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Internet Based Data Collection and Dissemination Techniques

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Title: Internet Based Data Collection and Dissemination Techniques


1
Internet Based Data Collection and Dissemination
Techniques
  • Dr. Mark Rodekohr
  • Energy Information Administration
  • Nepal January 2000

2
Workshop Overview
  • Session 1 Web Site Design/Creating A Site
  • Session 2 Site Evaluation and Management

3
Overview Site Design
  • Define the purpose of the site
  • Define the users
  • File Structure
  • ISP versus Ownership
  • Hardware and Software issues

4
Site Design Nielsen
  • Nielsen analysis is based on observations of
    usability tests web about 400 users using many
    different Web sites over last six years.
  • Two important rules are
  • User centric design rather than corporate centric
    design
  • Design for an optimal user experience under real
    estate conditions
  • Users should not have to care how your company is
    organized

5
Usability as Barrier to Entry
  • Web users are getting more impatient every year
  • If a site doesn't provide immediate
    gratification, they leave.
  • It may seem unfair that old sites with bad
    usability can beat new sites. But humans can
    learn anything and will prefer to stick with what
    they know, even if it was hard to learn in the
    beginning.

6
Nielsen Rules
  • Above the fold Content of interest to the user
    should dominate your Web pages, especially above
    the fold (at least 50 of Web page's design
    preferably 80 percent). Navigation should
    consist of lt20 of space for destination pages
  • Usability studies have shown that fast response
    times are the most important design criterion for
    Web pages.
  • lt .1 second instantaneous
  • lt 1 sec. uninterrupted flow through an
    information space
  • lt 10 seconds limit to keep users attention on
    the dialog

7
Nielsen Rules II
  • Style Sheets use them have one central group
    develop them.
  • Frames Just say no.
  • Credibility Good-looking clean design equals
    credibility.
  • Printing Provide printable versions of any long
    documents.
  • Conclusion Simplicity is the goal of page
    design. Users focus on content.

8
Nielsen Rules III
  • Users get very annoyed when they move between
    pages on a site and find drastically varying
    designs at every turn. Consistency is the key to
    usable interaction design
  • You cannot create a good website out of content
    optimized for any of these older media.
  • The only way to get great Web content is to have
    your staff develop the content for the Web first

9
Neilsens Top 10 Web Design Mistakes - I
  • Using Frames
  • Gratuitous Use of Bleeding-Edge Technology
  • Scrolling Text, Marquees, and Constantly Running
    Animations
  • Complex URLs
  • Orphan Pages

10
Neilsens Top 10 Web Design Mistakes - II
  • Long Scrolling Pages
  • Lack of Navigation Support
  • Non-Standard Link Colors
  • Outdated Information
  • Overly Long Download Times

11
Learn From Mistakes
  • In Jared Spool's study of 15 large commercial
    sites users could only find information 42 of
    the time
  • A study from Zona Research found that 62 of Web
    shoppers have given up
  • Forrester Research audited 20 major sites,
    finding 51 compliance with simple Web usability
    principles

12
Site Purpose
  • Not no why is the number one problem, all right.
    Neilsen is amazed how many websites are built
    simply because some executive told somebody to do
    it without telling them what the site should
    achieve.
  • Most companies should start their web design
    project by finding out ways in which they can
    provide true customer value on their site.

13
Purpose of Government Web Sites
  • Generally they do not exist to sell something
    (although some try).
  • At some levels the main purpose is communicate
    policies, politics etc., or to develop a debate
    on changes in policies.
  • Web sites are ideal for this purpose as they are
    widely available (although there are some issues
    about this)

14
Purpose of Government Statistical Sites
  • Again they are generally not in the business of
    selling things (a good example of a bad site that
    tries to do this is the World Bank
    http//www.worldbank.org/)
  • Overall purpose to distribute the data and
    analysis products that the agency produces in a
    user friendly manner.

15
When Developing A Site Purpose Avoid
  • Internally-focused sites cause companies to end
    up with home pages full of mission statements,
    photos of the CEO, and corporate history we can
    easily substitute agency for company in this
    statement.
  • Do not build a site that your top executives will
    love they are not the target audience.

16
Summary Design Considerations
  • Scope
  • Breadth
  • Depth
  • Time
  • Format
  • Content
  • Accuracy
  • Authority
  • Currency
  • Uniqueness
  • Links made to other resources
  • Quality of writing
  • Graphic and multimedia design
  • Purpose
  • Audience
  • Reviews
  • Workability
  • User friendliness
  • Required computing environment
  • Searching
  • Browsability and organisation
  • Interactivity
  • Connectivity
  • Cost

17
ISP versus Ownership
  • This decision depends on several factors
    including
  • Expected traffic levels.
  • Availability of networks - it is one thing to add
    a few servers to a existing network and yet
    another to create a whole new network with
    internet servers.
  • A number of questions apply to both ownership
    versus buying a ISP which are discussed in the
    following slides.

18
Service Evaluation I
  • Never - ever trust what a sales person tells you,
    seek lists of current clients and call them.
  • Unix - NT or both servers is a question. Both
    offer different functionality and better suited
    for different purposes.
  • Distance between the servers and internet
    backbone lines is critical in the determination
    of bandwidth availability.
  • Connection to backbone T1, T3 or whatever is the
    case should be determined.

19
Service Evaluation II
  • Certification of ISP staff is important.
  • Support is a issue is there 24/7 support?
  • Administration is a issue can your site be
    remotely administered via the internet by
    approved staff?
  • Security what is provided, what is the track
    record of the security system?
  • Support is their 24/7 support?

20
Service Evaluation III
  • The final choice depends on economics for low
    volume sites it is best to start with a ISP and
    then if traffic increases reconsider.
  • The final cost of ownership depends heavily on
    staff time and is not as much dependent on
    hardware and software costs.

21
Hardware I
  • The choice between Unix or NT is important. We
    use both.
  • Unix is probably best if all you are doing is
    serving up static html or text files and
    pictures.
  • NT clearly has more functionality but does not
    serve files as efficiently.

22
Hardware II
  • It is much more important to invest in memory and
    hard drive speed than processor speed. Therefore
    instead of buying the fastest processor spend
    money on memory and fast hard drives.
  • To really have a bullet proof site you are going
    to need three servers - your primary web server,
    a hot backup and a test machine.

23
Hardware III
  • A basic Unix (reconditioned Sparc 20) can be
    purchased for as little as 2,000
  • A basic dual processor NT machine will cost more.

24
Software
  • This can be expensive depending on how many web
    authors need special software.
  • You will need software including
  • Web Server
  • Ftp Server
  • Operating System
  • Authorship Software
  • Search Engine
  • Email listserv system (if you wish to set up this
    service)

25
Web Server Software
  • Apache is free and the most widely used however
    it is difficult to administer and may or may not
    have remote administration capacity.
  • Netscape Enterprise Server comes with a built in
    search engine and can be remotely administered.
  • Others like OReilly, Microsofts IIS (only for
    NT servers), NCSA, Oracle and IBM are options.

26
Netscape Server Remote Screen
27
Ftp Server
  • Wsftp is free in some cases but many alternatives
    exist. This is necessary just for uploading
    your own files even if you do not wish to run a
    public ftp site.
  • We use NcFtpd which has extensive logging
    capabilities and is very efficient.

28
Authorship Software
  • There is a huge variety of authorship software
    ranging from Front Page to Hot Dog.
  • For cost reasons we tend to use MS Word, Adobes
    Acrobat and a standard text editor.

29
Authorship Software
  • MS Word in Office 2000 is a very good html
    production tool although it does produce some
    bloated code.
  • Adobes acrobat when installed after MS Office
    can produce complete documents with a single key
    stroke.
  • Even with all these advances a simple text editor
    may be necessary to remove or modify some of the
    code that word produces.

30
Search Engines
  • This can be a expensive investment in excess of
    30,000 for a large site.
  • The most widely used is the Verity engine
    (included as part of the Netscape Enterprise
    Server). We use it but are not happy with it.
  • Google offers a free engine and more robust
    service for a fee. We like the Google engine.

31
Search Engines
  • Search engines are widely used by customers but
    require careful tuning and updating.
  • There are free search engines available but you
    often get what you pay for.
  • We use the Verity engine which is difficult to
    maintain and does not do a good job indexing PDF
    files. By the time I give this presentation we
    should have switched to the Google engine.

32
Search Engines
  • All search engines use proprietary code to rank
    documents and therefore control of the ranking is
    difficult.
  • Google uses information that matches keywords to
    where users finally end up and how much they
    spend on a page so it lets users determine the
    ranking.

33
Lyris Listserv
34
Conclusion
  • At this point we have
  • Identified the purpose of the site and the user
    community
  • Reviewed usability studies and what they have
    found with regard to page and site design
  • Developed a file structure
  • Have chosen the hardware, software and vendor
  • Now we are ready to start site construction

35
References
  • Webreference.com - http//www.webreference.com/
  • Web Developers Library - http//www.stars.com/
  • Jacob Neilserns Website - http//www.useit.com/
  • Web Style Guide - http//info.med.yale.edu/caim/ma
    nual/contents.html
  • Server Watch - http//serverwatch.internet.com/
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