Blog Assignment 3

For this assignment I chose to use the websites for the school of criminal justice at USM and at the University of Alabama
http://www.usm.edu/cj
http://cj.ua.edu/
I feel that these websites are very different and both have their own strengths and weaknesses. Overall I favor the University of Alabama website over the USM one. This is for several reasons.

For starters, it seems that there was considerably more time but into the UA website. It is sleek and professional looking. The USM website is...clunky. It is very utilitarian, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is not particularly engaging; not very welcoming. The UA website on the otherhand is more inviting. There is considerably more information about the department as well as photographs and information about events. Another thing that I really like about the UA website is that there is a handy link to the department's recent publications; and important thing to consider when trying to decide where to attend graduate school.
This isn't to say that the USM website is all bad. I sort of like the "no frills" feel to it. Everything is straightforward and there is no question where you should navigate to in order to find a particular bit of information. All of this being said, if I were to have to choose one of these two schools based solely on how I felt about their websites, then I would choose the University of Alabama.

Defining objectives worksheet

Overall Purpose

1. What are you writing?-- I will be writing about a school program in  informative and persuavive language
2. What prompts you to write?-- The need to encourage students to attend my school over others.
3. What outcome do you desire?-- For my website to persuade readers that my program is professional, interesting, and educational.
4. What does your reader desire?-- To be able to access information easily when needed. To learn about the programs benefits and what is offered. To learn about the department.

Reader Profile

1. Who is your primary reader?-- Current or perspective students of my program
2. What is your readers relationship to you?-- Teacher-student
3. What is your reader's job title and responsibilities?-- Student--to learn and comprehend the material presented
4. Who else might read your communication?-- Faculty, staff, administration, parents of students.
5. How familiar is your reader with your subject?-- Varies from reader to reader. Target Audience should be realtively new to it.
6. How familiar is your reader with your specialty?-- Also varies.
7. Does your reader have any communication preferences that you should take into account?-- I would imagine that one should refrain from using language that is overly formal while still maintaining a professional tone. Limit jargon.

Situational analysis

1.What events and circumstances influence the way you should write?-- I believe this would vary from section to section. If a reader wanted to know more about the history of the department then perhaps a less formal, "fun" tone should be used. If the reader, on the other hand, wanted to find out about degree requirements, then a more raw information would be desireable.

Usability Objectives

1. What are the key questions your reader will ask while reading?-- Is this school for me? Is this a place that can teach me things useful to a career in my chosen field? If a future employer looks up this website, would sort of vibe would he/she get from it (professional, not professional, etc.)?

2. How will your reader search for the answer?-- Selective reading. Depending on what type of information the reader is searching for, the will look for things like "About the department"   "Publications"   "Degree Plans".

3. How will your reader use the information you provide?-- Depending on the reader's purpose for visiting the site, any one of these responses could be true. I believe that a student would be more interested in how the information affects them, as in the case of a degree plan. They are likely to visit this site to get an idea of what type of classes they should take.

Persuasive Objectives

1. What is your reader's attitude towards your subject?-- They probably either already like the subject, or have some sort of interest in it. They probably wouldn't have come to the site in the first place if they weren't interested. This is the the attitude that I want my readers to have. I want them to either have an interest upon visting the site, or have an interest instilled before leaving it.

2.What is the reader's attitude towards you?-- I doubt that they will consider the maker of the site when reading. They may form attitudes regarding the faculty.

Stakeholders

1. Who else besides the readers are stakeholders in your communication?-- Myself, faculty, administration, other students in the department, the entire college.

2. How will they be affected by it?-- Each one of these will be affected differently to an extent. Obviously the more students enrolled in a department, the better for that department and the whole school (generally speaking).

Constraints

What expectations, limitations, or other factors limit the way you can write?-- The language is expected to be formal. Only the most useful information should be selected for the main links. The page cannot be overly complicated. The page should not be overly simple.


One main thing I learned from looking at these sites is that my eyes gravitated towards lists. I like lists. Lists are simple and informative. They are easy to read and provide an outline for steps that should be taken, things to remember, etc.