Rebecca's Web Plan for HCI 332

Rebecca E. Johnson Rebj781@yahoo.com

Strategy

To explain why and how on earth I came to have a combination of degrees like Women's Studies and HCI. And also to prove that they can be combined quite nicely. I will offer my audiences insight into what I have done and what I am currently doing. I intend to showcase the work that I have done in previous classes such as writing samples, an abstract of and short summary of my thesis project on Single-Sex Schools, titled "Girls v. Boys & girls: A Feminist Response to Critiques of All-Girl Schools." I also have a general portfolio of digital artwork that I have created through various classes at DePaul that will be combined onto the site. I also have pictures from previous years at DePaul as well as a site that needs some heavy work dedicated to my internship at Walt Disney World that I would like to try to update or possibly just start over on. I would also like to have a section of the site I can use as a vehicle for my own personal research. Original research is something that I have only recently become apart of, but I am sure that it will continue to be a part of my life. It is a practical thing to do to create a hub for sites that I have found that I like and include a bibliography, annonated when possible, of my past research. I am currently part of an effort to start an NGO called Digital Achievements Foundation where I am in charge of fundraising and will eventually head up a girl's division of the Foundation. I will have a short description of the company itself and what we plan to do.

General Site Description

Most everything that I produce has a playful theme to it. The site will be largely informal because I'm not a very formal-type person. Even my grant writing strategy (my current pet project) focuses on a storytelling technique designed to capture the interest of my audience instead of boring them to tears and then having my proposal placed into the proverbial rectangular file. Very little is to be gained in my life and areas of interest by a formal, strict site. I am a person with some very diverse interests and I would like to convey that not only are these things in a wide range, but that they all meld together in one manner or another, that they are not simply random things I do, as some might think.

Target Audience

My target audience is all of the doubting Thomases and Thomasinas out there about the validity of a WMS degree in addition to (or including) my family, friends, fellow students, and future employers. I would also like it to be a hub largely for my own personal use, in terms of having research links that I use frequently, etc. My audience all has a general understanding of computers and the web in general, but won't really need to be more advanced than that. I cannot make assumptions about internet speed, so I will have to restrict pictures on primary pages, and give the option for people to see larger images from thumbnails. Some people may only see the site once, some may come back to use my resources, and I will definitely use it on a regular basis.

Content

• I have the makings of a site dedicated to Disney. I created it before I knew anything about web design and was basically a learning tool for me to familiarize myself with some of the basic concepts of linking images, etc., but it does have the basic idea of what I would like to include in this section. I have a list of tips and tricks compiled now that I promised to put on the website but still never have.
• I have several papers that I am interested in putting online as writing samples. I need to decide between them and possibly do a last edit.
• I have another simple site of links that I was using throughout the past year as a communication point for my Research Assistantship with Dr. Bartlett in the English Department.
• I need to create an abstract for my thesis project as I doubt anyone would be interested in reading all 60 pages of it. This is also something that I need to be able to include with applications to graduate school.
• I need to combine a working life-bibliography from various previous bibliographies. This is something that I have run across several times while researching and have wanted to create for myself. If I don't start it now, I might be too far behind to ever catch it up to date.

Web Sites to emulate

I'm not sure how to compare this to a website I would like to emulate; very few personal websites are done well enough to merit notice. I actually do not know anyone with a good personal website, so I must instead turn abstract. I know that I would like to have different sections of the site. The Disney portion of the site I want to be fun and icon-full whereas that would be inappropriate for my research links and portfolio sections. I like the idea of the Museum of Science and Industry's website, where different portions of the site have different feels to them. The toymaker exhibit is fun and interactive while the Visit section is clear and organized, but they all very clearly belong to the same site.