Part 3      Working with the solution

1.      The Layout

GENERAL   

The layout of the front page/cover page of the Ridge on the WWW should be designed to grab the attention of the NUS undergraduate. A theme which the NUS undergrad (most of which belong in the age group 18-25) can identify with could go some way in achieving this.

The overall layout of the Ridge should be kept simple and neat so as to make information accessible and avoid creating confusion in the site visitor. The site visitor should be able to click to the exact location of the information in the shortest time possible. This is important in sustaining the visitor’s interest in the site. As such, the organization of information and how it is presented is crucial.

SPECIFIC  

(i) For the cover page.

·        Theme: Use a club theme and include music. This would give The Ridge a stylish and hip feel, in keeping with its target audience. 

(ii) Overall.

·        Fonts: Make use of various fonts to break the monotony of numerous texts. For example, for headings use a bold font like “Impact” and an editor’s note use the font “Lucida Handwriting”.

·        Graphics: For visual appeal and to incite the readers’ interest, have more graphics accompanying texts

2.      The Content

GENERAL

The Ridge aims to capture a wide readership. As such, it has to provide a broader variety of information to cater to the different reading preferences of the NUS population.

All this information also needs to be packaged and organised in such a way so as to ensure easy accessibility. Being able to obtain information easily and quickly is important for the site visitor, as such, the contents of the Ridge have to be clearly presented. In addition, to avoid boring the site visitor with chunks and chunks of text (although these belong in the same section) all on one page, links should be made from short summaries of the texts on the first page of each section to their full versions which may be contained either further down on the page or elsewhere. Visitors to the site should be able to view in an instant the various sections of the Ridge and their contents and also be offered the option of accessing more of a particular piece of information if they so wish.

SPECIFIc

·        Articles: Have more wide-ranging articles for each of the sections. For example, the sports section could include news on more sports for example, squash, basketball, swimming etc.

·        Other contributions: invite contributions from the various faculties. Articles could be contributed by department staff, students or the faculty clubs etc.

(i)   For the cover page.

·        Format:

-   The coverpage has to attract the visitor to the site. To cater for the majority of readers— those who “skim and surf”, the information which is on the coverpage has to be provided quickly. Hence, have links to the various sections within the site. These could be placed on a vertical panel to the side of the page. After the heading which announces the name of the site, have smaller headings relating to the most recent news in each section. Below these headings, there would be short summaries which would link the visitor to the section if s/he wishes to visit there. This would serve the purpose of highlighting to the site visitor the most current events , keeping him/her updated about news on campus. The site visitor would constantly return to this site in the knowledge that it is where s/he will/can obtain information about happenings around campus.

-   Invite student feedback by providing a feedback form.

-   Include a search engine to increase the ease of use of the website.

(ii) Overall.

·        Format:

-     For the other pages/sections of which the coverpage is the highest in the hierarchy, provide one-/two-liners describing the different pieces of information in each section with links to the full versions of the stories. For example, for the sports section, have links to “basketball”, “tennis” etc and under the link “soccer” for instance, there could be headings such as “recent competitions”, “match information”, “results”, “interviews with the players”, “commentaries”, “upcoming competitions” etc. Should the site visitor wish to access any of this information, s/he could click on the “soccer” link to get there.

-     Have video clips of events. On the WWW, video clips can be shown of, for example, the Sports Ball’s proceedings, or highlights of sports competitions.