SEDSWiki:Seds.org/Survey

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The survey

If you have not yet taken the survey, please visit seds.org, fill out this survey, and email it to webmaster@seds.org. 

(1) How would you rate the components of the main page? What is useful/useless?
(2) Were any parts of the site too difficult to find (esp. the sidebar)? Where 
    would you place them?
(3) What would you change about the site if you were...
     (a) ...a potential new member?
     (b) ...a SEDS member?
     (c) ...a general passerby?
     (d) ...a potential donor?
(4) Can you suggest a site on which seds.org can model its...
     (a) layout/organization of info?
     (b) style?
     (c) function?
(5) There are a number of existing tools on seds.org -- http://forums.seds.org,
    http://blogs.seds.org, http://gallery.seds.org, http://wiki.seds.org, and 
    email lists ( http://seds.org/emaillists.php)
     (a) Should any be more/less visible from the main page?
     (b) How can these be better utilized?
     (c) Should any be added/subtracted?
(6) Comments -- any other advice for improving seds.org?

KW

1). I really like the calendar of events on the front page, as well as the chapter spotlight. However, the "More Info About SEDS" box seems superfluous and redundant. The sidebar is rather well organized, so I wouldn't worry about people not being able to find the information they're looking for. In place of the info box, I'd like to see news blurbs, like a blog, but more informational than expository. Even if it's only updated once a week, with an event from just one chapter, it will show the world that SEDS is an active community where things are going on all the time. I'd keep a history of the last 5 or so on the front page. I know I've said this same point many times before, but I feel that its important to the perception of the SEDS community by non-members.

2). The more active pages of the SEDS web presence (forums, NOVA, wiki, blog, etc.) should be given prominence, either at the top of the sidebar or, better yet, in larger text on the horizontal bar below the banner. These are the kinds of interactive features that will keep people coming back to the site. I would also add a link on the sidebar to the SpaceVision2007 site. Don't squirrel it away with the rest of the conferences; this is an annual, national, SEDS-sponsored event, and should be treated like a celebrity. Add lots of links to old conferences, too (schedules, photos, mementos, etc.) and stress how cool they are. These are the kinds of interactive feature that will keep people coming back to the site.

3). Things to add...

a). Spit and polish. I know most of us engineers and technical folk don't want to admit it, but marketing works. Have someone who knows how to professionally design a website look it over and generate an overall layout, color scheme, and "theme" to the website. Proofread and copyedit all the text that appears on the website permanently, like the history page and the chapter starter kit. Try to maintain a single "voice" throughout all the text. Consult with English and/or Marketing majors if you have to. Read up on web style conventions. Send out the call to alumni for design help. The fact of the matter is, if the site looks well-run and polished, then the perception of potential members will be that the organization is also well-run and polished, and they will be more likely to want to join.

b). News of events in SEDS, so I can know what other chapters are doing as well; more than just blogs. Calendars should be prominent (which they are; good work).

c). Spit and polish, as above. Also, what has SEDS accomplished? I want to see more stories about events chapters have organized, with photos if possible. I want to see graphics, renderings, and descriptions of SEDS projects. For general passerby, SEDS.org is a brochure and an informational video. Also, I need to know what NOVA is for me to click on it. Perhaps call the link "NOVA Magazine?" Note also that the style of the page changes for src.php.

d). Same as c)., but with an eye toward "who needs money, how will they spend it, and is it worthwhile?". Emphasize which projects are donation-funded, politely mention which ones still need funding, and above all, state why it's a good idea to donate, though not in so many words. If I was a donor, I might be looking for any or all of the following attributes in a project that gets my money: educational value, inspirational value, coolness factor, worthwhile research, career assistance for graduates, pioneering spirit, etc. Decide which of these attributes (or any others worthy of donation) a project has, and play them up, subtly. The "How To Make Donations" page is a little sparse, and could use more content.

4). Example designs...

a). Layout - your left sidebar and top banner are fantastic. These are internet staples, and they are well understood. They also flow well and allow lots of room for content (those blog sites that constrain everything to the center 600 pixels of the page are annoying). Your information is also fairly well organized, it just needs to have a couple things brought to the fore, as were stated above.

b). Style - I don't there there is any one site that has the style SEDS should copy. However, there are certain conventions you can follow when designing your own. For example, rectangular blocks of solid color don't flow as well as drop shadows, rounded corners, gradients, embossed areas, or even something as simple as borders; use those items sparingly but consistently. Also, good websites should have plenty of color, except for text, which should always be black on white for readability. And add graphics! Photos of SEDS members in activities, pictures taken from NASA or JPL sites, astronomy pictures, whatever-- just put some images on the page. I have several excellent resources for designing your own look, which I have used in the past:

c). Function - the site is functioning just fine. There could be more widgets, but let's concentrate on improving what we have first.

5.

a). They currently are all visible from the main page, but they're nestled in with the other less important links. They are your celebrities. Trot them out on the red carpet and let people have a good look at them.

b). Utilization looks great, lots of participation. I would add that it is jarring for all these various services to have completely and vastly different designs than the main page. Since these are SEDS services, they should all have that "SEDS flavor" in their designs. I know existing software was used, but there is great software out there for all those types of programs that also can be custom styled very easily.

c). I can't really think of any tools that need to be added, other than the news posts on the main page (separate from the blog!--they should be more newspaper-ish).

6). Final comments - Images, images, images! They should be everywhere. The site should be absolutely littered with photos of SEDS members at conferences and firing off rockets and teaching classes and building robots and doing astronomy and giving talks and... Well, you get the idea. The site is very text-centric right now, and needs graphics to give it visual appeal, and the more pictures we have of SEDS people doing what SEDS people do, the better. Remember that the website is not JUST a repository of information for SEDS members, it's also a sales pitch for non-members, prospective members, and donors.

Sorry for the long-winded responses. I hope some of this helps out. Please keep in mind that this website is gigantic, with unbelievable amounts of information on it. Creating a consistent style across all the various pages is a mammoth effort, and should not be taken lightly. Get as much help as you can, even if it's just text reorganization. It will take many, many hours to redesign the site, but once its done, SEDS will have a slick, professional, interactive, and fun web presence. The site that is there now is a great start. Keep up the good work.

KW part 2

First, I'd get your chapter presidents involved. Do you guys have a regular meeting of chapter representatives, or just the exec board meetings? (We tried to when I was an exec board member, but it wasn't very regular.) If so, that would be a great place to ask for help. Stress that people can reach out to other departments and colleges at their university for support (since us SEDSers tend, as a rule, to despise marketing and want to cling to the technical side of things). See if chapters are willing to set it up as a formal project. Hold a design contest, with a prize. I'm sure others will have other ideas as well.

Bring this up at exec board meetings. Express an interest and a passion for selling SEDS on the web, and people will get excited about it.

Then ask the alumni. I know there are lots of alumni who would love to help out SEDS, and many of them who are out in industry now likely have contacts to people with design experience (I know I do, and I will be willing to ask around for you). See if companies who do design might be willing to donate a project to a non-profit student group; it would look great in their portfolio, and give them lots of national attention (with a modest linked logo at the bottom of the page, of course).

But I think overall, someone needs to be willing to take ownership of the project. Usually the volunteer coordinators in any volunteer project end up doing more work than the volunteers, and you have to be willing to do that. There will be a great deal of administrative and managerial communication, and you will also need to be the champion for the project. People have to *want* to help, since they're not being paid, so your responsibility as a coordinator is to make their experience valuable, rewarding, and fun. It also needs to be easy to contribute, and that requires a lot of planning. You will have to approach this from a project management perspective.

As I said before, I will ask all of my design contacts and see what they say. I'm also willing to take a stab at creating a design, but it will be up to someone else to translate that overall design into HTML and CSS code because my time is limited.

MJ's coments on KW's coments

I agree that images are important, but if there are too many of them, users with slow internet connections might have a hard time dealing with them. Something I have considered doing (and will when I have time) is to create two websites, one optimized for those people who are operating on dial up connections with no plugins, and javascript and cookies dissabled... and the other one jam packed with all the latest gadgetry. -mike

MJ

General comment: There is too much stuf there.

1) The side bar contains bolded and underlined headings, and sub headings.

I would take out the sub headings, leaving only the main headings, and choose a presentation style that is simple but clear and plesant to read. Clicking on them will bring the user to a new page containing the sub headings.

2) The three gray boxes in the middle of the page could be eliminated, replaced by either the links in the side bar, or better yet, links in the blue strip immediatly below the awesome motivational pictures. Perhaps the side-bar could be eliminated entirelly by putting the links in the blue strip?

3) The seds friends, events, and login box are completelly invisible the first time somebody comes to the page. One has to scroll down to see them, and when they are visible, the rest of the screen is blank. I would make room for them where they will be seen first thing when somebody comes to the site.

4) The main page can't be only pictures and links obviously. I would put a very clear and pleasant to read blurb telling visitors what seds is front and center, along with a warm welcome, and an invitation to join. You might consider putting the boxes mentioned above along the bottom of the page, with this text in the middle, some links at the left and some news links at the right...?

5) Obviously you don't want to eliminage any of the tools that come with the site... that would just be wierd. But the casual surfer doesn't need to have them in his/her face from the outset...

6) Donors is an interesting point. You might want to put this (information for potential donors) right after the invitation to join seds... (we of seds canada need to get that info up as well)

Check out canada.seds.org, and post your coments on it!

PN

(1) Sidebar - any navigation that makes you scroll is bad, especially in today's lazy world. solution: split the navigation up. it's better to give information in bits and pieces else all it does is make people frustrated or unable to view properly.

Header - I like this changing header concept. Really cool!

"More info about SEDS" - Love this! Exactly what people are looking for.

Upcoming SEDS events - great!

Search SEDS - put this above the navigation. people generally prefer searching over going through branches in the navigation structure. show them that you can search on seds.org if you're too petrified of looking at the navigation.

(2) As I said in (1), the sidebar is way too long. Having only bold headlines as contents for the navigation and getting all the sub-content when you click on this point in the sidebar helps people to make things simple. Also maybe you can add a description in the pointer. So, when you hover over something like "About SEDS" you get to see - "what is seds?, the chapter list and more information" or something like that!

(3)i didn't really get that question.

(a), (b), (c) and(d) make it a little more modern in look, for example look at the website of the Planetary Society - http://www.planetary.org. Else look at websites like NASA.They sorta plead you to come in!

(4)

(a) Planetary Society has good navigation

(b) the NASA website has a cool style

(c) again, the Planetary Society website comes to mind

(5)

(a) All can be made more visible under a heading like "Tools" or "Resources"

(b) Tools are generally better utilised when people get to know their value. The best way to get people to use these tools is to make people undertake projects involving the wiki. Like, atleast a few people know the valuation of wiki after working on sedsat2. I'm one of the converts. Blogs might take a little longer :)

(c) I don't see forums being too active. But, it has its uses when it comes to Conferences. Getting people to use it more is a challenge.

(6) it'd be great if we can have a youtube video embedded on the seds.org page along with maybe a flickr stream? And we do have some unused space on the main page.

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