Mackenzie Banks

5-17-06 Bryce peer review

 

Site Appearance

The simplicity and mostly white background work well, but on most of the pages the images are too prominent.  The pictures are great and should be included because they provide visuals of what the website discusses, but I also think that they overwhelm the text.  As a Stanford student—I believe this is your primary target demographic—I know what the campus looks like, I want to quickly know what this website is all about.  Small labels on the pictures would be good, also.

The Welcome page also needs a little more text to rope in the reader from the beginning.  A one or two sentence description of what the organization is for and how it is associated with Stanford will get the message across before readers have to switch to the Mission page (maybe above the quote).  However, I do like the idea of an opening page that does not flood the reader with text.

 

Content

            The Mission page will be extremely influential, so if you put a link to “getting involved” at the bottom, it would take advantage of the credibility you just established. 

            Somewhere I hope that you link to other related environmental sites.  A Links page would work well for this and would prevent readers being diverted away from the middle of one of your pages.  A link to a site describing the Kyoto Protocol in more detail (or an optional more detailed description on your site) would also establish a feel of global urgency.

            In addition to the template for faculty, I think a list of what students or faculty members (or community members) can do would help get the reader more involved.  Donations were mentioned in your presentation, these could be listed as an option for each group, but if you take this route be sure to state what funds are used for.

            Most important, in my opinion, is that you include your Writing Assignment #1.  It is a way of including your own writing and it provides a great summary of the project (paragraph 2).  I felt significantly more informed and very interested after reading this assignment and a briefer version on the site would be extremely helpful.

            Other possibilities to consider: (1) a history of The Climate Crew, (2) what does the group do aside from the petition (long term and short term goals), and (3) what happens if Hennessy says yes vs. if he says no (this was touched on in assignment #2).

 

Misc. Notes

-You might already be aware of this, but when I click on subscribe (News page) I just get a page of text.

-The petition should read “…we hope he will choose…” instead of “…we hope he will chose…”