Week 12 Day 1: Beginning Thoughts on Case Study Documentation

Today the last part of this project was introduced--a "deliverable" of the entire case study, which include all the previous parts of the project, as well as a cover page, table of contents, overview, summary of findings & suggestions, & colophon, all consistently stylized.  I started to think a little bit about what I want to do, but definitely need to hash out some ideas.  

The second half of class I spent revising the persona portion of this project, per the critiques I got last week.

Week 11.5 Outside of Class: Pier Hotel Wire Frames

After studying patterns within my selected sites last week, I created wire frames for both the Pier Hotel's homepage & a vital sub page. (Vital meaning it has a decent amount of content.)  The most important things to note include...

• Emphasis on imagery/image slider
• Reservations & promotions, in particular, easily located at side
• Contact info appears both in header & in footer
• Sitemap moved to header, next to search bar
• Contents of bottom nav yet undetermined

After the fact it occurred to me that a subnav could very nicely fit in the left-hand sidebar, below the main nav & above reservations.  That is something I plan on fixing.

Week 11 Day 2: Persona Critique & Revisions

Today my row critiqued my persona, along with both design professors.  Overall, it went pretty well.  A lot of small things were picked out, like edge tension, alignment, & wording.  One of the comments I found most insightful was switching the colors on my graph, emphasizing lighter colors of the darker & creating better balance.  My professors commented on combining the biography & interactions section into just the bio, then creating a new section about how my persona interacted with the site specifically and maybe a few additional secondary aspects, such as what she does in her free time & her comfort with technology.  Also, on the graph, differentiating the online sources to break up the graph more.

During the remaining time in class I worked on applying these changes to my persona.

Week 11 Day 1: Content Studies of Similar Websites

Madox Apartments, modern condo-style apartments in Jersey City, NJ.

Postcard Inn, beach front hotel in St. Petersburg, FL.

Sagamore Hotel, boutique hotel in Miami Beach, FL.

W South Beach, high-end hotel in Miami Beach, FL

Distrikt Hotel, boutique hotel in New York City

From studying these five sites, I noticed they are all image heavy, focusing on large, well-shot imagery and image sliders.  Some even included music to help "transport" you to this location.  A booking/reservation portal was also a large portion of almost every site, as well as "highlights" and featured links. Social media was more so deemphasized on these sites, instead displayed by the footer of the page.

Another helpful find was in the Distrikt Hotels room page; policies are displayed underneath the rooms.  Deals and specials are also well displayed.

Week 10.5 Outside of Class: Business Interview & Completed Persona

Friday I called the Pier Hotel back to ask a few short questions about their target market and website mission to help guide the creation of my persona.  The call was rather short, but I was able to gather some helpful information.  The manager told me because it is a small, boutique-style hotel, they get business both locally and from out-of-state, customers ranging from 18 up to 80 (& older).  I'm guessing due to the size, they do not target or bring in many large families or even small children.  When I asked about their website, the manager told me it is "to let people know we're here."  I'm guessing their website is their main form of advertising. I was unable to ask if many of the reservations were made through the website.

Week 10 Day 2: Beginning Persona Creation

Today in class we began with a discussion on personas & how they help create a snap shot of an average individual within a company's target market.  This creates a feasible user for the website at hand.

I attempted to call the Pier Hotel to ask them questions about the use & purpose of their website & their average customer.  Unfortunately a manager will not be available until Friday, so I'll be calling back then.  I did get to ask the receptionist a quick question on whether their customers are mostly in-state or out-of-state.  She told me it was a mix of both.

To help get an idea of the general customer, I looked up other St. Petersburg non-franchise hotels within a similar price range with a similar style.  The closest I found was the Hollander Hotel.  Unfortunately there was no manager available there either.

Between calls I sketched out a rough idea of a layout for my persona.  

It includes the required information (name, age, location, occupation, biography, & personal quote), &  I anticipate adding the persona's salary range, key entry to the company (how they learned about the company), & user goals (what they hope to gain/accomplish through the company).

Week 10.0 Outside of Class: Completed Revised Site Map

This is my all but completed site map.  I applied all the tips my classmates gave me & even created a symbol for my page that contains information embedded from another website.