testing & evaluation
evaluation
In the following evaluation I will assess all aspects of the web site, incorporating the feedback received throughout the whole of the development process as well as the final questionnaire. I will also suggest one sensible yet significant improvement to the site and explain how it would enhance the site.
First of all...
Is the web site fit for purpose?
At the beginning of the development process I agreed four clear main goals with the partners. The first was that the website would establish a “professional yet personal” company image. I would readily assert that I have met this goal in an effective manner. By just a quick glance at the end product, anyone will recognise that it is a “professional” web site. And when users delve further into the site, especially on the partner biographies page, they will most certainly get a sense of the open and “personal” approach to business Pipeline Software Development adopts.
The second goal was to attract and entice global investors and large organisations. This is done initially on the ‘home’ page and in a more vivid way later on, on the ‘about’ page. The sheer number of case studies (included on that page) gives any prospective customer an instant realisation of the quality and capability of all of PSD’s products and services.
The third goal was to advertise products and publish company news. This is achieved creatively on the ‘home’ page and effectively on the ‘products’ page. Throughout the entire development process I have been delighted with the gracious liaisons I’ve had with the partners. And fulfilling this goal was made so much easier due to the terrific ideas that they gave me particularly during the interview. It is essential to give credit where it’s due and so I here I must thank Ryan for the “What’s in the Pipeline?” concept. This part of the ‘home’ page gives all new visitors immediate access to up-to-date company news and provides existing customers with a valuable source of information. I must also thank the partners for providing me with very detailed and well written product information. This will most certainly impress any potential customers.
The forth and final goal was to ensure that all the information on the website is accessible to all. To help attain this objective I referred to a selective group of end-users. This bunch all use Microsoft Windows operating system but not it’s built in web browser: Internet Explorer. Because of this I assumed that they must have become dissatisfied with the default browser and started the search for a better web experience somewhere else. So I sent the second prototype to them along with a more detailed questionnaire. The feedback received from them was both comforting and challenging. Many of them were pleased with the valid XHTML 1.0 Strict mark-up that I had used and with the ‘skip to content’ feature that was already provided, but some wanted more. Two of these suggestions stuck out above the rest: a style sheet switcher and a form validator. Both of these features would make use of some JavaScript. Thankfully I had enough time to research more about theses functions and was able to able to implement them in a useful way. An article on A List Apart was incredibly helpful.
By meeting all four main goals I can most definitely say that the web site is fit for purpose.
Does the web site meet the needs of the intended end-users?
To answer this question I will use the results from the final end-user questionnaire.
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Usefulness
According to the results of the questionnaire the site is very useful. Over sixty percent of end-users thought that the site was "extremely useful". I believe this is mostly due to the clarity of each of the site's features.
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Effectiveness
83% of the 24 end-users felt that the web site's design was "extremely effective". Someone commented: "The web site's design and layout are both engaging and effective. The different sections of the site are very distinctive."
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Content
100% of end-users were impressed with actual content of the web site. I would imagine that this is because the company supplied me with most of the content. I also think that the textual refinement of the 'home' helped a lot.
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Presentation
All the end-users questioned expect one thought that the presentation of the site was impressive. The person who thought that it looked boring commented: "There's no moving images!" The reason there are still no moving images is because the partners did not want any visitors to become distracted.
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Navigation
Most users found the web site very easy to navigate. This is because of the comprehensive site map and page cycle system that is in place. The clear and consistent navigational bar also influenced the results according to comments made by some of the users.
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Usability
All users found the web site easy to use. Most even thought it was "very easy to use".
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Accessibility
The accessibility of the web site is very good. The entire web site conforms to WCAG 1.0 Priority Level 2 (Double-A) and this is reflected in the questionnaire's results. W3C recommends that all web sites should have this level of accessibility. Everyone not matter what web browser or operating system they use can access any part of the web site instantly.
With all this hard evidence supporting me, I can definitely say that the web site does meet the needs of all the intended users.
One sensible improvement...
To add further functionality to the web site and for even better accessibility a search facility could be added.
To the right is a design I've created in Macromedia Fireworks. To save time and money I would recommend that PSD makes use of a third-party application. The application I recommend is Atomz Express Search, which is free for sites that are under 750 pages in size. To make use of Atomz, the search form will need to send its queries to the Atomz web site, where all the work is done. The real advantage of Atomz is that you can customise the search result pages so they look like they are part of your website, even though they are hosted on Atomz.
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