References
Essay and discussion questions
1 Discuss the relative effectiveness of the different methods of assessing the customers’ needs
for a web site.
2 Select three web sites of your choice and compare their design effectiveness. You should
describe design features such as navigation, structure and graphic design.
3 Explain how strategy, analysis, design and implementation of a web site should be integrated
through a prototyping approach. Describe the merits and problems of the prototyping approach.
4 When designing the interactive services of a web site such as online forms and e-mails to
customers, what steps should the designer take to provide a quality service to customers?Examination questions
1 What is web site prototyping? Give three benefits of this approach.
2 What controls on a web site project are introduced at the initiation phase of the project?
3 A company is selecting an ISP. Explain:
(a) what an ISP is;
(b) which factors will affect the quality of service delivered by the ISP.
4 How are focus groups used to gain understanding of customer expectations of a web site?
5 Name, and briefly explain, four characteristics of the information content of a site that will
govern whether a customer is likely to return to that web site.
6 When the graphic design and page layout of a web site are being described, what different
factors associated with type and set-up of a PC and its software should the designer take
into account?
7 What is meant by ‘opt-in’? Why should it be taken into account as part of web site design?References
Aaker, D. and Norris, N. (1982) Characteristics of TV commercials perceived as informative,
Journal of Advertising, 25(2), 22–34.
Bevan, N. (1999a) Usability issues in web site design. Proceedings of the 6th Interactive
Publishing Conference, November. Available online at http://www.usability.serco.com.
Bevan, N. (1999b) Common industry format usability tests. Proceedings of UPA’98, Usability
Professionals Association, Scottsdale, Arizona, 29 June – 2 July 1999. Available online at
http://www.usability.serco.com.
BSI (1999) BS 13407 Human-centred design processes for interactive systems. British
Standards Institute.
Chaffey, D. and Edgar, M. (2000) Measuring online service quality, Journal of Targeting,
Analysis and Measurement for Marketing, 8(4) (May), 363–78.
Chaffey, D. and Wood, S. (2005) Business Information Management. Financial Times/Prentice
Hall, Harlow.
Channel Register (2005) Dabs.com in £500K makeover, Channel Register, http://www.channelregis-
ter.co.uk, John Leyden, 2 September.
Cronin, J. and Taylor, S. (1992) Measuring service quality: a reexamination and extension,
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de Chernatony, L. (2001) Succeeding with brands on the Internet, Journal of Brand
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