The name of my chosen website is Third Strike Campaign. The link is https://www.thirdstrikecampaign.com/home. The site exhibits how people with nonviolent drug crimes get sent to prison. Some people get life sentences without parole for nonviolent drug crimes. The general purpose of the site is to inform people and to advocate for prisoners. The target audience are those who seek social justice.
My overall impression about the site is that it is very well put together, unique, and professional. The home page is interactive. You move your mouse around the homepage and can click on the picture links to stories. Each picture is associated with a particular story or a notable individual. There is a link to a trailer in the middle. If you click on it, a trailer pops up and plays. You can click the x on the top right page and go back to the home screen if you choose. The overall appearance and feel of the site are professional and interactive. Various pop outs occur, which are especially informative. This website is not like ordinary websites. It is more immersive. There is a large amount of accurate and useful content relating to life sentences for non-violent drug crimes.
The organization’s systems present the site’s information in a variety of ways. The site contains a number of pictures that feature incarcerated individuals. When the user clicks on a picture, the page of that person’s story appears. At the top left is the logo, whereby you can access the home page. At the top left are links that take you to different pages with various links. One link allows users to donate on another site. There are other links where you can spread the stories on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. There is also a menu link where there are four links you can go to. The links from top to bottom are the Prisoners, the Powerless, the Policy and the Project. The Prisoners takes you to the home page while the other links send you to another page on the website. The Powerless talks about people who are powerless to stop life sentences. The Policy talks about the policy on nonviolent drug crimes. The Project talks about the Third Strike Campaign which is a project to stop life sentences for nonviolent drug crimes. The organization system is good.
The labeling systems describe categories, options, and links in language that is meaningful to users. The labels on the website of Third Strike Campaign are designed well. A picture is the label and when you put your cursor over the picture a name appears. Once you click the name, you go to a page where you learn about someone’s story. There are other labels on the home page which take you to other pages. The labels and the labeling system are very nice, interactive, and professional.
The navigation systems are how to browse or move through information. We use navigation systems to chart our course, determine our position, and find our way back. The menu on the top right with two little bars is a global navigation system and so is the logo on the top left home page. I could easily navigate through the site. The information is presented well.
A search system allows users to search the content. When the user starts typing on a site’s search bar, if it has autocomplete, the list of suggestions is shown with possible matches for the user’s search term. There is no search system on this site.
I did a navigation stress test. I ignored the home page and jumped directly into the middle of the site. I clicked on a picture and went to the home page of ISMAEL ROSA. As I scrolled down, the page was interactive with pictures, texts, and quotes appearing as I scrolled down. The screen moved around by pictures popping out, and it made the website more interesting and interactive. There were videos I could watch. At the bottom, there was a link to another story. It was easy to navigate through this website. The page will lead me to other links. The links are descriptive enough and help me choose.
Typical things users would do on this website are read stories, watch videos, and look at pictures. They also can share online and get information from the website. Users can get information and maybe help out the advocates for these prisoners. I was able to perform the tasks of a simple usability test successfully, and the website is very easy to use. However, there could be more functions and pages. There could be more information and captions on the home page. There could be links to multiple stories at the bottom instead of one.
My overall experience of the class was that it was a little difficult. I had trouble doing some assignments. They were new things that I had not done before. Overall, this was a good class. I learned useful things in this class. I learned about information architecture from the videos the teacher provided. I learned many professional terms used in information architecture mostly from videos. I learned how to use programs that I had not known how to use before. I downloaded programs on my computer that I had not even known existed before this class. This class improved my computer skills with all the functions I learned to do on my computer. I learned how to improve my writing. I learned how to better organize my work. The learning environment was nice, and the teacher or professor was very nice to me. This was definitely an experience I will not forget.
There are many things left for me to learn. In this class, I did not learn how to create a website. I only learned how to navigate and design one, though not well. I drew a design for my website that I created. My website’s name was Money Track Saver, which helps one keep track of money and shop online with all the deals that are presented on the website. I still do not know how to create a website. I could use more practice in creating a website.
