Student Projects
Information Architecture Students Design 'Web Sites that Work'
by Elizabeth Lewis
AN ARTIST, A SPA, A FAMILY BUSINESS, A MUSICAL GROUP, A LIBRARY, AND A CONSULTING FIRM. WHAT DO THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON? They all could benefit from having well-designed web sites to promote their products and to reach out to their target audiences.
Students in a recent Information Architecture for the Web course now have a deeper understanding of just how essential a web presence can be to the success of an organization or individual. Each student had the task of creating a web site for a specific audience. Responsibilities included selecting the markup, design, architecture, and content for the web site.
"The main purpose of the project is for students to put into practice what they have been learning in class -- the design and development of 'web sites that work,'" says Assistant Professor Howard Rosenbaum, who teaches the course. "Although students are not required to seek out a client, for those who do, this project provides an opportunity for them to gain valuable experience working with a real client."
Many students taking the course did opt to create a web site for a real client. Having a long-standing relationship with the client beforehand helped make the decision an easy one for several students.
Christopher Lowther chose to design a web site for Carmen Delgado's Oasis Spa (www.carmendelgado.com) in Bloomington.
"I've known Carmen for more than 16 years," he explains. "When I approached her about the project, I discovered she didn't have a web site for her business. I thought it was an excellent opportunity for both of us."
Mike Hohnecker designed a web site (www.hohneckers.com) for his parents' company, Hohnecker's Gifts. "I wanted to make sure that the site I designed was well done and something that could be built on in the future," he says.
And Jim Bradley designed a web site for the band Monktrane (http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~jabradle/MONKTRANE/main.html).
"I've known [the band members] for more than 10 years," he says, "so when I began thinking of a promotional web site for them, it just seemed like a very fun and interesting idea."
Rosenbaum says the importance of a web presence depends on the type and size of business.
"If the business is small, local, and dependent on face-to-face transactions, a web presence is not important at all," he says. "If it's a computer or software company, it's essential. Some companies will use their web sites as advertising channels; others will use it as a sales channel. A good web presence is more important for the latter but also important for the former."
Students in the course agree that creating a web site proved to be both challenging and rewarding.
"The biggest challenge for me was the fact that the web site I created would primarily be used by people in India," says Nanu Iyer, who designed a web site for Carat India (http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~niyer/carat/home.html), a media communications consulting firm. "I had to make sure that I didn't use metaphors or phrases that were too American or not part of the Indian culture."
Jason Cooper, who redesigned IU Libraries' Dance, Theater, and Drama Resources Web site (www.indiana.edu/~libhper/DTD/), says the most challenging aspect of his project was picking up where another student left off. Galadriel Chilton, MLS'00, created the site in fall 2000 as an intern with the IU Libraries.
"This also marked the first time I had to make intellectual decisions for another person when numerous hypertext documents were involved," says Cooper. "I created new files, based on the former student's code, and chose names for them."
The students acquired many new skills during the process of creating the web sites, including how to organize and present information, how to negotiate with a client, and how to hand-code.
"I not only learned to code HTML by hand and to use Cascading Style Sheets but also how important it is to create various prototypes for clients, to be sure they are happy with the final project," explains Jason Bennett, who created a web site for Holland Hopson (http://php.indiana.edu/~jbbennet/hop/hop.html), a composer and musician in New York City.
Sonia Gupta designed IU's Chemical Information Sources web site (www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/project/cheminfo.html).
"This course not only taught me a lot of web designing skills, but it also gave me a very good idea of what the role of an information architect is in the industry," she says. "In fact, taking this course convinced me that I, myself, want to be an information architect."
Posted December 13, 2001