Our Opinion: While the Website Advisory Committee should provide a voting function to determine the most desirable Web site design for ncsu.edu, students should provide the committee with ample feedback, regardless of the method.
The N.C. State homepage is in the process of being renovated and three new designs are up for consideration.
The current “guess and check” format of the site requires users to try numerous links until they find the right one.
If you need the number for the Student Health Center because you have a headache and a fever, frustration mounts as you have to squint through nearly 100 selections to find the correct link.
The Website Advisory Committee, which Chancellor James L. Oblinger appointed in February, is putting the new designs on display on the current University Web site today to foster feedback from the 2.5 million people who visit the site monthly.
Go to the site, click the redesigning ncsu.edu link in the bottom left-hand corner of the homepage and be critical of the new designs – let the committee know which one is most desirable.
This is the first change in five years – five years of being greeted by a tired blue sky and Bell Tower – five years of wading through fluff to find useful information.
The committee has sought out the services of a top-25 independent interactive agency, Ripple Effects Interactive, to show it is serious about making the site a portal to the University – for both guests and frequent users.
But the committee needs to realize that the current method for giving feedback, a small link on the site to an e-mail address or comment boxes that require typing, is insufficient to foster substantial and decisive opinions of all site users – not to mention the comments may be hard to translate.
The committee should consider providing a voting function for visitors to illustrate which site they prefer, because the current method involves writing an e-mail or a paragraph – 5 minutes that students are not likely to budget into their busy schedules, especially during this time of the year.
Nonetheless, that isn’t an excuse – if you have any qualms with the Web site or if you have an idea to make it better, then let the committee know – that is what it is here for.
The current Web site isn’t terrible – its design is much more visually appealing than that of say, UNC-Chapel Hill’s, but it isn’t user-friendly – especially for first-time visitors who want to learn more about the University but spend half their time playing paper-rock-scissors to decide which link to click on that may or may not possess the information they seek.
This is a resource people use every day – and unlike tailgating – we actually have the opportunity to make a difference in the outcome of the site.
Visit ncsu.edu, write a short e-mail explaining which new setup you like best, and reap the benefits when the final design is revealed in the fall – for at least five more years.
