Final Project

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Ideas for Future Class

The idea of pairing computer science and design students is a good opportunity and would give students a feel for what a "real job" in the industry would entail, to a degree. I think in doing this though, the project should be started a lot earlier in the semester because it will take more time and work than our individual design projects did.

As far as improvements for the class, I agree with Ivana's suggestion of giving more class time to do work. This would especially be necessary for the collaborative projects because otherwise it may be difficult to find convenient time outside of class for both students to work together. And more one on one student-professor interaction would be more helpful as well. A sequence of web design classes or at least a follow up class would be great too (Web Design I, Web Design II, etc).

Assignment 10

Final Design Proposal: Fox News

The Original Site: http://www.foxnews.com/

The Fox News website has so many problems that I don't even know where to begin. It's ugly, disorganized, excessive, and manages quite well to appear boring. The heading is bothersome right off the bat for a couple of reasons. The logo is too inconspicuous and subtle and left aligned while there is a bunch of other mumble jumble that follows it. This needs to be simplified and enlarged. And I think a simple color scheme would go a long way in benefitting the appearance. There is no consistent organizing principle. Instead, each section is laid out differently, which adds to the disorganization.

The placement of information is too random and needs to be categorized better. The information factor is good and Fox News is probably my favorite news website, it just happens to be the most misshapen in so many ways. The two main factors that I want to change are the appearance (which includes color and layout) and the organizing principle, which doesn't seem to exist right now.

My Proposal:

First off, I made the logo and heading more prominent but simple. The original had the logo aligned to the left side of the page and very small. I centered the logo against a red background and put a 'Search' bar to the left and space for an advertisement to the right. I have no problem with the original logo and don't think that it needs to be redesigned.

I simplifed the tabs that are right underneath the heading. I kept about seven of the main categories (ie. World News, U.S. News, Entertainment, Sports, etc.) and then created a 'More' tab to include less significant tabs (ie. SciTech, Health, Lifestyles, etc.). The original layout of the tabs was extremely excessive with two rows. The entire second row included television programs on the Fox News channel, which I incorportated into one section on the main homepage. I also added color, making the main page color a light gray and then utilizing mostly red and blue.

Website Content (Homepage):

To present the main headline stories, I created a large box that would be left aligned directly underneath the tabs. The box is divided down the middle with three main stories presented on the right and a photo on the left to coincide with the story that the user clicks on.

Then I created separate boxes underneath this section for each of the different categories listed in the tabs. I made the six main categories larger and more prominent (World News, U.S. News, Entertainment, Sports, Business, and Politics).

Underneath this section I created a 'Special Features' section where news and features can go that don't belong to a specific category or need to be easily noticed. And underneath this section, I included boxes for the tabs that are less prominent (ie. Opinion, Lifestyles, etc.)

Along the right side of the homepage, I created boxes/sections for Fox News shows (as previously mentioned) and Videos & Blogs. I don't feel that these categories need to be very pronounced as most visitors probably don't visit the site for these sections. However, they still need to be presented.

This layout simplifies the problem that I have with the original layout. Instead of trying to fit as much information as possible onto the homepage, the information is presented in a simpler manner. When the user clicks on a link or a specific section, they will be routed to a secondary page that will contain the bulk of the information for a specific category. And I have designated small sections of the homepage for advertisements, which are obviously necessary (though irritating) because they are being paid for.

I will probably create a template for the layout of a secondary page once the user navigates away from the homepage.

Assignment 9

Redesigning FoxNews.com

So I made a few changes from last weeks prototype (see screencap in my previous blog). I redesigned the page in Indesign instead of MS Word. To begin with, I changed the heading. My problem with the original was that the logo wasn't prominent enough and it was just way too busy with needless information. For now I've kept the current FoxNews logo. I'm not sure if I'm going to redesign it or not. The current logo is not bad, it was just too inconspicuous.

I simplified the tabs going across the top. There were way too many, two rows of them on the original site. I still have to work on inserting information in certain places (ie. the entire second row was Fox News television shows, so I think I will create one tab strictly for shows). But the tabs look less busy now. I need to decide/clarify what will go into the 'More' tab but I want to condense some of the information from the original page. For instance, Scitech and UReport do not necessarily need to be main tabs and can be added to More.

For the actual news content, I revised my previous design a little. I kept the idea of categorizing information into separate boxes (ie. Entertainment, Sports, Politics) but I got rid of the scroll box within each box and instead just added a few 'Top Story' links, then a link to continue to a second page that contains all of the information for that section. And I kept my original idea with the main top story box. I think I will design a general template for the secondary pages, once the user clicks away from the homepage.

Along the right, in about the middle of the page, I added two columns for FoxNews TV shows and Videos & Blogs. The original site had them scattered sporadically and in places that they just didn't seem to belong. It was quite bothersome. I just wanted to collect them into one spot for people that actually visit these places.

Along the bottom, I added a 'Special Features' section for news and stories that don't necessarily fall into a specific category. I need to add links to the bottom of the page (ie. Home, Contact, FAQ's, etc.) and I may add links for all of the tabs across the top.

My main goal in redesigning this site was condensing the information without losing it. The content of the site is good, it's just laid out in a way that makes the site appear excessive and disorganized. So I think the box layout is a good start. I also colored it up a bit, which I think it could use. The original site just appears boring, on top of the disorganization. There are also a few design flaws/technicalities I need to clean up but I think this is the direction I'd like to keep going in.

Assignment 8

My Proposal for Redesigning Foxnews:


I want to:
-simplify the content (or at least the appearance of it)
-develop an better organizational scheme for the homepage content (categorize with boxes)
-dispose of excessive elements (tabs, videos, size of ads)
-add a touch of color
-eliminate second row of tabs but including them all under one main tab of "FoxNews Shows" or something to that effect
-eliminate the sections of Videos and Blogs by including them under a tab along the top (maybe include a small box that randomly chooses a video and a blog to display on the main homepage
-make the tabs bigger by utilizing more of the page for news and less for ads
-give option to choose color (like on aol homepage, small color swatches at top right of page)
-perhaps have one large main box, with three main stories that "tear away" (similar to NY Post)
-change the heading, similar to layout/design of The Onion page, with logo centered and tabs underneath, spaced out, in one spaced out looking row, and also NYmag with logo centered and search tool to the left

One option that could work would be to have a main box with important news stories and then have boxes that categorize information by subject (ie. sports, finance, entertainment, etc). These boxes would contain all of the information for these subjects and would allow the user to scroll up and down within each individual box, almost as if each box were a website within a website. This will fix the current problem of the inconsistent layout for each section.

I want to make the page light gray. Then, in each individual section, I want to make the header a maroon box with the text in white or gray lettering.

The heading needs to be more prominent. I would like to make the the heading larger, center the FoxNews logo, and add a search bar to the left of this. The tabs could be placed underneath this, in their simplified manner (condensing the current second row of tabs into one tab).

The ads along the right side of the page also appear extremely prominent and I feel like they are obstructing the content of the site and its appearance. While they can't be taken away, they need to be minimalized in size.

Basically every tab that runs across the top is also its own section on the homepage, which I feel is unnecessary. Also, the Faces & Features section is needless and can be done away with (I feel) without harming the site. It is essentially another Entertainment section.

I feel like this is a good start, although there is so much potential work to redesigning this messy disorganized site.

:::::This captures the basic idea of what I mainly want to do, which is condense the information on the site without getting rid of it. Many more changes to come however, I just wanted to map out my plan on paper and see how it worked and go from there:

Assignment 7

Websites I'd Like to Change:

http://www.empirecoffeetea.com/
While the informative content of the website is good, I just don't find it very aesthetically pleasing whatsoever. First off, I would get rid of the initial page that says "Enter Site" and make the second page the homepage. I'd like to change the layout of the second page to something that's a little more boxy and symmetrical looking. I like the idea of the Bomb Site homepage with the table/grid like layout. I'd also like to change the color scheme to include warmer tones like browns, reds/maroons and so forth. And I think the font needs to be a little spicier.

With the pages where you can actually purchase products (Tea, Coffee), the appearance is pretty bad. It serves its purpose and doesn't make buying super difficult. However, its unappealing how you have the option to purchase with the illustration in the middle of the page and also with the tabs aligned to the right. Not sure yet how I would simplify this but it needs to be changed. On the Specials page, I despise the conspicuous white box under the image with the product description. The information should be kept there but displayed in a different manner. And the Gift Baskets page is all out of sorts in spots, where it looks like some products have been tabbed over a notch. This would work if the product was a connected to the one above it but in most cases it is not.

The information on the website is pretty good, I think it just needs to be arranged differently. The Buying Guide, About Empire, and Cool History of Coffee sections are good informative factors for the overall site they just need a little rearrangement (not completely sure about this yet though). The overall page just needs a better header as well.


http://www.foxnews.com/
This site is a little boring in appearance and although the information factor is pretty good, it can be repetitive. Sometimes a news story will appear in three different places on the homepage which can be a little annoying. I think the website could use a simple color scheme also, no more than two colors. The page needs something to liven it up a bit. MSN is a good example of a simple color scheme, using two light shades of blue. I think a hierarchy setup with the news stories would work better, with one major story taking up a large box then working down from there. I also like the idea of dividing the page in two, with the left side being a bit bigger. Then I would include the bigger news stories with images. In the right column I would just list the smaller news stories as links so the viewer can click on them for more information.

Assignment 6

Computer Database

A computer database is basically a compilation of information stored in a system in a manner that makes it easily retrievable. A database operates like an online filing system and stores data categorically to make retrieval simpler.

"Traditional databases are organized by fields, records, and files. A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and a file is a collection of records. For example, a telephone book is analogous to a file. It contains a list of records, each of which consists of three fields: name, address, and telephone number. "
[Source: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/database.html]

I found the above explanation easy to understand in terms of how a database works. I was able to derive a good visual in my head from this description of how a database is structured and how it categorizes and maintains information.