Uwe Schützenmeister’s (web developer) perspective:
I presented the Observatory website at the venues of Jönköping University (Sweden). With a computer room at hand, the participants were able to get first impressions about the Observatory website. After my introductory presentation three working groups experimented with the site, evaluated its functionality, and made suggestions for its further improvement. The groups focused on:
Working Group 1: User Interface
Working Group 2: Requested Features
Working Group 3: Forum & Interactivity
The results of the can be summarized as below:
Evaluation of the user interface:
Positive:
- structure, design, colour balance
- very user friendly and intuitive
- maps for visualization
- innovative
Less positive:
- homepage too long (scrolling necessary)
- presentation of the Observal project
- advanced document search
Requested features:
- E-Mail notification of updates (if requested)
- Archive of former documents
- Search of mixed document types
- Translations/glossary
- Faceted search: style of search filters (hierarchies)
Forum & interactivity:
- Forum needs more structure, better navigation
- Facebook Group integration
- RSS feed
The critics and recommendations will be the basis for the work on the Observatory website during the next weeks. The improvement of the setup and structure of the member forum will have priority in order to create a living online community of the project partners and users.
The meeting gave me the change to meet the people who are involved in the Observal project. Personal contacts and direct communication will be very important for the further development of the website.
I like to thank you for your active participation and all critics and recommendations!
If you have questions concerning the Observal Website, do not hesitate to write me an email (office@znayou.de)
