Andrew Review Of Dog And Man

 

Andrew Meyer

CS 73N: Business on Information Highways

May 19, 2006

Dog and Man™—Shaker Muasher

 

Dog and Man™ has the potential to attract a large user base as it will appeal to many dog lovers and owners.  Shaker has great concept as I believe countless dog lovers will benefit from his services. 

 

The site will contain much pertinent information for dog lovers—they key is organizing it effectively for the web.  As Shaker’s roommate, I have seen him filter through many books and websites on dogs, and he has gathered a plethora of facts which need to be easily navigable and as concise as possible. My main critique is on the clarity of writing thus far.  Granted, the Wired Moon lecture only occurred only yesterday, but it would behoove Shaker to use more headings and summaries so users can easily decide what they want or need to read.  The background page, for example, could be divided with headers and made more concise. 

 

Shaker has a broad target audience which allows him the potential for a heavily frequented site; however, it may be more effective to target a more specific audience so he can better cater to them.  As a broader general interest site, Dog and Man™ will have many competitors, and if Shaker could either specialize in a certain area or offer a novel service, he could better distinguish the site from others and perhaps attract a more loyal user base.

 

Shaker has provided a detailed description of the departments and duties within Dog and Man™; however, I don’t think he has completely finished the business plan.  I would like to see more information on advertising his site to the public as well as fundraising—especially if he plans to have his R&D department employ researchers and secure a laboratory in the future.          

 

Overall, Shaker has done a lot of research on his topic (especially with the non-profit tax exemption!), and because he is passionate about this topic I’m sure it will turn out very successful.  I would just recommend for him to specialize his site because there is endless information on dogs, and I would also recommend Shaker review his writing so the site is more user friendly.

 

A great start!