PRP Interactive Image Site Results

Below are the results to the questionnaires answered by people who chose to purchase from the interactive site.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Here are a selection of the most interesting answers for question 5.

5.Briefly, what were your main reasons behind choosing the interactive website to download from as opposed to the still image?
"it felt more professional and real"

"For some reason the interactivity made the website feel more professional and trustworthy to me, maybe because it requires more effort and therefore perhaps money"

"i felt that more work had gone into the interactive page. This made it feel more reputable and trustworthy. It was also easier to see what was on offer with the changing graphics at the top. That is all.."

"very little, i could have chose either. luck of the draw"

"every time the image changes it catches your and therefore keeps you interested"

"Feels more professional"

"More exciting and eye catching"

Essentially these answers are what I would have expected. The fact that I got a pretty much overwhelming response in favour of still image for my first survey has confused me a little as now its almost 100% for interactive images when people can actually see content.

PRP Still Image Site Results

Overall just 6% of people preferred the still image site over the interactive image site, this does not link in with my previous responses.

I have collected responses from my still image site.

The first question established for me that 100% of people who answered could tell the difference between the sites.

2.
3.
4.

There weren't many responses for the final question, but the most interesting response was;

5. Briefly, what were your main reasons behind choosing the still image website to download from as opposed to the interactive?
I feel the interactive website looks more like one of those pop-up junk adverts, which put me off.

Artefact 2

My second artefact is two identical web pages imitating a music download site. The homepage explains that the user is to look through both pages and identify which they would prefer to buy from, they do this by clicking a song or movie to download, they are then taken to a questionnaire asking them a few questions about why they chose that particular site to buy from.

The artefact can be found at: http://www.georgewood.me/prp

PRP Update

I have been working on the three seperate sites for my second artefact and was having trouble creating rounded corners on my div boxes without implementing CSS3. However, I managed to find this great article which has 25 different ways of doing it! It has proved very helpful and I hope to have all 3 sites finished by Friday.

PRP Artefact Two

My second artefact is my music advertising site made purely out of images. The whole main body of the web page is an image and even all of the links are done by using image mapping to mark out hotspots. This means that there will be no hover or any interactivity whatsoever throughout the website. This will mean the difference between my second and third artefact will be more distinguishable.

The artefact can be found at the link below. None of the links on the page go anywhere yet, when I have completed the next two artefacts then I will link it up to a questionnaire.

http://www.georgewood.me/prp

SPP Postgraduate Courses

Here are the four courses I have chosen, I will now choose one of them to do a mock application for.

Course 1;
MA Communication Design
University of the Arts - Central Saint Martins
http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-communication.htm
How do students begin to engage with communication design at Masters level? We start by framing questions that identify important themes, issues or problems. Then we develop an investigative structure or methodology through project work, tutorials,
seminars and lectures, embracing independent study and professional connections within academic and professional communities energised by these questions.

Inevitably, working this way produces outcomes and solutions that court difference, that are unpredictable, that aren’t bound by current disciplines and paradigms.

These outcomes are appropriate to the communication design question, audience and personal standpoint. They manifest themselves in, for example, data dynamics, image making, information and interaction design, photography, programming, typography, writing, or in new and as yet undefined products.

Course 2;
Mobile Application Design MSc
University of Kent
http://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgrad/subjects/engineering-and-digital-arts/mobile-application-design-msc
Mobile applications are having a profound effect on all our lives. Where the mobile phone of the last ten years was just a communication device, today's smartphones are also personal managers and information providers. Over the next few years, we can expect these types of phone to become the basic devices of tomorrow. This advanced Master's programme has been designed to allow you to become a highly skilled professional for the mobile industry, by combining technology, interface design and application development for mobile platforms with a strong emphasis on creating applications of high usability and reliability.

Course 3;
MA Web Design & Content Planning
University of Greenwich
http://www.gre.ac.uk/courses/pg/www/webdes
This programme takes graduates from many disciplines and provides them with the skills to plan, design, build and promote effective websites. It is aimed both at people who manage corporate websites and at those who wish to start their own web business. The design of excellent websites presents a notable intellectual challenge and, during the programme, students develop a modern, professional and 'real-world' approach. Our objective is to provide a balanced education in the three main aspects of web design and content management: technical, functional and aesthetic.

Course 4;
MA Interaction Design
Nottingham Trent University
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/pss/course_finder/80907-1/13/MA_Interaction_Design.aspx?yoe=3&st=3&sv=4
This degree provides you with an opportunity to push the boundaries of contemporary digital practice through the exploration of interaction between people, objects and environments using existing technologies, new developments and practices.

This will provide exciting opportunities to combine live and digitally created media. The taught elements of the course encompass new media developments and human interfaces, information spaces and interaction as an art form.

PRP Layout

My next three artefacts will be websites based around the same design. Each will have certain differences such as slideshows and videos. The design I have created is based around similar sites and I have taken inspiration from sites which sell extremely well.

When trying to advertise a still image I felt it was important to give the page some depth, else it would be very boring. I have tried to do this by using lots of texture and highlights to 'lift' items off the page. I think I have created a really sophisticated look which will help to sell the products.

I have kept the page simple due to the time restrictions, but I have still managed to include lots of relevant detail on the homepage.

Restaurant Websites

Whilst looking for inspiration for creating my website for the Bluebell I remembered an article I came across a while ago. It contains 40 of the best restaurant websites on the internet. They are all very inspiring and take advantage of current web trends and techniques. They all contain nice features which will no doubt influence me when adding extra functionality into my clients website and by doing this I am able to show that I am aware of what is happening in the wider web design community.

I have taken inspiration from this article and this can be seen in my chosen design. Many of the sites on the list feature a wooden style background, and they also have bold imagery which is something I have tried to include.

The article can be found here.

Below are some of my favourite screenshots from the article.

Artefact 2 Research

For the rest of my artefacts I will be creating a mock music advertising site with 3 variations. The first one I will make will contain still images, the second will be still images with slideshows and other pieces of movement, and the final one will contain video and more interactive elements. I will then ask people to try the website and see which one people are more willing to buy from.

I have been researching into the layout of different music download sites and was surprised to find that the majority of them contain just still images, and occasionally some slideshows. This fits in with my survey responses where the majority of people said that they would prefer just a still image for an advert.

Below are screenshots of Spotify and iTunes, both of which use still images, iTunes also has one slideshow on each page but no video.

PRP Artefact One - Evaluation

My first artefact was a questionnaire; I did this in order to gain a better understanding of people perceptions of advertisements. I wanted to know what kind of adverts they preferred, and whether they were concerned with the design of a particular advert.

I sent out a nine-question survey to approximately 70 people aged above 18. I also requested that people who completed my survey were frequent Internet users and that they also listen to and buy music. This was confirmed in my first two questions where almost everyone questioned used the Internet everyday, and the majority of people bought or downloaded music online every week.

I felt it was necessary for me to begin my PRP artefacts with a survey, as I wanted to find out what people thought of adverts on websites and whether people paid any attention to them. From doing this survey I have been able to find a clear path through the rest of my artefacts and I now know what area I will move onto next.

After showing the results of the questionnaire to other people in my group, we all believed that the most interesting answer was for the last question. When I asked people which kind of adverts they prefer, either a still image, a video, a banner with moving images, or a banner which you can interact with, such as a game, 50% of people answered a still image. This was surprising to the rest of the group and me, and it is therefore the area I am going on to explore next.

Overall my survey did work as I achieved a few unexpected answers that allowed me to understand people’s views of advertising a little better, as well as giving me some ideas about where I go with creating the rest of my artefacts.