Usability Test

Today in class, I was lucky enough to receive feedback on my web portfolio from three women through a usability test. The first question I asked was, Is the website easy to navigate? Luckily all the women said that it was simple, easy to navigate and visually appealing. The next question I asked was, Was the introduction informative? They all said that they liked my home page which I was very excited about because I thought that maybe it was too much visually but they all really liked it. My "about me" section they said had a little too much text so they suggested I use bullet points to cut it down. My next question for my usability test was, does the web portfolio have a focus? They all seemed to agree that yes it did have a fairly clear focus but the consensus was that I needed to make the Disposable Camera Project and My Photography sections more clearly separated. The last question for my usability test was, on a scale of 0-10, how complete is the site? I can happily say that they all said I was at about a 9 and that I just needed to make some minor adjustments.

Blog Post #9

All ten tips that Smashing Magazine suggests are very good tips. However for me right now, all ten tips do not apply to what I have currently accomplished. I feel as though if I were to make a portfolio in a few years I would use every tip. However, making a tag line would be difficult for me because there is not anything right now that I specifically do because I am a sophomore still and I do not know yet what I intend to do. Also, it would be hard for me to include the services tip in my web portfolio because I do not have any specific service that I am capable at on my web portfolio. When looking at the 40+ beautiful personal portfolio websites, there were a few that I liked, a few I did not like and then the rest I was more or less indifferent about. I really enjoyed Vitor Louranco’s web portfolio. It was simple and very clear as to what he did, I also really liked how clean cut it is. I also liked the Digital Mash website and The Things We Make web portfolio. I thought that they were fun and playful but also well organized. A few I did not like were Kerry Nehil’s, Jason Santa Maria’s and David Appleyard’s. To me they seemed like they were trying to be too professional or trying to be too clean cut. I thought they came across as boring and if I were to make a web portfolio, I probably would not make one similar to theirs. To make this type of portfolio, I would need to know a lot more. I have never tried to make a web portfolio before so I would need to learn almost everything to make one.

Post #8

My literacy narrative will be about when I first started writing. Reading had a lot to do with how I learned to write. My parents would always read to me before I went to bed. They were always a big help, but I believe that the books they chose to read to me were what really stood out to me. The use of perfect linguistics for my age was what really got me going. In order to share my story, I will be showing clips of parts of my favorite book, Goodnight Moon. My parents also saved some of my first letters, so I intend on showing those too. I want my short film o flow so I intend on using background music opposed to talking in this video.

Post #7

My draft for Project 2 is just that, a draft. I know I have a lot of things I need to fix before Thursday. Saying that, Risa and Minori both thought that overall I had a good design. Seeing as I am pretty new to the whole website thing, I feel fine about my design. One thing I agree with though, is that they thought I should move the videos so that each one is on a different column. This way I can analyze each video right underneath it. Other than that the main thing I need to fix is just to add more of a rhetorical analysis. I answered question one alright although I could add more content but the main thing I need to focus on is question two. Before Thursday I will need to talk more about the context of each video. I also really need to focus on incorporating the use of modes.

I look forward to finishing my project.

Post #6

Each candidate approved all the videos I chose to use.

The first video's author is either Mitt Romney or his staff. It is called Richmond Times-Dispatch On Welfare Reform. It is a TV advertisment that I found on Mitt Romney's Youtube channel. The intended audience I feel is any youtube or TV watcher. The video focus's on how Romney is the right choice and how Obama's welfare reform is 'nuts'. The main claim is that Romney will put work back in welfare. The second video is again made by someone on Mitt Romney's staff. I found this video on the Mitt Romney youtube channel as well. The video is called, Long History. This video is for people who watch youtube videos and it is also a TV advertisement. This video again is about Welfare. This video is clearly opposing Obama and the last portion of the video shines Romney in a good light and how he will help fix the problems Obama has caused. The third video's author is Romney or staff again and it is called A Better Future: Iowa - Overregulation. I found this video on Mitt Romney's youtube channel. The target audience I believe for this video is for Romney followers and watchers on his youtube channel. The video is about a better future for Iowa and how Mitt Romney will better them. It also focuses on how Obama is not making Iowa better off. The next three videos I chose were approved by Obama and they focus on Obama being the 'good' choice while it opposes Romney. The first video I found was from the Huffington Post. The video is called, The Question- Obama For America. This is a TV advertisment but can also be found on youtube. It focuses more on accusations that Romney made against Obama and how they are untrue. It also focuses on how Mitt Romney's plan does not help the middle class. The next two videos I found were on youtube and they are also two more TV advertisements that are credible because they are approved by Obama. The first one is called, New Obama TV Ads Attack Romney For Fee Hikes. This video is exactly what the title says. The last video I found is called, "Troubled". It's focused audience is women in the United States who are voting. It focuses on how Romney backed the law that prohibits all abortions and womens right to choose. The rights for all of these youtube videos are existing because all of the video are approved by each candidate. The youtube link will lead you to the candidates youtube channel which is the original source. The format that my citations will take are that they are already youtube videos so I will use them as the link. I want to have the video on the page and then if you click the video it will lead the audience to the actual youtube video from its original source.

Post #5

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty by Sara:
First off, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was probably my favorite of the three webtexts. Almost everything about the website I loved. The choice of color is probably the first aspect of the webtext that really jumps out at you. The bright blue color goes with the blue color of the font that is the Dove slogan/label. Not only are all the texts blue but there are blue borders on white text box. The blue and the white contrast really well and the blue writing stands out on the white background. Then the blue border really frames the white box and text well. The background of the whole page is a lovely mix of both blue and white. It is a clever pattern of birds, flowers and clouds. Overall the webtext has a womenly feel to it, which I am sure was the author's purpose because the Dove for Real Beauty Campaign targets women. There really was not anything that stood out to me that I disliked.

Life-Based Web Comics by Ariel:
The Life-Based Web Comics webtext by Ariel was very straight-forward. What I liked about the webtext was that it was all very well organized. It was very clear where everything was and there weren't any surprises. Even though I liked that it was all very well thought out and very organized, I think the page was a little boring to me. I really did not like color choice, it seemed a little more masculine and plain.

Credit Unions by Brandi:
The link for Credit Unions by Brandi was not found/not working.

The way I want to design my webtext is very simple. I want to have a bright and inviting color because for me that is what stands out, plain/masculine colored webtexts did not appeal to me. Although I do want a bright and inviting color like the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, I did like the simplicity of the layout of the Life-Based Web Comics webtext, so I will probably keep my webtext fairly simple. I only want to have what I need on my page, no extra fluff. I like the page to be centered and I also want to add some visuals by having some sort of image on the page.

Post #4

For Project #2: Multumodal Analysis Webtext, I decided to choose to look at six different Ads in the upcoming Presidential election. The election is between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. I wanted to look at ads that are against Obama and ads that are against Romney. I feel like these particular ads add drama and really take into account the effects and modes that are used.

Ads against Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPa_LZOM2s&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j79YA1rRiWM&feature=endscreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI3XWNApnr8&feature=plcp

Ads against Romney:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/15/obama-mitt-romney-economy_n_1886148.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpZMOCuaB78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ziBFRKTnk

Post # 3 continued...

Alignment cont.:
Question 4: The curvature of the words, aligning with the background image of the eye relates the what the audio track is saying because the audio is talking about tears and the words fall from the eye, similar to tears.
Question 5: The lack of alignment tells us about the emphasis, sequence, and purpose of this text by showing that there is not a real connection between the three. That all three are going to be layed out differently.
Proximity:
Question 1: I placed certain categories of information closer together.
Question 2: I feel like the most important piece of information is the title and it was made in the largest font. It reflects how I think it should be arranged by having the most important being the focul point of the cover, largest font.
Question 3: Laying things out in a traditional way might come across as plain or uninteresting. A non-traditional format might be not having the title top center, but instead maybe on the bottom. By rearranging where things normally go, it may give it more orgininality.

Post #3

Emphasis:
Question 1: My attention is drawn to the pad and paper in the center of the video, where the women is writing out the text that we are meant to read. The strategies the author uses for this text is to put stress on the the words being written while having no speaking in the video and light music in the background only. I feel as though it is effective in the sense that my eye was drawn to what I think the author wanted the audience to be looking at but at the same time I have no idea what the point of the words on the paper meant.
Question 2: The moment of stillness can be understood as "emphasis" because the author is allowing the audience time to let the information sink in and it puts more of a focus on what we had just watched.
Question 3: Sound does play an important role. The soundtrack helps to emphasize certain moments in the clip by playing this more dramatic background music during the women writing on the pad of paper. I do not see how it puts an emotional emphasis on the meaning of the clip because the music actually distracts me personally from what is going on in the clip. I feel as though there is too much going on with the music, the way the clip is filmed and the writing/drawing on the pad.
Contrast:
Question 1: The words on the gray box contrast the cartoon in the background. For the most part of the video, your eyes tend to focus on the cartoon in the background and what is going on with that but when the author put the gray box up with the words that was what my eye was drawn to. I believe that was the purpose of having the gray box was so that the audience would be more likely to read the text.
Question 2: The elements that are contrasting are the words that are being written/said on the screen and the music in the background. I feel as though the cartoon background was deleted from this section because there was no real point to why there would be cartoons. In other sections with the cartoons, the cartoons pertained to what was being said during that time on the clip. While during the section I feel like it was more appropriate to just have a black background. The element that is most emphasized now is the text and the text that is being read aloud.
Question 3: If I was asked to created a poster, I would most likely use elements that were focused on in the video and not stray too far from that. Obviously I would not be able to have moving cartoons or sound but I would use some cartoons on the poster and put and emphasis on The JUMP, making it the focus of the flyer and then probably adding in a smaller blurb about what it is.
Organization:
Question 1: I chose the roses as the first picture to convey that the sequence of photos is going to be on the happier end of things. Then the next photo was the addition photo. I chose this thinking of it more as a photo that conveys the point of 'you can do anything if you practice/try' then the next photo was of the women painting the picture that says "we can dream". This photo I chose because of what the painting said. The next picture was the picture of the fist and the American flag. This kind of just shows power and the fight that people have to do something. Finally the last photo I chose was a crowd of people cheering and I chose this one because I wanted to end with a happy photo that wrapped up that hard work pays off and there is happiness in the end.
Question 2: I feel as though if I would have arranged my photos in a different way, it still would have conveyed generally the same feelings and arguements I made with the first arrangement of photos but it would have been more confusing. The same messgae of happiness, effort and triumph may not have come across as well.
Question 3: I feel as though playing music and adding texts in this case could definitely make this argument stronger because it would have made my point a lot easier to convey. Music could definitely be crucial in understanding.
Alignment:
Question 1: the alignment of the word murmuring, coming vertically on the screen made me focus more on it than when the word insects pops up way faster and horizontally. Murmuring, falls slower and that is what my attention is focused on.
Question 2: In the Earth scene, I still tend to focus on the lettering that comes in vertically. Although that is true, the music in the background catches most of my focus. I am not sure if all the elements in the scene would be effective if the didnt share alignment, I feel as though I would have to see it first hand in order to be the judge of that.
Question 3: I think that the alignments are different in the air and the earth scene because in the air scene there is a flock of birds at the top of the screen, so it made sense when the letters fell from the top. Also i liked the background music but the audio tracks I found to be very distracting and I dont know what the purpose of the audio track was.
Question 4: continued....

Post #2!

The "things people go to the site looking for" list, I feel is very accurate. When I was first starting college and using my own University's website, things like the campuses address, maps, application form and course lists were what I was looking for. I chose to look at the University of Oregon's website and although I like the websites visual mode, there are a few parts of the website that fall into the left side of the comic. They had alumni news, front and center on the page which turns me off from the page because I feel as though most people who go onto the website are not looking for alumni news. The audience is definitely accounted for because when you first go onto the website it has a close focus on new students. Also the page has sports on it which is very particular to the University of Oregon, seeing as it is a very "sports important" school.

Assignment One!

When reading about "multimedia" and "multimodal" for my DTC355 class, I decided that they are almost the same. In chapter one, multimodal is described as a combination of our everyday ways of communicating, for example, a picture with words on it. While multimedia and multimodal are closely related, multimedia only involves the media while multimodal can be used with everyday communications.

Response #1: Some linguistic choices I noticed were word choice and delivery. Using the word 'friends' when referring the the Japanese people showed that we do consider them friends and it led into the statement of how the United States will stand by them. That sentence was also an example about how the delivery of the statement was thoughtful. Although the statement made was short, it was to the point and got across that the United States were saddened by what happened and that they would stand by Japan.

Repsonse #2: The twitter profiles in figure 1.2 and 1.3 are great examples of visual mode. Some visual differences that you see between the two are the colors of the profiles. One is all light blue while the other has darker more contrasting colors. The twitter profile with the dark green and blue makes me feel as though they use twitter more for business while the light blue one makes me feel as though they use twitter for fun and enjoyment. I personally picked the template where you can upload a picture for the background, for which I chose to use a picture of a snake. It is kind of hipster, I guess. I have no real reason for choosing it, besides that I thought it was cool.

Response #3: While listening to the clip, some aural modal elements I heard were the ambient sound in the background, the speaker had a very soft an engaging tone to her voice, around half through the clip, the sound got louder. If there were to be an actual song like a country song in the background, I feel as though it would have been very distracting to what the clip was actually trying to get across. Although I did not care for the sounds that were in the background to begin with, they worked much better than a country or bluegrass song would have.

Response #4: When going on to WSU main page, my eye is immediatly drawn to the center of the page where there is three large changing pictures. It is very clean and layed out to make you look at the pictures but then there are links under the pictures that you can click on in order to access information about whatever you may need. If the information was swapped with the infortmation on the bottom, the page would not be as visually pleasing but the same information would get accross.

Response #5: I watched the Weekly Address All-Hands-On-Deck Response to the Drought video. Presdent Obama uses his hand gestures when making important points. His facial expressions stayed about the same the whole video, he looked as if he was concerned about the drought and that he realizes that helping people during this drought is very important. I find his gestural mode very effective. His facial expressions come across as though he in concerned for the people suffering and genuinely want to help them.