Classmate Site Survey

Target Market

The target audience for this site are individual consumers, farmers, growers, beekeepers, and scientist that are concerned about the issue of pollination due to the decline of the honey bee. Individual consumers are concerned about what they can do in their day to day lives to improve the health of the honeybee and native pollinators. Farmers, growers, and beekeepers have invested interests in helping the honeybee be restored to it's normal population because their business depends on the honeybee. Therefore, farmers, growers and beekeepers will be more focused on the economic benefits of sustaining pollination.

Test Group

Our test group consisted of 11 classmates from the following groups: The Sonoma County Folk Society (Nichelle Rourke, Rebecca Farrell, Amy McVicar, Anna Narbutovskih), Women's Global Leadership Initiative (Doane Atwood, Stephan Fanslow, Jennifer James), Legal Aid of Sonoma County (Jerilynn Johnson, Al Shanto), Filipino American National Historical Society, Sonoma County Chapter (Antonio Ventura ) and United Against Sexual Assault (UASA) of Sonoma County (Dusty Dwyer).

We did not receive a response from Grant Brott ( Women's Global Leadership Initiative).

Testing Conditions

Computer Type	Monitor Size	Operating System	Browser	Internet Connection
Dell Precision Laptop	15.5"	Windows Vista	Firefox 3.0.9	Comcast Cable
Laptop	17"	Windows Vista	Firefox 3.0	DSL
Desktop	1026	Windows Vista	Firefox	Cable
Desktop	17"	Windows XP	IE7	Cable
Desktop	800x600	Windows Vista	Firefox	DSL
Laptop	15"	Mac OS X	Firefox (most recent version)	DSL
Laptop	18"	XP	Firefox	DSL
Laptop	15"	Mac OS X	Safari 3.2.1	DSL
Laptop	1440x900	Windows XP Professional	Firefox 3.0.8	Cable Modem
Laptop	16"	Windows XP	Firefox 3	DSL
Desktop	21"	Vista	Firefox 3	Satellite

Questions

• What is the overall tone and feel of the site?
  
  -The site has an overall feel of openness, simplicity, love of nature and science. The colors are clean and appealing.
  
  -friendly
  
  -The tone is very bright, flowery, outdoors. It is a light and friendly site with varying shades of yellow.
  
  -Friendly, calm colors
  
  -There is a good blend of colors; the colors really “speak” of bee pollination. I t is quite inviting, sticking to the theme in appearance, overall.
  
  -When I arrive at the site, I get a very warm and calm feeling. The colors of the site are very inviting and create a serene feeling to the site.
  
  -Nice
  
  -It has a nice clean look - I love the color scheme -- reminds me of honey!
  
  -calm and smooth. the gradients and colors all combine quite nicely. though the transition from the full background gradient to the container gradient is blunt, that's not a negative
  
  -Soft yet light and natural. The layout is really attractive and the soft gradients are a really nice touch.
  
  -inviting and informative


• What is the site about?
  
  -The site is about the preservation of the wild and domesticated honeybee population.
  
  -about honey bees pollination
  
  -Site is about bees and pollination. Ways to participate as a gardener or beekeeper and resources are given.
  
  -How we need to protect bees and information about their organization
  
  -Bee Habitats and their impact, Native pollination, and pollination issues.
  
  -The site is about pursuing collaborative approaches between farmers, growers, beekeepers and scientists to develop ways to improve health of honey bees in pollination services and support native pollinators
  
  -The importance of Bees
  
  -Bee keeping and bee issues
  
  -supporting the bee-keeper outfits
  
  -Not just bees and the importance of sustainable pollination but who, where and why.
  
  -Providing information about creating and maintainingj beneficial partnerships between farmers,scientists, beekeepers and bees
• What was your first impression of the opening screen?
  
  -My first impression was that this was a site dedicated to nature. The logo of the honeybee evoked nature parks and field trips.
  
  -easy to navigate
  
  -Nice pictures, but not much text. There is a huge open space for text. Otherwise nicely balanced.
  
  -My first impression is - where is the text? There is a small paragraph towards the top, and then a lot of empty space below it.
  
  -It is all about BEES!
  
  -I thought the site was very inviting with the overall use of the warm colors. I also noticed how there wasn't much text on the first page, just a simple sentence explaining what the organization is about. I like the simpleness of it.
  
  -Nice
  
  -Although I had a positive first impression, it almost seeemed like something was missing content-wise.
  
  -it's beautiful, really ;)
  
  -Clean, professional and inviting.
  
  -warm, natural, upbeat
• Where did you first click?
  
  -About Us. I just clicked through all of the top navigation tabs.
  
  -About us
  
  -About Us
  
  -About Us to learn more about the group.
  
  -Native pollination-then the issues.
  
  -I first clicked on About Us
  
  -About
  
  -About us in the nav bar
  
  -The Home Button. Then About Us.. I went through the site checking links
  
  -About. I really didn’t know who they are so that was my first choice to find out.
  
  -Bee a partner
• Did you find the site easy to navigate?
  
  -Yes, the site is very easy to navigate.
  
  -yes
  
  -Yes, however the back to top changes. Under Bee a Partner/Gardeners it says "back to the list", but then under/consumers is says ":return", then on Native Pollinators I had to scroll back to the top. This should be uniform
  
  -Yes, seems easy to navigate.
  
  -Very easy
  
  -The site was very easy to navigate with the simple navigation bar at the top.
  
  -Yes
  
  -Yes, although I got a little mixed up with the sub menus on the nav bar at first. I liked the links to sub-pages on the main category pages - helped keep you from getting too lost.
  
  -very easy..
  
  -I found the site very easy to navigate. Topics are clearly defined with obvious submenus that appear in a vertical navigation when necessary.
  
  -yes
• Were the pages interesting?
  
  -The pages are interesting but there isn't a lot of information on some of them. There must be more information available out there on the WWW than appears here even though it may be controversial.
  
  -yes in sort way
  
  -I am not very interested in pollination, haven't thought about it much, so not very interested.
  
  -Yes, photos helped, however noticed several repeating photos throughout the site.
  
  -I looked forward to see what each page would look like, finding the site easy on the eye, and a little bit fascinating.
  
  -The pages were very interesting because I know so little about bees even though we see them all the time. It was interesting to read up on the pollinator issues and habitats.
  
  -Yes
  
  -Yes -- not a topic I'm interested in spending a lot of time reading about personally, but I liked the changing photos and the overall look of the site was pleasant...
  
  -That's subjective.. I'm not interested in the topic, so no, the information was boring. but the site is great! it's gorgeous.
  
  -Yes, the pages were quite interesting with a lot of information but broken down in attractive, readable chunks. Really cute beehive bullet points too.
  
  -yes, very educational and the content is presented well.
• After viewing the site, do you know how you personally can help improve pollination?
  
  -Yes, though I knew this before viewing the site.
  
  -yes there is a lot I did not know about it
  
  -I know that I can volunteer, perhaps the "contact us" should link somewhere useful. I can Bee a consumer.
  
  -Yes, lots of information on the Bee-A-Partner consumer page
  
  -Yes.
  
  -Yes, by providing necessary food to create a supportive environment such as planting their favorite types of flowers and avoiding ones that are toxic.. Also, providing water is crucial as well as shelter where they can temporarily hide form the elements.
  
  -Yes
  
  -Yes, although the site content seems to "push" the idea of being a beekeeper -- not something everyone is likely to want to do.
  
  -nah, you've got it covered.
  
  -Yes. Besides providing donate/join links that are accessible from all pages, the information on how to reduce poisoning from pesticides is essential. I don’t think that a lot of home gardeners realize the impact that they and their gardens really have on the environment.
  
  -Yes, the consumer page lists several means an average person can improve and support pollination.
• What did you like best about the site?
  
  -The site is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. There is nothing complicated here.
  
  -pollinator issues
  
  -I like the flowers
  
  -I actually liked the couple of pages that had the jump links on the left side of the page. I really liked the gradients you used in the buttons, and the buttons actually look better than the small pictures that are in the same place on the other pages.
  
  -The bee and bee pollen type colors used in the site.
  
  -I really like the simplicity of the site, with the navigation bar at the top. It is also very easy to read which is great!
  
  -It was subdued and colorfull at the same time.
  
  -The color scheme
  
  -the color scheme. everything fits perfectly.
  
  -The design and graphics. It is really a visually appealing site as well as “beeing” really informative. :) Well done.
  
  -The presentation.
• What suggestions for improvement do you have?
  
  -I wasn't quite clear on why the Google search link was present on each page. Also the dotted border around the Donate, Join and Contact Us links just looked fuzzy, not inviting.
  
  -more graphics
  
  -More text where there is open space, or put in an illustration (however there are already many graphics).
  
  -More text on the home page, if not possible, rearrange it so you don't have as large of an empty space, and I'm sure you already know that you currently don't have any news on the news page.
  
  - In my window, I could not see the last (to the right) in the navigation bar completely. It could fit this window a little better.
  
  -I did find it awkward that the Contact Us Page was not in the navigation bar, bu directly under it. I think it would be best suited in the navigation bar.
  
  -Calendar acted kind of weird.
  
  -I think I would put either more information, or something a little more "eye catching" on the index page.
  
  -fill the pages a bit more. the content seems a bit weak. Bee a partner >> Growers/Consumers pages, as well as Native Pollinators page are huge, so they're notable exceptions to this comment.
  
  -None.
  
  -None.
• Were there any links that did not work, images that did not load, typos?
  
  -No, the mechanics of the site are solid.
  
  -all work
  
  -On the In the News page it says "Click on link or pdf to download. " but there is no link or download here.
  
  -Not that I noticed
  
  - Not that I found.
  
  -I didn't notice any malfunctions going through the site.
  
  -Calendar acted kind of weird.
  
  -Not that I saw.
  
  -all the onsite links worked. I didn't check every page, though. since you have the same menu on every page, if you made a mistake at some point then it's entirely possible you missed correcting one (leaving a broken link). Those are the most difficult to find, that's why I prefer to load the menu with JavaScript. though PHP/ServerSideCode is the only "browser-safe" way to do that.
  
  -At first I thought that the In the news links were broken or missing but then I realized that they just don’t have any yet.
  
  -No
• Could you find the online form to join the organization?
  
  -Yes, the Join link is present on every page, hard to miss.
  
  -top left of the site above the links donate & contact us
  
  -I went through all the top nav links before I found the small box for join or donate. This took a second and maybe there should be other links within the site that automatically go to these pages.
  
  -Yes, just clicked on "join", very easy to find
  
  -Yes, on the right of the pages, the “join” link, underneath the header menu.
  
  -Yes, it was easily placed right under the navigation bar.
  
  -Yes, Join button was easy to see.
  
  -Yes - I saw the link in the upper right column to "Join".
  
  -as you know, it's at the top right [the link to it], just below the primary menu.. actually, I kinda like the micro menu, it looks nice.
  
  -Yes, I saw the link.
  
  -Yes, clicked the Join button on every page.
• Did you find the calendar?
  
  -Yes, the calendar page is easy to find and easy to read. There wasn't much there but this is a new site
  
  -kind of
  
  -I found the calendar a little strange. It is simply a list, which if you click then opens then finally an outside link takes me there.
  
  -Yes, easy to find and easy to read.
  
  -It opens very slow, and not much there yet.
  
  -Yes, the calendar was easy to read for me.
  
  -Yes, the scrolling action confused me.
  
  -Yes -- not sure I like the Agenda view, but if events are spaced out it may be better than a monthly calendar, for example.
  
  -it was easy to read, but personally I prefer the table layout (the printed-wall-calendar format).
  
  -Yes, I was curious right away because I had thought of using the Google calendar for the SoCoFoSo site but it was decided that a simple table would meet out needs and allow for additional at a glance info. I still like the simplicity and clarity of the Google calendar I think much better.
  
  -Yes to both questions.
• Could you find the online donation page? Would anything on the website discourage you from donating to this organization?
  
  -The donation link is obvious on every page. I don't know that I read anything on the site that would compel me to donate. The ethos of the demise of the honeybee was missing. Science is technical and factual but the art of getting donations must appeal to emotions and this site doesn't do that.
  
  -top left of the site above the links join us & contact us
  
  -I found the donate page, if they need donations they could state a better case as to why someone should donate. It is a lovely site but I dont have a feeling that they need my help or why.
  
  -Easy to find the form, you may also want to give an address where somebody could just mail a check if they weren't comfortable donating online.
  
  -Yes, right next to the “join” link. There was nothing to discourage me from donating.
  
  -Yes, it was right under the navigation bar labeled "Donate". I could easily pick it out. Nothing would discourage me from donating since I am an advocate for the bees.
  
  -Yes, and no.
  
  -Yes; Not particularly, although it might be nice to know more about what they would be doing with the donations, specifically
  
  -good question. no, nothing jumps out.
  
  -Yes I found the donation page easily. No I would not be discouraged from donating, I think the website is very informative in the plight of sustainable bee pollination.
  
  -Yes to the first question, no to the second.
• Would you return to this site?
  
  -This is a very nice site and very well constructed. It needs to increase the level of scholarship and information to be more useful.
  
  -sometime when I''ll done with this class
  
  -I may return for information on bees and pollination. Otherwise probably not.
  
  -Since I'm not interested in the topic, sorry, but no
  
  -Yes, I would want to continue following the bee pollen issues.
  
  -I would return to this site if the news and calendar where updated frequently.
  
  -Yes, it is interesting.
  
  -Yes, if it was something I was interested in. I agree that it's a concern, but probably not something I'll be directly/actively involved in.
  
  -honestly, no. ;] you have to ask?
  
  -Yes, I would return. Although the site is not crowded or busy in the least, there is still a lot of information within and linked to the site that might be read during different visits.
  
  -Yes. It's a resource for me and I'll pass it on to my friends.
• Are you aware of other site(s) that serve the same function as this site does?
  
  -No, I'm not aware of any other similar sites.
  
  -not
  
  -No
  
  -No
  
  -NO.
  
  -Not that I know of.
  
  [no answer]
  
  -No -- just the sites you've linked to on the links page
  
  -no.
  
  -No, I am not aware of other sites that might serve this function without searching the net looking for one.
  
  -No.

Summary

The tone and feel of the site received favorable remarks such as light, friendly, calm, clean, nature toned with one tester stating that the color scheme reminded them of honey. The general consensus of our testing group seemed to be that the site was easy to navigate, topics were easy to locate with no outstanding typos, broken links or images. The Calendar page received mixed results regarding its usage. Most of the suggestions made pointed to the lack of or limited content/text. The testers interests with regards to returning to the site varied from those interested in the topic and wanting to follow the issues/news to those whom bee pollination holds no interest for them.

Changes to be implemented based on the Site Survey: The client will add content.