Building Presentations Using Story Boards

The next steps in building Internet communications efforts after mapping current activities include two major parts. The first activity utilizes a planning device to make sure that audience communication goals are the most significant part of any Web site or other effort. The second activity involves the development of actual story boards of the Web presentation involved.

When pulling together the architecture of a Web site, it is useful to refer to the four major aspects of the audience being targeted with Web communication:

Who-the identification of the audience members

What-the information they are seeking

Why-the communications objective of the audience member, which may be defined as information but also could be a transaction of some kind

How-the communications technologies being utilized to complete the exchange

These audience-targeting concepts should be well defined and documented when building a Web site to meet audience needs. Every step in the development of Web communications should continue to recognize audience goals. They are the primary purpose of building the presentation. A useful planning device is to design the presentation by starting at the audience goal and working backward to the beginning of the interchange. This way, the goal comes first and the rest of the presentation is built to facilitate this goal.

Looking back at the flow charts from the previous exercises, an easy way to demonstrate this concept is to reverse the arrows on the charts, especially that in Exercise 4.1.4. Reversing the flow of the information exchange puts the goal first and the index page last in the flow chart.

Building Web architecture can also utilize a concept from the film industry, story boards. Story boards are used to develop visual scenes in movies and other presentations. Directors draw a series of pictures to tell a story and then shoot film that re-creates this story. This process is also used in multimedia presentations. A modified version using flow charts to design Web presentations is discussed here. Some Web developers also create visual representations of Web pages to further define the presentations while building a site.

These story boards are titled with the audience they are designed to reach and contain three significant elements:

Informational content of each exchange with the audience members

Communications technologies involved

Navigational aids involved

Additional elements, such as e-mail interactions, should also be included when appropriate. Navigational elements involve icons and links that help the end users reach their communication goals easily and move around the presentation to reach other information. Like landmarks and street signs, navigational aides should be developed from the audience perspective.

Exercises

Put Audience Objectives First

Let's revisit targeting audience communication objectives to begin the process of constructing a Web site. Answer the following questions in regard to your favorite Web sites.

a)What audience are you a member of when you visit this site?
b)What specific information are you seeking?
c)What outcome are you looking for in this communication?
d)How is the information presented?
e)What, therefore, is the primary purpose of this section of your favorite Web site?
f)Where should you begin when constructing an Internet communications effort?

Create Story Boards

To demonstrate how Web sites and Internet interactions can be constructed from the objective of the audience members, reverse engineer the flow chart from Exercise 4.1.4, depicting your visit to your favorite Web site. Use the following grid to build story boards of the Web site by including the information objectives, the presentations you saw, the ways that the information was presented, and the navigation options available. Hint:Reverse the arrows on the flow chart and start in the bottom right corner.

a)Who is the audience targeted by this presentation?
b)What information is now in the first box in the flow chart?
c)What presentation technology was involved?
d)What navigational elements were present?
e)What appears in the last box in the flow chart?
f)What navigational elements were present? (You don't need to list every one here but may want to in an actual construction situation.)
g)What presentation technology was involved?
h)What are the steps in between?
i)What presentation technologies were involved at each step?
j)What navigational elements were present at each step?

Use Story Boards for Internet Presentation Architecture

Create a Web site story board of the information interchanges from the previous lab. Suggest possible information exchange technologies and navigational options.

a)Who is the audience targeted by this presentation?
b)What information content should be listed in the first box?
c)What communication technologies should be listed in the first box?
d)What navigational elements could be listed in the first box?
e)What about the smaller circles?
f)What information content should be listed in the second box?
g)What presentation technologies should be listed in the second box?
h)What navigational elements could be listed in the second box?
i)What information content should be listed in the third box?
j)What presentation technologies should be listed in the third box?
k)What navigational elements could be listed in the third box?

Exercise Answers

Answers

Let's revisit targeting audience communication objectives to begin the process of constructing a Web site. Answer the following questions in regard to your favorite Web sites.

a)What audience are you a member of when you visit this site?
Answer:Your answer will vary. I am a member of the general Internet audience interested in updated weather information.

This was explained as the whoin Chapter 2. The audience is always the first issue in building Internet communications systems.

b)What specific information are you seeking?
Answer:Your answer will probably be different. Mine is the immediate and extended weather forecast for my physical location.

This was discussed as the whatin Chapter 2-the information that fulfills the audience's wants, needs, and desires.

c)What outcome are you looking for in this communication?
Answer:My outcome is to receive the information I am seeking. This is my communication goal. Your outcome may be information as well or it may be a transaction of some kind.

This communication goal was explained as the whyin Chapter 2. The outcome may be informational, which is the case in this example. Or the outcome my be a transaction, as it was in the previous lab. Either way, this goal must be considered when building Internet communications efforts.

d)How is the information presented?
Answer:Your answer will depend on the Web site involved. In my situation, the information is presented by a database using text, graphics of weather maps, and a small video file showing maps with moving weather patterns.

This answer documents how the information was presented. Determining information presentation to serve the audience goals is another vital part of this process.

e)What, therefore, is the primary purpose of this section of your favorite Web site?
Answer:Your answer will be based on your communication goal. In my case the primary purpose for this section of thecnn.com site is to deliver pertinent weather information.

Our objective in creating effective Web and Internet communication systems is to deliver the information sought by the audience as quickly and as easily as possible.

f)Where should you begin when constructing an Internet communications effort?
Answer:The construction of an Internet communications effort should begin at the point where information or other goals are delivered to the audience that seeks them.

Everything else in a Web site or other type of effort should be geared toward facilitating this goal. This involves building efficient and effective delivery mechanisms and presentations that provide the information goals for the audiences involved. An excellent way to begin building Web site presentations is first to determine the who, what, why, and how of the information exchanges and then work outward from these goals using story boards.

Answers

To demonstrate how Web sites and Internet interactions can be constructed from the objective of the audience members, reverse engineer the flow chart from Exercise 4.1.4, depicting your visit to your favorite Web site. Use the following grid to build story boards of the Web site by including the information objectives, the presentations you saw, the ways that the information was presented, and the navigation options available. Hint:Reverse the arrows on the flow chart and start in the bottom right corner.

a)Who is the audience targeted by this presentation?
Answer:Individual Internet users, like myself, who seek weather information for their specific location.

b)What information is now in the first box in the flow chart?
Answer:Weather information based on my geography.

c)What presentation technology was involved?
Answer:A Web page presenting text, graphics, and video culled from a database of information.

d)What navigational elements were present?
Answer:Your answer will vary from mine. On the cnn.com site icons and links to other information involved with weather were prevalent as well as links to other topics on the site.

A variety of links were available to other information topics on the site, and a consistent graphic appears on each page presented by the site. Sometimes called a navigation bar, this type of navigational tool is used on many Web sites.

e)What appears in the last box in the flow chart?
Answer:Your answer should be the home page of your favorite site. Mine is the index page forcnn.com

f)What navigational elements were present? (You don't need to list every one here but may want to in an actual construction situation.)
Answer:Your answers will vary. On thecnn.com the navigation bar appears on the first page.

g)What presentation technology was involved?
Answer:The presentation was conducted using a Web page carrying graphics and a form for a search engine.

h)What are the steps in between?
Answer:Your answer will be based on your flow chart. My steps were very short, just one link to the weather section. A database query form on that page returned my communication goal.

On my flow chart, the middle step was only one step. This is an example of a well-designed Web presentation as the information I sought was delivered to me in an extremely efficient manner.

i)What presentation technologies were involved at each step?
Answer:The information presentation in the middle step was a Web page serving as an interface to a database on weather information.

j)What navigational elements were present at each step?
Answer:Your answer will be based on your Web site. In mine, the navigation bar was present on every presentation.

This flow chart is now serving as a story board of this information exchange. Information, presentation technologies, and navigational information are present for each page in this presentation.

Answers

Create a Web site story board of the information interchanges from the previous lab. Suggest possible information exchange technologies and navigational options.

a)Who is the audience targeted by this presentation?
Answer:The audience is prospective students.

b)What information content should be listed in the first box?
Answer:The capture of a course registration is the communication goal of this audience. Captured information should include course, contact, and payment information. An option for contractual agreements must also be present.

c)What communication technologies should be listed in the first box?
Answer:A Web page carrying a form to capture the appropriate information and interact with the student database.

d)What navigational elements could be listed in the first box?
Answer:A navigation bar leading to other areas of the Web site could be involved. Links to other areas pertinent for this audience, especially back to the previous (or next in this flow chart) presentation providing academic advising information, should also be prevalent.

e)What about the smaller circles?
Answer:These circles should include e-mail confirmation in the first and e-mail prospect follow-up in the second.

f)What information content should be listed in the second box?
Answer:This information presentation should explain course offerings based on audience members' needs and experience. A static presentation could utilize scenarios. A dynamic presentation could use questions and answers from a database.

g)What presentation technologies should be listed in the second box?
Answer:Web pages will be used to present textual information. Graphics may be incorporated, and a database interface would be required for a dynamic presentation.

h)What navigational elements could be listed in the second box?
Answer:A navigation bar could be displayed for other sections of the Web site. A link to the registration presentation should be very significant. Links to additional information on the suggested courses are important.

i)What information content should be listed in the third box?
Answer:The third box in this set of story boards should include the index page for the program Web site. This should include information and links targeted to any interested audience member.

j)What presentation technologies should be listed in the third box?
Answer:A Web page with text and graphics will probably do the trick. Perhaps a database interface could be included to serve other audience needs as well.

k)What navigational elements could be listed in the third box?
Answer:The navigation bar could be introduced. A significant link for new or prospective students would lead to the presentation described in the second box in this exercise.

Navigational elements on the index page are very important because they are the exits off the Web site to present audience-based information. Grouping information and determining appropriate navigational terms is further facilitated by this process of creating story boards from the communication objective back to the index page. It is significantly easier to decide where you need to go once you know where that is.

Self-Review Questions

In order to test your progress, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1)When building a Web site presentation, it is imperative first to

  1. _____ Decide on logos and other graphics
  2. _____ Define audience targeting elements
  3. _____ Establish hosting vendors
  4. _____ Determine navigational aides
2)Major audience targeting elements include

  1. _____ Who the audience is
  2. _____ What information the audience seeks
  3. _____ Why the audience is communicating
  4. _____ All of these
  5. _____ None of these
3)Reversing the traditional flow of information exchanges in the development process helps

  1. _____ To confuse the management team involved
  2. _____ To justify development expenses
  3. _____ To prioritize audience communication goals in the process
  4. _____ To clarify confusion in the IS department
4)Story boards should document

  1. _____ Informational content of every interchange
  2. _____ Communications technologies of every interchange
  3. _____ Navigational aids in every interchange
  4. _____ None of these
  5. _____ All of these
5)Navigational aids serve audiences by facilitating access to information they seek.

  1. _____ True
  2. _____ False


Exploring Web Marketing and Project Management
Exploring Web Marketing and Project Management
ISBN: 0130163961
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2000
Pages: 87

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net