Assignments

Thresholds and Intentional Formatting

February 22, 2020 ·

For the website evaluation, I looked at the Thresholds project as it is the inspiration for Caroline and I’s “zine” formatting. It is a massive project funded by the Carolina Digital Humanities Initiative and edited by Frances McDonald and Whittney Trettien. Currently, they have published three issues, and each issue contains around 15-20 submissions. The intended audience of the site is definitely those interested in the digital humanities and academics. Indeed, the landing page describes the site as a “creative and critical digital handiwork” and the second issue’s premise is current DH-affiliated academics responding to the writings of media theorist Siegfried Zielinski. While the information being offered on the site varies by issue, fundamentally it is concerned with bringing art, critical theory, and digital tools together. Bridging ideas and formats is gestured at through the project’s name: Thresholds. The navigation page also provides a type of mission statement for the project by explicitly commenting on the split screen format that each submission is bound to. They write that both the authors of the submissions, and the online readers through their scrolling, are constantly generating juxtapositions and new ideas. While some of the submissions use this format better than others, it is an intriguing and intentional layout that places agency with users in how they interact with each submission.

It is difficult to apply William’s principles of design as the project is extremely varied across submissions. Furthermore, if anything can be said about the project as a whole it is that it is trying to break conventional website design layouts. They obviously use the repetition of the split screen, and many of the submissions lean into bold contrast, but the rest of the design principles are not really applicable. If I were to change something about the design, however, I think it would be the navigation between the landing page and the issues. If the issues were to open up in a new tab, it would make it easier to keep the home page in mind and access other issues upon finishing.

Overall, I loved the split screens and the collage aspects of this project. Like the image below, the act of scrolling over stacked images makes for a very powerful and engaging effect that I would love to use in our project as the process of stacking can make an argument in and of itself. In the second issue, some submissions also had snippets of text that would stay in place while you could scroll through the other two screens. Since Caroline and I will try to be connecting some dense theory to Lil Miquela, I think this breaking up of text and key quotes is a great way to make both the text and our argument more accessible.

Website Evaluation: An Effective Way of Creating Experience

February 21, 2020 ·

Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/

The website that I’ve chosen is called Headspace. Headspace is an app used to help guide meditation practices within the comfort of your own home. Their website is very similar to how their app functions. It has cartoon icons, captions and information that are easy to navigate, and a clear and inspirational voice that is constructed through the whole website. I think it does a great job at being accessible, easy to understand, as well as guides you through how their practice works and what it means to be a part of the Headspace community. The website provides information on ways to get into meditation, how individuals have come to use meditation as a positive influence within their lives, and ways that meditation and guided meditation practices help individuals with mental health issues. There is an About us, that shows how Headspace was constructed and why, as well as shows the legitimacy of the site. The intended audience appears to be anyone interested in bettering themselves or interested in starting the process of guided meditation. The author of the page appears to cater to individuals that don’t know a lot about meditation or the benefits of meditation.

In terms of design, I think the site is clear and calming, in-line with the chosen content. It shows an ambience of tranquility and peace, where the reader doesn’t feel overwhelmed or flooded with information. The design is easy on the eyes, with subtle colors and tones that are not aggressive, but rather serene. The design flows perfectly with the message that is trying to be conveyed through the interactive process and navigation of the site. Because the site is tailored to get individuals to sign up for a free trial or membership to Headspace, there are points that interrupt the experience, with constant prompting to register. However, the message itself is still clear and motivating. The menu bar scrolls as you move down the page, the content is blocked off with different colors to show separation of subject, and the small icons reflect accurate representations of moods and activities that draw the reader into the written content its paired with.

The site upholds several of Robin William’s design principles including repetition, alignment and proximity. It uses repetition with combinations of specific color schemes, as well as the same font styles and how information is blocked off. It also shows consistency with the format and design elements within each page, where individuals are able to focus in on specific topics that have been separated out by spacing and color blocking. It reads as a notecard-like format, which allows for the reader to redirect their attention each time they scroll to the next section. It uses alignment to unify and organize the page, and combines consistency and order with both the graphics and text. In each section, the text and graphic image is reversed so the reader is constantly either reading from left to right, the picture and then text, or text and then picture. This allows the reader to stay constantly engaged, not constantly reading chunks of text, but taking the time to occasionally look at the graphic prior to recognizing what exactly its describing. The text and the larger subtitle of each section is close in proximity to one another, which is easy to understand as relating to one another.

At the bottom of the site, there are titles and links to, what appears to be, every page on the site. This is helpful in the way that it insures that readers don’t miss anything that their site provides. However, it makes for a confusing understanding of how the site works and the path that the reader goes to, to reach a specific page. In other words, not understanding how you’ve gotten to the page, but instead just clicking on a hyperlink feels disruptive and confusing. To fix this problem, I would suggest creating a visual mind map or titles with subtitles underneath to indicate what subjects fall under what major topic of conversation. This would be similar to what is provided at the top in the menu bar, except it will show all subjects and links at the bottom of the page.

I think the leading menu bar is helpful for the viewer, since it allows for the viewer to scroll down and read the information on a given page while also using the menu bar to switch to different topics if they find themselves getting disinterested or bored. It also shows information as to what page you are on, and how the content relates to the bigger picture or subject line. I also enjoy the color scheme and how it truly conveys a sense of positivity and tranquility.

Pledge: NS