Analysis of website design

I recently completed a website design for a non-profit volunteer agency that provides health services to underfunded communities, while using that platform of services to promote greater health literacy in each community. My site was developed using a framework that was created to appeal to a group of people who have a particular learning style. The learning style design that I used was based on the results of a completed Index of Learning Styles questionaire that measured the test takers preferences on four dimensions: active / reflective, sensing / intuitive, visual / verbal, and sequential/global. Here is a screenshot of the particular learning style that I used to design the website:


As you can see based on the results of the testing, I had to consider a user who was very strongly oriented towards the intuitive and global learning styles, with a relatively even balance of visual and verbal learning styles. The user also scored moderately higher in favor of an active learning style over that of a reflective learning style.

What this means, according to the ILS developers, Richard M. Felder, Linda K. Silverman, and Barbara A. Soloman of North Carolina State University, is that my design should be designed to appeal to users who learn in the following manner: Due to their higher scorees on global and intuitive processing, their positive score on active learning versus reflective learning and their equal use of visual and verbal learning styles, my users are thus more capable of learning by doing, of interacting directly with the any information or material that is presented to them. They can do this through hands-on experience, discussion, or by teaching or explaining the relevant concepts to others. In my site development for my project, I included a plan to have the users of my proposed services work in groups, discuss the material under review with the lecturers who were presenting the information, as well as with with other group members in support groups. I developed a plan to have the staff present the information using research and factual data that then is related to real-life situations in order to make concrete examples of the ideas under discussion:

(See the lay-out for the teaching plan that is developed for active learners who learn using visual and text-based information)>




Because my target audience has an almost equal ability to learn using visual and written material, I tried to evenly distribute the information that I was presenting using both styles in my design. Throughout my site development process, I tried different layouts and constructs to appeal to my core audience, such as pictures of healthy, vibrant people who promote the idea of health and wellness. One of my earlier designs used the title of my company "OPEN THE DOOR" to better health, with a visual of a woman walking through a doorway to reinforce this idea on an intuitive level: See image>



After review, however, I felt that my audience would respond better to real-life people who are already involved in improving the lives of themselves and others through promoting better health, rather than to a woman who looks as though she is walking out of a spa, so I changed that page of my site to include bicyclists riding up a hill and a picture of a respected colleague, Natasha, a clinical scientist who is dedicated to creating better health care outcomes for others, and who is also interested in developing the OPEN project in concrete form>



On the Learning styles test, my target audience also scored higher on intuitive and global learning style preferences, indicating that they will learn more effectively using a "big-picture" approach towards understanding a concept versus a step-by-step method. Because intuitive learners enjoy the use of novel and innovative approaches to learning, rather than the "tried and true" techniques that involve repetition and rote learning, so I designed the entire website using a global, intuitive format, achieved (hopefully) by including descriptions of the project on each page of the design, by providing several pages of supporting information on health care issues to allow the users to develop a view of the issues in totality. By giving the users the overall concept of the program, before listing specific services, I felt that they would get a better grasp of what the center hopes to accomplish with its work.

See an early example and a finished screen-shot from the website>

Early Version: Final Version:



Another element I included in my design was the use of videos and tutorials to reinforce particularly important lessons. This type of format should be useful to a group who needs a global overview of a problem, who learn intuitively, and allow the viewer to stop, rewind, and review the videos and tutorials until they have absorbed the lesson. Here is an screen-shot from my video page:

Trying to incorporate specific learning preferences into a consolidated web design was an interesting experience, although it felt a little awkward at first. In considering a design not as what I find personally appealing, but rather from the potential appeal to a particular audience, I really found that I liked structuring a solution to problem in this way. Using learning styles as focal points help to add structure to the thought process during the development of a website. I developed most of my site content off-line before I started playing with the visual design of the site. I tried many themes, versions, layouts and data structures before I settled on the final version, which consists of a basic blue and white color scheme. In designing the site, my intenton was to present the information I wanted to convey in a way that would allow the reader to intuitively grasp the interlinked concepts, rather than leading the reader through a step-by-step description. To give you, the reader, an idea of the visual effect of my site, please see the pages below, presented in sequence:

I hoped you have enjoyed this process review. I would really like to know how all styles of learners feel about my site design and content, what you like, dislike, things you find effective or ineffective, etc. Please feel free to share your thoughts! My finished site can be seen and enjoyed in its entirety at:
OPEN THE DOOR: To Better Health.