kcrw.orgkcrw.org

Dino Anastasia

Mellanye Lackey

Mary Morgan

Abbey Potter

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Overview• Background• Methodology• Audience• Current Site• Observations & Recommendations:

– Organization, Labeling, Search, Findability, Navigation

• Summary

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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About KCRW…• an NPR station• a community service of Santa Monica College• more than 450,000 listeners each week • member-supported with 50,000 subscribers• boasts largest youth (25-44) audience among NPR

stations• programming reflects diversity of community• award winning programming includes music; local,

national & global news; radio drama; and arts & cultural shows

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Goals of KCRW on the Web

• Provide streaming music and news

• Generate membership

• Promote KCRW programming

• Support community activities

• Provide access to program archives

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Observations are Informed By

• IA for the WWW by Rosenfeld & Morville

• Usability tests & audience analysis

• Card sort exercises

• Competitive analysis of related sites

http://musicplasma.com

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Audience: User Personas

“I listen to music and get weather and traffic reports from KCRW.org” --Steve

“As a longtime member of KCRW, I check the web site for events and benefits for subscribers” --Barry

“I use KCRW.org to listen to music at work and to find out about concerts in the area” --Cloe

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Current Site

link to kcrw.org

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Current IA - a BIRD’s eye view

• Broad

• Inconsistent

• Redundant

• Deep

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Organization: “Not a clue”Observation:

Organization scheme and structure are unclear and scattered.

Recommendation: Eliminate redundancies, develop a more consistent and unified organization scheme.

“There doesn’t seem to be any unifying theme.”

KCRW Home Page - join/subscribe

There are 8 different ways to subscribe/join the KCRW family from the home page alone.

Observation: Organization scheme and structure are unclear and scattered.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Organization: “Cognitive Model”

Observation: Hard to create a consistent cognitive model of the site.

Recommendation: Group similar links and content areas together and carry this layout through the entire site.

“Seems like I’ve been somewhere before where I found this information.”

KCRW Home Page - wireframe

Observation: Hard to create a consistent cognitive model of the site.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Labels: Ambiguous Labeling• “KCRW presents” is a

listing of live shows in L.A. New York, San Francisco, AND BEYOND?

• “Calendar” is a calendar of groups playing at local establishments and listings of “KCRW presents”?

• “KCRW programming” is a synopsis of the awards KCRW has received?

Observation:

Labels are hazy as to their meaning.

Recommendation:

Labels need to be more descriptive regarding the content they represent.

Observation:

Labels are hazy as to their meaning.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Labels: Uncontrolled Vocabulary

Observation: Labels aren’t implemented consistently across the site.

“Do join and subscribe mean the same thing?”

Recommendation:Create a controlled vocabulary and implement it reliably within the site structure.

Observation: Labels aren’t implemented consistently across the site.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Labels: Non-Descriptive LabelsObservation:

Program names that are used as Labels do not give good “scent” as to their content.

Recommendation:Use Labels that acquaint the user to the content it represents.

Observation:Program names that are used as Labels do not give good “scent” as to their content.

Recommendation:Use Labels that acquaint the user to the content it represents.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Labels: Poor Label NavigationObservation: Same

label name navigates to different locations.

Program Grid navigation from Home Page

Program Grid navigation from News Page

Recommendation:Maintain consistent label navigation.

Observation: Same label name navigates to different locations.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Search: find it! page Observation:

Format of results problematic in sorting, look, findability.

Recommendation: Move ‘search again’ to top of page; make text of results obviously different; number results; highlight sorting mechanism; clarify ‘other results’.

Observation: Format of results problematic in sorting, look, findability.

Recommendation: Move ‘search again’ to top of page; make text of results obviously different; number results; highlight sorting mechanism; clarify ‘other results’.

link to kcrw.org/find

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Search: Results differObservation:

Results vary depending on where user starts search.

Recommendation: Make home page search box and find it! page search same place.

Observation: Results vary depending on where user starts search.

Recommendation: Make home page search box and find it! page search same place.

Home Page

FIND IT Page

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Findability: Where’s KCRW?Observation:

Poor findability from Internet search engines.

Recommendation: Research and prominently feature the most popular search terms on the pages of kcrw.org, in the title and descriptor HTML tags.

Observation: Poor findability from Internet search engines.

Recommendation: Research and prominently feature the most popular search terms on the pages of kcrw.org, in the title and descriptor HTML tags.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Navigation: Too FlexibleObservation:

Too much information, illogical redundancies, inconsistencies in links.

Recommendation: Eliminate redundancies and inconsistencies in links and group content into logical hierarchical categories.

“Too complicated.”

Observation: Too much information, illogical redundancies, inconsistencies in links.

Recommendation: Eliminate redundancies and inconsistencies in links and group content into logical hierarchical categories.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Navigation: “Where am I?” Observation:

Global navigation is not easily identifiable.

Recommendation: Rename and consolidate major sections, tone down graphics, enlarge font size.

“I got lost a lot.”

Observation: Global navigation is not easily identifiable.

Recommendation: Rename and consolidate major sections, tone down graphics, enlarge font size.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Navigation: “What’s Here?”Observation:

Local navigation doesn’t provide clues about what’s available.

Recommendation: Move and rename local navigation links. Use contextual navigation for links outside sections.

“There doesn’t seem to be any unifying theme.”

link to “Program Grid” page

Observation: Local navigation doesn’t provide clues about what’s available.

Recommendation: Move and rename local navigation links. Use contextual navigation for links outside sections.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Navigation: “What’s This?”

“Organization appeared random.”

Arts & Culture

Program Grid

Observation: Inconsistent and irrelevant bottom links.

Recommendation: Mirror global navigation in bottom links; add useful links like “Contact us” or “Copyright Information”.

Observation: Inconsistent and irrelevant bottom links.

Recommendation: Mirror global navigation in bottom links; add useful links like “Contact us” or “Copyright Information”.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Navigation: “What the -?” Observation:

Keyword drop-down menu has poor usability, is poorly labeled, and is overused.

Recommendation: Eliminate drop-down menu, use a site index. Consolidate and organize contextual links.

“No descriptions for drop downs”

link to kcrw.org

Observation: Keyword drop-down menu has poor usability, is poorly labeled, and is overused.

Recommendation: Eliminate drop-down menu, use a site index. Consolidate and organize contextual links.

November 16, 2004http://kcrw.org/

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Next Steps

• Recommend IA strategy– Clarify overall schema– Improve labeling – Enhance search and findability– Make navigation consistent

• Content Analysis, Wireframes

• Unite content – context – user needs

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Fin.