Www.Nationalbank.Co.Nz - Web Site Analysis Essays -

Www.Nationalbank.Co.Nz - Web Site Analysis Terms of Reference Date of Request 16 February 2001 Request To produce a design methodology and technical report containing a factual based assessment of a chosen Internet site, CD-ROM and my personal group project. Requested By Michael Vehaart Deliverables Report style format, paper based presentation enclosed in a folder. Due Date 15 March 2001 Introduction Below are the results of research taken out to access different multimedia designs and their internal components that enable them to compete in an aggressive environment Question One Internet Site The National Bank (www.nationalbank.co.nz) Methodology When creating a website for a large company the use of the waterfall methodology is required. The Steps involved in the waterfall development are: ? Planning (identify scope, plan development strategies and goals.) ? Requirements analysis (what the website should do) ? Design (How the website is going to work) ? Implementation & Testing (Using the website and seeing if it works) ? Support (correcting errors, improving and enhancing) This methodology was used because in order to produce an effective computer based application, particularly where the project is large and/or complex, schedules need to be met, costs controlled, quality maintained and specifications adhered to design methodologies will need to be followed. (Vehaart 2000) This is evident because of the online banking that is provided by the National Bank and there need for relevant up to date information at there website which is a large project to control without the use of Planning, Analysis and Design. Essential components Essential components for a website (Ruth Kastenmayer Webmaster and style guide editor at Judson College (http://home.judson.edu/styleguide/contents.html)) are: ? Web page independence (Who, What, When, Where) ? User-centered design (target audience) ? Ease of navigation (clear easy to follow navigation) ? Access speed (provide users with information they want in fewest steps) ? Simplicity and consistency (easy to understand, similar setup) ? Page context, and (where you are and where the next link is going to take you) ? Functionality (ensuring things e.g., links always work) On the above components I will access the National Bank website. When you first enter the homepage for the National Bank you are greeted with a large banner explaining what site you have entered, a list of click able links explaining what is held within, down the bottom of the page it has when the website was created but no sign of updates, all though you hope they do, and it has a tab header frame at the top of every page to take you to there homepage or other pages within their site. This site has its target audience in mind they are Mr and Mrs Joe Bloggs and students. This is apparent through their use of image cycling on their homepage where it cycles through images of couples, singles and students and the tailor made accounts that they offer for them. The even better part is when you click on these images it takes you to the information about that account. Navigation of the site is well layed out and easy to use with the use of rollover change, which highlights the link you have the mouse situated over and gives you subheadings of the pages within that link. Also situated at the bottom of the page is underlined text links which you can use to move amongst the headings of the site and they also change to a different colour once clicked on to let the user know where they have been within the site. Also there is a contents header at the top of every page listing the major headings and the subheadings of the page you are in as well as the page you are currently on. Interface studies have shown that users prefer menus that present a minimum of five to seven links, and that users prefer a few very dense screens of choices over many layers of simplified menus. (Web Style Guide http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/interface/basic_interface2.html) With this statement in mind National Bank have done just that with theyre maximum of seven links within most pages contained in the site. Also the speed in which the site loads up is relatively short because of the use of simple design, simple graphics, and simple layout. This is shown with every page having the same background, colours and layout so within a few clicks the user feels familiar with the site and can navigate it without the need for help. With