Information Architecture - BSITM Website - Assignment Example

The goals defined for the website can only be achieved if audiences can find the needful assistance and information easily. (Webmonkey). It is important to note that knowing your audience can help in website content management and you can differentiate between the masses and targets. Diffily (107) states, “A website audience is unlikely to be a homogeneous mass. Most organizations find they have two or three core audiences.” The audience in each group is further categorized into low, medium, and high usability personas.

These categories are defined based on website visit frequencies, interests, and requirements of each group audience for their specific purposes. The design has to accommodate audiences with the lowest usability personas so that they can find the required information readily and can perform the other required actions easily. Describing the importance of audience analysis for education institutions Conrad (60) observes, “Audience analysis is the cornerstone of instructional design. It provides an opportunity to make sure learners’ needs are truly met rather than becoming subordinated to technological restrictions.”

Based on audience categories defined in the previous section three audience scenarios with the highest usability for BSITM student Jhon, his Professor Adam, and his father Joseph are created below;

Student: Jhon Scenario
John is a very active student of BSITM. He used to login into the BSITM student area regularly. He uses the website irrespective of a working day or a holiday to find out the news update on BSITM before he leaves for his regular classes. He found it quite useful because it eliminates the chances of surprise activity at BSITM for the day and he can plan for his activities. Moreover, he will upload all documents that he may use in the latter part of the day or that he is required to send to his professor Adam. More importantly, he can interact with fellow students to share important information and discuss various course contents. The availability of online assignments, handouts, and other related material has made life quite convenient along with an assignment uploading facility which saves time and effort to submit a hard copy. He has recently suggested the BSITM discussion board and online quizzes.

Professor: Adam Scenario
Professor Adam had been on the BSITM faculty for the last ten years but the induction of the BSITM website has changed the way he used to educate and assess his students previously. Now he sends online assignments and receives the responses online. He can respond to various student queries conveniently and effectively. He has recently asked the webmaster for the incorporation of a private forum area for faculty where he can share experiences with other professors and instructors.

Father: Joseph
Joseph was quite excited when John told him about the BSITM website. He found it quite lacking as far as the online submission of dues was concerned but yet he liked the idea of online student reports which were used to drive to the BSITM premises. He was also very pleased to see the online results for the last quarter and the performance and participation history of his son Jhon. He also liked the increased parent-teacher interaction through emails and advance notifications for future activities that require parent participation. He has suggested the provisioning of parent-teacher video conferencing and online payment facilities.

Competitive Analysis Summary
The competitive analysis of the three other websites has provided a useful comparison and a way forward. It was evident that the goals are correctly set for the BSITM website. However, the competitive analysis has also provided useful insight into the features that can be added to the BSITM website to increase its usability and effectiveness. Most of the sites of universities and colleges do have forums to share information and experiences of particular audience groups. Online quizzes were also found quite effective to increase thstudent'ss' participation in their courses. Some sites have also provided a common space for course materials where professors upload instructions, related material,s and assignments with open or limited availability. Online dues collection was not found as a common practice among such websites.