Category: Group Topic Selection

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Group Assignment 1: Arts and Crafts

Group Name and Members

Arts and Crafts

Julia Bomalaski, Logan Davis, Amy Feinstein, Deborah Turner, Evan Wilson

Website Type

We have chosen to focus on sites that offer instructions to create different types of arts and crafts. Examples include:

Easy Peasy and Fun

Pinterest Arts & Crafts from Cayton Children’s Museum

Happiness is Homemade 50+ Quick & Easy Kid Crafts

The Spruce Crafts

Creativebug

Jerry’s Artarama Free Art Instruction Videos

Ravelry

BraceletBook

Why We’re Interested

There are so many different directions we could have gone when it comes to arts and crafts on the web – biographical and portfolio sites from fine artists, e-commerce sites for buying arts and crafts, instructions on how to make crafts, and more. While we found all of these sites interesting, we ended up choosing to focus on instructional sites because of their high potential for interactivity.

There is still quite a bit of variety when it comes to instructional arts and crafts sites. Some are aimed at parents or teachers of young children, some focus their attention on teen and adult hobbyists, and some are designed for professionals to share techniques. People coming to use these sites will have differing levels of computer and website navigation skills, so it will be interesting to see how usable, functional, and accessible they are.

It will also be interesting to compare sites that differ in their pricing structures. Some make their instructions and templates freely available to anyone who comes to the site, while some require users to create a free account, and others restrict access to those who pay a fee.

The size of a site (and accordingly, the number of people who run or are admins on a particular site), can also greatly affect usability. A site like Pinterest, which has a central hub but depends on many different individuals to create and organize its content, has a very different feel and level of usability from a site like Easy Peasy and Fun which was originally started by one person and has more of a blog feel.

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Group Healthcare – Assignment 1

  1. Our group name is “Healthcare,” and our team members include Marjani Alceus, Peter Lis, James Murray, Matthew Post, and Robert Stewart.  
  1. We determined healthcare system websites as the type of sites to observe user interface and interaction. The following are major healthcare system sites: 
  1. Group Interest: 

Our interest in this type of site is simple: we are all consumers of healthcare and with it the many ways the industry leverages technology to deliver information and functionalities related to its consumption. Our experiences differ, but collectively we can relate in the frustrations of our own healthcare journeys whether that has been anxiously navigating the insurance marketplace on complicated or even non-functional government websites, booking an urgent care visit through a temperamental online scheduling system for what we were pretty sure – but also not so sure – was strep throat, or trying to find an in-network specialist for migraines through a confusing payer website directory.  

The healthcare industry in the United States accounts for nearly 20% of its GDP, or $4.1 trillion per year (CMS, 2021). Despite this shockingly high price tag, many healthcare consumers, like the members of this group, find the technology interfaces with our healthcare providers or payers to be in many cases disappointing or aggravating. As the healthcare industry transforms to meet the emerging needs of its consumers in a future where the demand will exceed providers’ capacity to treat, innovations in integrated digital strategies will be increasingly deployed to create efficiencies and to promote better health outcomes (Haddad et al., 2022). Health systems will continue to support their digital front door initiatives through the engagement they receive through their websites. Therefore, it is our group’s assertion that it is vitally useful to explore the usability of this type of site, as its usability has life-changing potential (Gidron, 2022).

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References 

A leader in whole-person health care. AdventHealth. (2022). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://www.adventhealth.com/ 

Access anytime anywhere. Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/  

Gidron, Ziv. (2022). What is the digital front door in healthcare? Hyro.ai. https://www.hyro.ai/post/what-is-the-digital-front-door-in-healthcare  

Giving people a healthier Tomorrow. HCA Healthcare. (2022). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://hcahealthcare.com/  

Haddad, L.M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T.J. (2022). Nursing Shortage. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/  

Home: Intermountain healthcare. intermountainhealthcare.org. (2022). Retrieved September 10, 2022. from https://intermountainhealthcare.org/  

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/  

U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2021, December 15). The National Health Expenditure Accounts historical. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical 

Yale New Haven Hospital – A Connecticut Hospital. (2022). Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://www.ynhh.org/ 

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Group Assignment 1 – Topic Selection

Group Name: Gaming 

Members:  

  • Ginny Morris 
  • Ryan Thomas 
  • Emanuel Strachan 
  • Jasmyn Collier 
  • Steven Howard 

Type of Site: Video Game Reviews, Walkthroughs, and Collaboration 

Examples:  

Why this type of site?  

We chose this type of site because it is a form of entertainment that we all enjoy, and it was more interesting to us than the other topics presented, such as health care or museums. It covers a wide spectrum, going from online card games and e-sports to long quests that you can take by yourself, or with a group of friends. 

Many gamers rely on video game reviews to choose the games they purchase and play. There are a vast number of websites that provide this type of information, and each gamer has a personal favorite. The articles and videos on these sites have multiple authors, and many of these sites allow for gamers to submit their own walkthroughs, reviews, and comments about games. Users of these sites are looking to gather information about video games that interest them.  

Many times, users of these sites find there is a lack of quality control due to the vast amount of content being shared on the site each day. Other sites can make it difficult to find information about a specific game. Useful information may be lost within a cluttered or disjointed website design. Users may become irritated at large distracting advertisements and unwanted pop ups asking for permission to push notifications or to create accounts. 

Exploring the usability of these types of sites can begin to shine light on what problems exist within these websites themselves but also can give insight to what is happening in the video game from a user’s perspective.  

Ensuring that the site is effective and user friendly is an important start for games and gamers alike. These types of sites not only can determine the success of many gaming titles but also play a factor in how different video games are perceived in the gaming community. Games such as The Quarry and Cyberpunk sometimes don’t reach the mainstream public, so they rely on reviews and word of mouth to spread. These gaming sites give users a place to look at new releases, play demos, look at previews and much more which they might normally be exposed to. From there, news starts to spread, and streamers start taking an interest and ultimately others start taking notice and the games eventually take off. It all starts with a great layout that’s easy to understand and use while also keeping the end user engaged. 

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Group Assignment 1: Group Topic Selection

Group name and members

Group name: Libraries

Group members: Christopher Gregor, Caitlin Hattaway, Jasmine Phillips, Erin Seaman, Colin Webb

Selected type of site and sample sites

We selected public libraries as the type of library site we will use for the group assignments. The following are sample public library sites:

Group Statement

Since we have all accessed and used public libraries at some point in our lives, for work, education, or leisure, we have all been exposed to and have had to learn the interface of this type of website, which is a large part of the reason we chose public libraries.

At first glance, a library can be defined as a place that houses books that individuals can access and read. However, libraries are far more capacious than that: they are resource centers that help connect the public to not only physical and digital books, are databases and research services, are a community space that offers a variety of resources and events, and are an access to check out physical objects like gardening equipment or GoPros. Not only that, but the physical spaces of a brick-and-mortar library offer a variety of social goods for people of all ages and backgrounds in the form of events, learning opportunities, and simply just being a physical space to use.

Given that public libraries serve the general population, we saw the value in exploring the usability of this type of library site. Technology has allowed public libraries to extend their resources, services, and holdings in an electronic format through their website, which gives patrons new and convenient ways of accessing information. Conversely, with all the information they display, there is also the potential of causing frustration, depending on how the library chooses to organize and label the information on its site – users may end up feeling hindered rather than supported as they conduct a search. Public library websites have the unique challenge of accommodating a broad population of users with different technological skills, so it will be interesting to see how they have responded to this.

It is important to note that, with such an ever-increasing variety of uses offered by public libraries, their websites must convey a wealth of information in a logical and easy-to-use manner. Unfortunately, due to factors such as decreased funding, many library websites are difficult to use for the average user. This is particularly dire, since the trend we are seeing is an overall decrease in utilization of public libraries by the general public, which has prompted companies such as Amazon to suggest that we replace these free, public institutions with yet more private, pay-to-play services. The ease-of-use of a public library’s website, in a world that is increasingly moving to online services, has a direct impact on whether these institutions will continue and remain funded, or if they will be deemed obsolete and phased out.

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Group Topic Selection: Travel

1. The name of your group, and the names of your group members.

Group Name: Eager Explorers 

Group Members: 

Gina Gatti 

Paul Kwek 

Andrew Martin 

Isabella Restrepo 

Meagan Russell 

Marinel Stancu 

2. The type of site your group has selected, along with a short list of sample websites. 

Type of Site: Our group selected travel sites that recommend dining and places to go within different countries across the globe. Some examples of related websites would be TripAdvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com), Yelp (https://www.yelp.com), Zomato (https://www.zomato.com), Hotels.com (https://www.hotels.com), and Kayak (https://www.kayak.com). If you are traveling internationally, there are those country-specific sites that offer dining and “places to go” tips. 

3. A brief statement explaining why your group is interested in this type of site — why does it appeal to you? why you think it would be useful to explore the usability of this kind of site? 

Justification for Site: The group finds this explicit theme interesting, as in many cases, we have traveled to a location that we have not explored yet and would need recommendations and guidance on the best and safest places to eat, venture, and explore. Some individuals have dietary restrictions and having information on restaurants that have vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options would be essential. Regarding safety, some locations pose a higher risk for tourists than others. Knowing which neighborhoods tend to have higher crime rates would be valuable information to keep travelers safe. Obtaining information on other people’s experiences with dining and local tourist attractions is also essential to planning respective trip itineraries. 

Exploring the usability of travel sites will help the end users navigate and find the desired information for a particular location. Travel sites need to have a very user-friendly interface and provide accurate results in a usable format. Since the demographics of the end users will vary, the travel sites need to be developed in a way that a novice user with a basic understanding of the web applications can use them. To easily populate required fields and be able to use advanced filtering to limit results by a set of criteria. Additional consideration should be given to providing information about COVID-19 restrictions (e.g., mask requirements and other local restrictions) that will be extremely important when traveling to novel places. 

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