Zen and the Art of the Japanese Department

1
Zen and the Art of the Japanese Departments
Homepage

• Or in this case, the present lack there of

2
Observations of the Current Site

• Little to no continuity of design throughout the
  site
• Offers plenty of information, but it is poorly
  organized and difficult to navigate. Fails to
  connect to information on current courses.
• Outdated. Still uses frames, tables, and Comic
  Sans MS among other issues. It hasnt been
  updated since 2003.
• Difficult to access Searchable, but the url is
  long and shows that it is only an offshoot of one
  of the professor's AFS homepage.
• Decrepit Many links are broken, and missing
  items such as alt tags give it an unfinished
  feeling.

Chaos really.
3
The Quest for Clarity
Usability This site appears to be a users
nightmare. Information is offered, but it is
sometimes difficult to track down and at others
overwhelming. Most pertinent of all problems,
this site appears to require greater organization.
Wabi
Accessibility At a glance it is apparent that
this site would be extremely difficult for users
with disabilities- it is hard enough to use
alone. Some notable violations are the lack of
alt-text for the numerous images, and the use of
frames which can foul-up helper-programs.
Sabi
Sustainability In its current state, this site
can only be edited by the web mistress who
happens to be the head of the department- she is
too busy to work on it. However if the site is to
only provide information on the program, it can
get away with being updated once per semester.
Less is more
4
RDC The path to enlightenment
5
GANTT Chart
November
December
Similar Sites and Alternatives Research
Testing
JPN Students
Non-JPN Students
Interviews
Progress Report due
JPN Students
Create samples
Draft final Report due
Web prototype
Final Report due
6
Further Meditation on the Subject
It seems to me at this point in time that there
are far too many problems with the site to tackle
all at once.
I think that if might needs to focus on how to
better organize the website to make it more
helpful to the users first, therefore focus on
Usability.
Your thoughts and comments on this are greatly
appreciated!