Analysis of Schweppes Australia Website - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxx Title : Analytical report of a Website Institution : xxxxxxx @2012 Table of Contents List of figures 3 2.0 Introduction 4 2.1 Aim 5 2.2 Methods used in the investigations 5 2.3 Scope 6 3.0 evaluation of the website 6 3.1 Assessment of the website 6 3.2 Defining the site 6 3.2.1 Downloading speed 10 3.2.2 Classification of information 10 3.3 Defining the user of the site 11 3.3.1 Users of the site 11 3.3.2 The time at which user will come to the site 11 3.3. 3 How they will access the site 11 3.3.4 What the users will do on the site 12 3.3.5 Important features of the site 12 3.3.6 How often they will visit the site 12 3.3.7 What will compel users to return to the site 12 3.4 Accessibility 13 3.4.1 visually attractive 13 3.4.2 Language 13 3.4.3 Search 13 4.0 Statement and Discussion of the Problems 13 5.0 conclusions 14 6.0 Recommendations 14 7.0 website checklist 15 References 16 O'Reilly, J & Linkson, T 2009, Recharge Your Design Batteries, How publishers, New York. 16 King, A 2003, Speed up Your Site: Web Site Optimization, New Riders Press, USA 16 List of figures Fig 1: Schweppes Australia home page Fig 2: Schweppes Australia contact page Fig 3: Schweppes Australia privacy policy page Figure 4: Schweppes Australia conditions of use page Fig 5: Schweppes Australia terms of use page 1.0 Executive summary This paper is an analytical evaluation of the Schweppes Australia website; it offers information related to the general assessment of the website. In addition it provides recommendations so as to make the website more effective and easy to use for the site users. 2.0 Introduction The URL http://www.schweppesaustralia.com.au/Home.aspx directs an individual to the Schweppes Australia website. The company’s home page is best described in figure 1 below. It is an organizational website and it was designed with the general aim of informing the general public about the products and brands offered by the company and any question they may have related to the company products. Within the first visit to the website one get a lot of information related to the website. The site also offers information of the brands, who they are. Fig 1: Schweppes Australia home page 2.1 Aim This report aims at evaluating the website. This will be done by taking into considerations of the qualities of the website and the issues with the website. Therefore, this report will offer recommendations so as to improve the website. 2.2 Methods used in the investigations Various methods are usually used in the evaluation process. The method that was applied in the evaluation of the website is the use of questionnaires. The individual who were questioned include the youth, children and the adult since they are the users of the website. The results gained from the users were later used to come up with the issues related to the website and offered some recommendations for it (Boag 2010). 2.3 Scope This analytical report will involve the general assessment of the website. This will be in terms of the URL, download speed in the website, language, accessibility, users of the site, time at which the site can be accessed, important features of the site, what the users will do on the site, frequency of visiting the site, how to access the site, how to compel the users to return to the site, language and searching the website (Beaird 2010). 3.0 evaluation of the website 3.1 Assessment of the website The Schweppes Australia website offers the users with all the necessary information and it is easy to use. It is easy to navigate with each page have a link to direct one to the home page, thus one cannot easily loose track in the website. 3.2 Defining the site Children are also among the target population that the company really focuses on. The site also offers information to the suppliers and other trade partners. An effective and efficient site ought to provide a way in which the users can communicate with the owners. The Schweppes Australia website owners have provide a way in which an individual can contact them they have given a phone numbers and email addresses with which one can call them and it is toll free. The following link directs one to the page that has the contact details http://www.schweppesaustralia.com.au/Footer-pages/Contact-us.aspx Fig 2: Schweppes Australia contact page The company also has a privacy policy. The privacy policy is readily available from http://www.schweppesaustralia.com.au/Footer-Pages/Privacy-Policy.aspx Fig 3: Schweppes Australia privacy policy page An effective website must have a disclaimer policy or information which plays an important role in stating the restrictions of the company to anyone who may use the site and the information contained there in. The website also has disclaimer information which can be assessed from the link http://www.schweppesaustralia.com.au/Footer-Pages/Conditions-of-Purchase.aspx Figure 4: Schweppes Australia conditions of use page It gives some certain conditions of use of the website and general restrictions to use of information in the website. Copyright information is also contained in the website and can be assessed form the site http://www.schweppesaustralia.com.au/Footer-Pages/Terms-of-use.aspx. Fig 5: Schweppes Australia terms of use page 3.2.1 Downloading speed The website also has a considerable download speed thus motivating the users of the website to visit it more frequently (King 2003). 3.2.2 Classification of information The information in the website is classified into various groups thus making the navigation through the website much simple. In each category there exist sub categories which are directly related to the main category. The links in all these categories directs one to the required location thus an indication of the functionality of the links. 3.3 Defining the user of the site 3.3.1 Users of the site Users of a website ought to be considered through out the design of the website since a website that allows for interaction in some way provides a richer experience with visitors. There are various groups of users of the Schweppes Australia website. One of the users is the trade customers who work together with the organization to achieve the organizational goals. Another group of users is the company’s suppliers. The supplier’s page in the website offers all the essential information necessary for an individual to be a flourishing supplier to Schweppes Australia. Another group of users is the Schweppes contractors. Another group of users is the company customers. This group comprise of a wide range of individuals ranging form children, the youth and adults. This group of users may use the site to attain information related to new products been introduced by the company and where they can be found. 3.3.2 The time at which user will come to the site Some websites have specific times at which the users of the website can come to the website. In this website the users can have access to the information at any time that is the website has no time restrictions. 3.3. 3 How they will access the site The users will access the information in the site by following certain links based on the information that they would like to view. Also there is a search button in the website where the users may input the search would so as to search content in the website. 3.3.4 What the users will do on the site The users will do various things while in the website. For example they will find information related to the company brands the current and any new brand that is about to be introduced in the company. The users will also use the website in gaining any necessary information of the company. 3.3.5 Important features of the site One of the most important features of the website is the appearance. The appearance of the website is visually appealing and was designed in a professional manner (Perkins 2009). The developer used a good blend of colors and the text contained there in is readable and simple. Another important feature of the website is that it has all the relevant information that the users may be searching for. For example information related to the company’s brands, vacancies and any upcoming events in the company. 3.3.6 How often they will visit the site A site with no user visiting it may be redundant. There for the site can be accessed as many times as possible that is one user can even visit the site for more than ten times in a day depending on the user’s wishes. 3.3.7 What will compel users to return to the site There exists certain measure that ought to be taken to compel users to return to your site. One of the measures is to ensure that the site is visually attractive. Most users may not return to sites with a poor blend of colors and in most cases will opt to visit the sites which are visually appealing. Also to make users to return to your site the navigational route ought to be seamless. Also there ought to be customary update of the site content (Nielsen & Pernice 2009). 3.4 Accessibility 3.4.1 visually attractive The website is visually attractive and the developers choose a good blend of colors. But one disadvantage of the site is that it has visual distractions in that in the home page there are a lot of pizzazz. The site home page is accessible even in instances where one has navigated to various pages within the site (Nielsen & Loranger 2006). 3.4.2 Language Language plays important roles in determining the number of users who are likely to visit the website. Website that uses complex language and that requires users to have training before using them do not receive many users (Krug 2005). The language used in the website is typically of the audience makeup in that it is easily understandable even by individuals with low education level. The text used in the website is scanable in that there is appropriate size and spacing of the text, font size and layout (Power & Croll 2009). 3.4.3 Search The website offers a search button with which the users use to search or look for information in the website. This in one way contributes to the usability of the website. 4.0 Statement and Discussion of the Problems Like any other website the website has some problems. These problems include: Lapse of time of opening a link is one second which is very slow. There is a use of both bright and dull colors which can present some difficulty a user who has eyesight problems. The presence flash and pizzazz in the university website serves as a distraction to the user when searching for information. Most of the button in the website falls under a certain category and one has to scroll in order to view them. The layout is such that it is not always apparent to the customer that it is necessary to scroll in order to reach these buttons. 5.0 conclusions The website is a friendly website; this conclusion was arrived at through the analytical evaluation conducted on the website. 6.0 Recommendations After the evaluation of the website, the recommendations of the report are as listed below: For the website to be effective, it need to be ought to be a redesign to solve issues which have been identified. A functional website should be straight to the point it should not subject the viewers to a lot of distractions and hence my recommendation is that the flash and the pizzazz on website should be removed. Increase speed of availing information in the website to avoid the time lapse even if it is of seconds. The buttons ought to be placed in such a way that one does not have to scroll in order to view them. 7.0 website checklist Characteristics Comments Navigation There is a clearly indication of the current location and all the major parts of the site are accessible from the webpage. Also the site has an easy to use search function (O'Reilly & Linkson 2009) Functionality compliance All the functionality in the website is clearly labeled and it is readily available without leaving the site. Also no additional plug ins is required for one to use the site. User Control All appropriate browser are supported in the site Language The site uses Simple, clear and precise language Error prevention Errors do not occur unnecessarily in the website and when they occur they are usually in plain text which can be easily understood (Halvorson & Rach 2010). References Beaird, J 2010, The principles of beautiful website, Site Point, Australia. Boag, P 2010, Website owner’s manual, Manning Publications, United states. Halvorson, K & Rach, M 2010, Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd edition, New Riders Press, USA. O'Reilly, J & Linkson, T 2009, Recharge Your Design Batteries, How publishers, New York. King, A 2003, Speed up Your Site: Web Site Optimization, New Riders Press, USA Krug, S 2005, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, New Riders Press, USA. Nielsen, J & Loranger, H 2006, Prioritizing web usability, New Riders Press, USA Nielsen, J & Pernice, K 2009, Eye Tracking Web usability, New Riders Press, USA Perkins, T 2009, Search Engine Optimization for Flash, O’ Reilly Media, California. Power, S & Croll, 2009, A complete web monitoring: watching your visitors, performance, communities and competitors, O’ Reilly Media, California. Read More