COAP:COAP-2170/week5

COAP 2170

COAP:COAP-2170

COAP:COAP-2170/term project

COAP:COAP-2170/week1

COAP:COAP-2170/week2

COAP:COAP-2170/week3

COAP:COAP-2170/week4

COAP:COAP-2170/week5

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COAP 2170 Week 5 program

Monday

In this lesson we will firstly introduce some of Google's tools a webmaster should know. There exist many other alternatives, including open source toolkits and expensive commercial ones. However, Google is the easiest route for starters. We then will look at so-called landing page optimization and introduce some light-weight design & analysis methods.

Google tools

Analytics

• Google analytics (includes more links for those who are interested)
• Google Analytics (9 min. video at YouTube). An older version is here

Analyzing visibility in search engines

• google webmaster tools (includes more links for those who are interested)
• Google for Webmasters Tutorial: Ranking (5 min. video). Explains relevance and importance (over 200 criteria)
• Main principle: (stable and relevant) Content

A/B testing and multivariate tests

• Google Website Optimizer (help pages)
• Website Optimize User Guide (14 min. video at Google). Skip introduction, getting starting.
• Case Study: Universal Technical Institute Increases Application Requests Eight-fold With Website Optimizer (example)

Adwords and AdSense

We will not cover these topics in this class (take a web marketing class).

• Advertise to people searching on Google with google adwords
• Place ads on your own website with Google adSense (and earn some money)

Designing / Analyzing home and landing pages

We shortly will present some simple general user experience design principles and analysis techniques that could apply to home and landing pages. We are interested in several factors, e.g. usability, conversion, effects of visual design...

Guideline-based reviews and design

• (Some of) Oli Gardner's tips and examples:
  • HOW TO: Create a Landing Page Design Concept in 10 Minutes
  • Designing for Conversion – 8 Visual Design Techniques to Focus Attention on Your Landing Pages
  • 22 Creative Landing Page Designs – A Showcase, Critique, and Optimization Discussion
  • The 5 Second Rule: Critiquing the Best Websites of 2009 – Part 1 describes a very simple grid you can use to speculate whether users want to stay on the page. It's based on the idea that users create an opinion very quickly.

Clasroom activity

• Apply Oli Gardners tips to design a landing page of your choice. Pick something that you will want your users to do, e.g. sign up for more information, download a text, register, etc.

Perception of designs using semantic differentials

• Presentation of Know Your Typefaces! Semantic Differential Presentation of 40 Onscreen Typefaces.
  • Direct link to a screenshot of the survey
  • Direct link to Typeface classes

Clasroom activity

• Find semantic differentials used by other students when they compare CSS ZenGarden designs.
  • http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/te/coap2100/hw2010/ex2/
  • http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/te/coap2100/hw2009/hw2/

Wednesday

The term project

• See COAP:COAP-2170/term project

Mid-term exam

• Exam preparation: Read Important teaching materials (reading list)
• The exam will be "open documentation". You may consult the Internet. Questions will be based on homework 1-4, the reading list. If you missed classes, then you also might have a look at the videos shown.
• It will include several questions of various types: MCQ, definitions, short design and analysis tasks
• Topics tested:
  • Usability guidelines
  • Task-based usability testing
  • Simple user satisfaction tests
  • Personas and scenarios
  • Prototyping with wireframes