User Test Report
User Test Report for https://myweb.fiu.edu/cmedi093/
Prepared by Olivia Abreu for Dr. Vytautas A. Malesh and Carla M Medina.
The following is an evaluation of the website of Carla M Medina, a fellow student in the class of Dr. Vytautas A. Malesh, Writing for the Web (ENC4313). The most relevant criteria used included content, style, purpose, and usability, among other more subjective elements like aesthetics, bias, and relevancy. In general, this website exhibits a well-conceived concept with a well-distributed simplistic design. The information is presented in an easy-to-find manner. The style and discourse are pleasantly colloquial and direct.
Overall Impression
My elevator pitch for Carla M Medina is simple: I loved your website. You present yourself, the author, in a familiar tone without diluting your penmanship. I particularly enjoyed your blog about your take on exile. In my opinion, your website is professional grade. I can’t wait to see where you take it from here.
Specific Strengths and Loci of Improvement
Strengths.
- Content: All required content is present and easy to find. The posts are cohesive and consistent with the author’s voice.
- Style: conversational and relatable. Excellent chunking and use of bullets and lists.
- Purpose: it is clearly stated along with its Mission and Vision, which, according to Kenn Institute is vital in establishing credibility and authority.
- Usability: the site presents a logical organization; it is easy to go about it; it is error free.
- Aesthetics: elegant. According to Michial Farmer, I concur that elegance is a trait of A-level writing.
- Bias: none perceived.
- Relevancy: the website displays insightful posts, with captivating stories published regularly; it feels fresh and relevant.
Suggestions
- Implementation of interesting CTAs (call to action buttons).
Conclusions, Affirmations, and Recommendations
Carla M Medina is, without question, an excellent communicator. Medina’s website displays a sound understanding of an author’s website requirements. Her sophisticated work is presented in a user-friendly layout making it very easy for her visitors to find the information.
Menu categories are clearly displayed without an overwhelming number of links or information. There is a search button readily available for the curious, impatient mind to the right on every page, and just underneath it displays the later posts. Medina’s colloquial style makes her very relatable for the reader.
Her post’s sectioning allows for the enjoyment of different interests within the same contained digital space. In turn, the website visitor has the chance to get to know the author on different levels.
The writing samples and blog Visions of Exile, for example, open a door to a topic closer to her heart, where she presents herself through the lens of a very difficult social process very much real in our actual day-to-day experiences.
There are not many recommendations I could offer for Medina because, actually, I should learn from her. Maybe a greater integration of the reader through interactive elements like CTAs would be interesting, but it is not for a lack of anything in this website. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to study Medina’s website.