Human Mind Limitation - Case Study Example

The human mind is the most amazing piece of machine inside a human body. It is because of this ‘presence of mind’ that this world has had wonders to look at. In ancient civilization though ‘man’ was considered a barbaric animal, even in those times existed needs, wants and desires. Then there also existed ways of how man could satisfy those. The most vital of these have always been food clothing and shelter. So with time as civilization progressed, man evolved and became the social animal, it is now known as. This progress though was gradual, but it also saw progress within the human mind, and its inquisitiveness. Human mind limitation since then has taken upon an increasing trend. Thirty years ago a man helped create such a technology that has revolutionized millions of lives. One of these handfuls of researchers who helped build the internet in the 1970’s .The world we see now has become a global village. The internet has made this world into this global village .We see hustle and bustle everywhere, houses, gardens, schools, colleges, universities etc .Since now the world has become such a global village it has made man more inquisitive and competitive at the same time. Every man today wants high living standards, good education, high quality of food and leisure etc. To cater this never ending flow of human wants and needs, groups of individuals formed organizations, and then the process of production and marketing, selling came into being. It is also a fact that in the fast paced world we live in today, things are in flux almost always. What was a trend a decade back may not be evident anymore. The world has been completely invaded by modern inventions. The vast exposure that internet has provided to us has resulted in bringing about great change to the mind sets of people. These changing mind sets, along with them change people’s perceptions. Various organizations and institutions small and large tend to market their products and services differently. For e.g. marketing through print media, electronic media etc .these ideas came more into being because of the individual wants and needs and how humans were to cater to those. This also then helped individuals identify and prioritize their needs. A prime value of ‘Education’ exists, this has all along been the vital contributor to wards the evolution of man. As time has elapsed both young and old have this clear in their minds that they need to acquire quality education in order to exist respectably in this world. There are different modes of advertising of products and services .This is done in order to help satisfy themselves and others around them. Initially schools, then colleges and now universities with huge campuses, state of the art facilities and accommodation are being built around the world to cater to the recently developing trend of students shifting from home towns and countries to other towns and countries in order to pursue their education. Like wise a student of this 21st century does not only picture himself or herself as a student but also a responsible citizen of the society. So one other very important issue here is that then at that point in time a lot is being put at ‘stake’ by both the parents and the students . So they hope for a positive outcome. So the medium of marketing we are looking into here is a website. The website needs to be designed in such a manner that it should be able to completely satisfy the users , in all aspects . Major concern areas for parents being, how the country is like, the political environment, the weather, the food, the area where the university or college is located. How well recognized is the degree world wide, will our child be safe etc Trends Change and now a days we see organizations selling services and products through various marketing techniques. These techniques vary from the kind of media chosen to the kind of target market. With the World Wide Web now, holding such a big stake in all businesses of products and services .It has become the medium of marketing on which organizations large and small invest heavily. Marketing through online websites, blogs, messengers, within chat rooms, display of ad’s while browsing and numerous others are common knowledge. Like wise, the building of websites is the trends of today. These websites are designed using various software tools. they are also then designed according to the fundamental designing principles provided by the world wide web consortium .There are two more very important points to be considered while developing a web site Website Accessibility , usage . There are certain techniques for web accessibility guidelines, which include: Core technique, HTML Technique, Cascading style sheet CSS technique. The guidelines also aid the web content developers in creating a website that would make the content also accessible to people (user’s/target audience) with certain disability . The Primary goals of these guidelines are to: promote Accessibility to make the web content available to all users, these help to look for information quickly, the web content developers are not discouraged to use images or video’s, rather they are encouraged to use multimedia sources for the variety of the audience etc . There are also some fundamental principles that need to be considered while designing a website. These fundamental principles include : Alignment , this will describe how the information will be presented between left or right margins of the page and the centre , Color – is the choice of bright and contrasting colors- they tend to influence the users perceptions, Emphasis – how noticeable the content is and what part of the content will stand out first , Pattern – this implies the shape of the web template and how it will have to be made appealing to the target audience , proportion - as to how all the elements within the website will interact together , repetition , texture and Wide Space . The following lines will discuss and analyze the official website of the University of Cape Town. The design, of this website will be analyzed. Your first glance of the website on its main homepage you come across Avery subtle background color with light blue combination fonts, news, happenings, and upcoming events of the university. There are Tabs visible enough to be accessed .these tabs hold numerous information on issues, from the mission statement to calendar activities, libraries, research office and what not . The design of the UCT Website thus seems to emphasize a lot on dissemination of information to users at all level. It also gives the impression that the management at UCT believes in sharing knowledge and basic information about the university and its salient features will help user’s (mostly student s) decide. They have a whole line of subjects that the university is catering to commerce, health sciences, law, business studies etc. All of this information is free and just a click away. So in terms of accessibility this website is satisfactory. In terms of the UCT website design, if we compare it with the fundamental principles of designing a website, it satisfies only some of the principals and defies the rest. The website design of UCT defies the ‘the Classic theory of design which implies that the website developer should create visual excitement according to the above mentioned eight principles. The present website does not contain any such material, images or visuals that would create any visual excitement. Furthermore, there are no campus pictures, no audio visuals, nothing as intercepts from present students that would satisfy a potential student. The website covers all aspects in respect to providing present and potential students with information but does not provide detailed information about Cape Town itself. This is a necessity as if Cape Town would not be seen a student friendly town acquiring admission within the university by a student would not be the next question. The Website specifically seems to be targeting students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, also students and faculty wanting to train and excel in research studies. It provides access to some of its library material. The university scholars and students are given special training programs also forums wherein researches can be carried out. The website also targets the social responsibility and this implies that the university considers it their responsibility to convey the message. It is aiding in creating awareness about HIV, also disability services, property and financial services. With respect to the fact that if the site is redesigned then what problems would be amended to make the website more accessible. Fore mostly, keeping the fundamental principles of website development in mind the website will have to be amended in the following ways. The colors – we would suggest using more dark colors for the background in order to make the website look more dramatic and influencing to the viewer. The Emphasis ­– instead of having the news right on the front page , we would suggest that instead of the news highlights there should be audio visuals having intercepts of students about the university and Cape Town as this will tend to make the user s feel warm. The Pattern - of the website template should also be made appealing to the target audience. The Texture - will definitely have images of students, juniors, seniors and images of the faculty, the campus and its various departments. There should be a small video clip tour, prior to the user using the website. All of the above will need to be done in order to make the website attractive enough for students and other users to surf the website . Otherwise the load s of great information that the website entails will be of no use if the individual would not be able Another website that will be developed with the above variables in mind will definitely enhance and increase the web accessibility and web usability. Read More