description of a detour.
• Find information on the new enhanced state license/ID. WSDOT actually has a link to the DOL regarding this new license, but it can only be found by changing the image box on the main page. Users will not assume to change the image box to find this information. The site will avoid confusion by providing a text link to Licensing (and specify it is sending you to the DOL site).
• Learn about possible state laws on using interstate passing lanes. Many users who want information on state traffic/driving laws may come to WSDOT before legislative sites. A simple link will help direct users to what they are looking for.

Blitzen Trapper — Summary page

1. Find a nearby location where the band is performing. Carissa hears about Blitzen Trapper from a friend, and goes to the Website to see if the band is coming to her town. A list of upcoming shows are featured on the main page.

2. Learn how to buy tickets to Friday’s concert at the UW HUB. Carissa sees that the band is playing in her town. She clicks on the name of the venue, but realizes that it is not a link. She then has to leave the site and find the venue website through a search engine.

3. Find out if there are any new singles/EPs/albums coming out. Paula wants to know if any new songs will be released. She looks for “news” or “updates” in the navigation at the top, but settles for “Records.” She then clicks on a Myspace link, hoping for more information.

4. Find biographical information on the lead singer. Paula thinks the lead singer is dreamy and wants to learn more about him. She clicks on the “About” link on the main page, to find a short paragraph on the the entire band. She sees a link “Who is this clan of which you speak” and upon clicking it performs a google search for Blitzen Trapper.

5. Leave a message for the band. Paula wants to leave a message regarding Blitzen Trapper bracelets she made for the band to wear. She clicks on “Contact” and receives a list of promotional agents and management. Again, she is directed to Myspace to leave a message.

Three tasks not considered:

• Finding a link to a concert venue for purchasing tickets to a show. While venues are listed next to concert dates, many of these venues are not linked. If a person is unsure whether he or she wants to go to a show that night, the trouble of finding a way to buy a ticket may be the factor that deters them from going.
• Read what the press has to say about the band. Again, if someone is on the fence about going to a concert or buying an album, snippets of reviews or links to reviews may give them that extra “push.”
• Find band history/biographical information. There is a link to more extensive band history at the band’s PR manager website, but it is unfortunate that fan are led away from the official site to find this information.

Last.fm — Summary page

1. Leave a comment on a friend’s page. Taylor notices that her coworker has been listening to Milli Vanilli. On the person’s profile page, Taylor types a snarky message in the “Shoutbox” on the right side of the page and posts the message.

2. Check for free mp3 downloads. Taylor’s coworker tells her that she can download mp3s from the site. At the main page, she sees “Download” in the navigation bar, but this takes her to a page on downloading the Last.fm widget software. She eventually realized that she could search for downloadable mp3s on specific artists’ pages, but could not simply search all available mp3 in one list.

3. Write in the forums about the latest pop star in rehab. Wes is passionate about the latest news regarding Amy Winehouse and wants to share his opinions on the matter. On the main page, he clicks “Users” because it seemed the most appropriate. He then clicks on the forums folder and then clicks on General Discussion. He then clicks the “Start a new thread” button.

4. Find and befriend users who like Radiohead. Taylor decides to join a Radiohead group. Under “Users” she clicks on Group and types in Radiohead. She is given a list of dozens of Radiohead groups, but no information on the size of the group or other specifics. She clicks through a handful of groups and then makes a decision.

5. Watch a Klaxons music video. Wes is looking for a specific video by the Klaxons. From the main page (Users) he clicks on “Videos” and receives a handful of recommended videos, but no video search capability. He decides to search by artist first, and chooses the video option from within the artist’s page.

Three tasks not considered:

• Post a user-created video to the user’s profile page or group. Most popular social networking sites allow this feature, and some users may expect it.
• See the most popular songs or artists organized by a city or group. Some users may want to narrow “most popular” lists on the site to their specific community interest. Again, other networking groups such as Facebook offer this feature and some users may expect it.

IGN — Summary page

1. Find a video preview of an upcoming movie. Jack wants to see a trailer for “The Bourne Ultimatum.” At the main page, he enters the title in the search box, and receives a list of results, from video games to soundtracks. He sees the movie and selects “video” underneath the title. He then clicks “trailer.”

2. Read a review of last night’s episode of Lost. Meg selects the “Reviews” link in the left column, and sees a long list of items from every medium, organized by date. She decides to click “Title” and reorganizes the list alphabetically. She then scrolls down to “L” and finds the review.

3. Look for release dates for upcoming video games on the Nintendo DS. Jack wants to see what games are coming out in March. He scans the lists in the left sidebar but sees no appropriate choice. He then scrolls down the main page and finds an upcoming releases category, but only sees titles coming out next week. He clicks on the title but discovers it is not a link. He decides to search by platform title, clicking on PS3, and sees a “Release Dates” link in the sidebar.

4. Write a blog post on the delay of Kojima-san’s latest game. Jack had created a blog page a month ago and wants to write a post. from the main page he looks for a “Blog” link in the top bar, and then sees the MY BLOG link under the login box.

5. Read liveblogs from the Consumer Electronics Show. Meg wans to get the latest update from Bill Gates’ keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show. She sees a thumbnail picture of Bill in the scrolling image box in the center of the page. He clicks on the thumbnail, which puts the image in the main viewing window. She clicks it again. and is sent to a CES hub page. She then clicks on a Bill Gates keynote liveblog link.

Three tasks not considered:

• Find out which game developers have blogs on IGN. Many game developers use enthusiast sites to detail development progress and promote a game. IGN hosts many of these developer blogs, but there is no way to separate other bloggers from game developer blogs when searching.
• Rate user comments. Many gaming and tech blogs such as Digg have adopted this practice, allowing readers to filter out which comment posts are worth reading.
• Find games similar to a favorite game. This feature may be more common on e-commerce sites, but this kind of feature is helpful to users who do not want to take the extra step of creating a forum or searching through blogs for this information.

Part II: Comparison of Media Websites

Salon — Rebekah’s Summary

Pitchfork Media — Sarah’s Summary

ign.com — Nate’s Summary

I have chosen to look at the similarities and differences between two tasks that were listed on all three media sites from Assignment 2:

Task: Find a review of a specific work

All three media sites offer reviews, and the task of finding a specific review — whether for music, movie, or game — was included in our lists in Assignment 2. Both Pitchfork and IGN offer a “Review” option at the top of the navigation column on the left of the home page. Access to reviews is likely a high priority task for users of these two sites. Salon requires users to select “Movies” or “Books” if users choose to navigate to the work without using the search engine. If the work is not featured on the main page, then users can find the review through an alphabetical list. IGN also allows users to narrow their search with a list of options (e.g., type of media, platform).

Of the three sites, Pitchfork appears to give a user searching for a review the quickest and easiest route to reaching their goal. While both IGN and Pitchfork both give their “Review” links prominent placement on the main page, only Pitchfork provided an advanced search tool specifically for reviews. Both IGN and Salon required extra steps for narrowing down the search.

Task: Find a news update on a specific topic

This task also appeared on all three of our list of examples. Again, both Pitchfork and IGN list “News” as a category in the top of the left navigation bar. Salon organizes topics under “Daily” and “Weekly” in the left navigation, giving the reader an idea of the timeliness of the material. Salon also offers a “News and Politics” link in the global navigation bar at the top.

Pitchfork also comes out the winner when comparing these sites for finding news. “News” is clearly labeled in the navigation column, and it receives its own middle column on the main page. Also, users can filter their search to only news by selecting “news” in a drop down menu in the search engine. While news takes center stage on the Salon main page, dates and times are not included in each blurb, so it is unclear when the information was posted. There is an article finder, but this includes articles outside of news, and the article finder is added at the very bottom of the main page (found only after significant scrolling). IGN treats its news similarly to its other categories (such as reviews and previews) and provides a list of recent news on the main page midway down the page. As with reviews, a search for news direct user to specify platform or type of media, drawing out the search process.