Harlot Redesign ProjectPROJECT REQUIREMENTS | DESIGN 673 | AUTUM 2010

Design Team • MollyBryant• AllenCochran• GabeTippery

Current www.HarlotOfTheArts.org pictured on the left

Site RequirementsThis document will outline the technical, business, and brand requirements for the redesign of www.harlotofthearts.org

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MOLLY BRYANT

MollyreceivedherBachelordegreeinInteriorDesignfromBowlingGreenStateUniversityin2006.SheiscurrentlypracticingcommercialdesignatalocalarchitecturefirmhereinColumbus,Ohio.MollyisafirstyeargraduatestudentpursuingherMFAinDesignDevelopmentatTheOhioStateUniversity.Herresearchinterestsencompasshowinterior,graphic,andindustrialdesignworktogethertocreatehumaninteraction,brandedenvironment,andexperiencedesign.MollyisaprofessionalmemberoftheInternationalInteriorDesignAssociation(IIDA)andcurrentlyservesasdirectorfortheColumbuscitycenter.

ALLEN COCHRAN

AllenreceivedhisBachelorofFineArtsintheconcentrationsofPaintingandSculpturein2006fromTheUniversityofCincinnatiCollegeofDesign,Architecture,Art,andPlanning.Followinghisundergraduatecareer,AllenworkedastheGalleryCoordinatoroftheArtWorksTimeWarnerCableGalleryforayear.In2007,AllenwasrecruitedtoworkatTheUniversityofCincinnatiFoundationasaneventproducerandgraphicdesigner.HeisnowpursuinghisMasterofFineArtsatTheOhioStateUniversityindesign.Currently,AllenistakingclassesandteachingcoursesintheDesignDepartment.HeexpectstoGraduatein2012.Allenenjoyscollaboratingonprojects,surfingtheinternet,watchingmovies,andreadinginhissparetime.

Formoreinformationortocontact,checkoutILookGoodInDesign,theresearchblogatallenjcochran.com.

GABE TIPPERY

GabereceivedhisBachelorofScienceinInteriorSpaceDesignfromTheOhioStateUniversityin2009.HeisnowaGraduateTeachingInstructorandMFAStudentinTheOhioStateUniversityDepartmentofDesignwithanexpectedgraduationinthewinterof2012.HiscurrentresearchinterestsinvolveSocialLearningTechnologiesinStudioBasedEducation.GabeisalsoaCertifiedRecordingEngineer,avidcyclingadvocate,musician,acommittedpartnerandfather,andhefirmlybelievesthatabioshouldalwaysbewritteninthird-person.

Gabe’sonlinepresenceisevolvingatgabetippery.com

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Project Charter

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Goals and strategiesThedesignteam’svisualcommunicationskillscoupledwiththeunderstandingofinformationarchitecturewillachievethefollowinggoalsfortheHarlotonlinepublication:

• Generatemoreonlineactivityandretainmoreusersinbetweenjournalreleases.

• Createastrongeronlinepresencethroughinteractivecomponentssuchaswikiandblogpostingsforboththepublic“realworld”andacademicaudiences.

• RevamptheoveralllookandfeeloftheHarlotsitetoreadmoreasadigitalmeetingspaceandlessasanacademicjournal,thereforefacilitatingtheclient’sintentiontocreateanewformofpublicintellectualismthroughsocialmedia.

ThesegoalswillbeaccomplishedbyredesigningandrestructuringthecurrentHarlotwebsite.Afinalclickableprototypeandplanforthefutureofthenewwebsitewillbepreparedasafinaldeliverabletotheclient.

How will creating this web site support your mission?Insupportofourmission,thecreationofthiswebsitewillactasatactictocreatecommunicationbetweenourclient,theirstakeholders,constituents,andmostimportantlytheenduser.Inaddition,thecreationofawebsitewillhelpfacilitateaneducationalexperienceforourteam(asyoungwebdesigners)andourclient(aspersonsinterestedinbuildingtheironlinepresence).

Design team’s missionTeamMFAwesomestrivestoprovidehighcaliberdesignserviceswhilekeepingtheenduserinmind.Webelievetheoverallsuccessofawebsiteismeasuredbytheeaseofuser-interaction.TeamMFAwesomecommunicatesopenlywiththeclientthroughouttheentiredesignprocesstobetterunderstandtheirneeds.Throughourdesignservices,wewillassistinthebetterunderstandingofwebsites,theirfunction,andausers-interactionwithaparticularsite.TeamMFAwesomesupportsnewpossibilitiesandinsightsthatourclients,stakeholders,andconstituentsmaybringtoourdesignprocess.

Client’s MissionHarlotisadigitalmagazineandwebforumdedicatedtoprovokingplayfulandseriousconversationsaboutrhetoric—fromrealitytelevisiontopublicmonuments,religiontopopmusic,andeverythinginbetween.Asanetrootscampaigninrhetoricalliteracy,Harlotpromotescriticalresponsetotheendlessstreamsofsubtlypersuasivecommunicationthatsurrounduseveryday.Harlotbelievesthatrhetoricalanalysisandproductioncanhelpustobetterunderstandandmoreeffectivelyandethicallyinfluenceourcommunitiesandworld.AndsoHarlotoffersaspaceforrelevant,accessiblecriticismandcollaborativemeaning-making.

Project Charter (cont’d)

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What are the two or three most important goals for the site?• Generatemoreonlineactivityandretainmoreusersin

betweenjournalreleases.

• Createastrongeronlinepresencethroughinteractivecomponentssuchaswikiandblogpostingsforboththepublic“realworld”andacademicaudiences.

• RevamptheoveralllookandfeeloftheHarlotsitetoreadmoreasadigitalmeetingspaceandlessasanacademicjournal,thereforefacilitatingtheclient’sintentiontocreateanewformofpublicintellectualismthroughsocialmedia.

How will you measure the success of your site?Thesuccessofthesitewillbemeasuredbythefeedbackreceivedfromtheuser-testingofthefinalprototype.Forfuturemeasuringandevaluating,recommendationswillbemadetocomparebeginninganalyticstofutureanalytics.Analyticswillbeinstalledifnoanalyticsarecurrentlyinplace.Overall,thehappinessandfeedbackoftheclientandbothregularandnewuserswilldeterminethenewsite’ssuccess.

What do you want the audience to think or do after having visited your site?Ourredesignedwebsitewillleavetheuserwithanewfoundunderstandingofthesubjectmatterofrhetoric.Theuserwillbeabletoeasilyregistertobecomeasubscribertothesitewheretheycanthenparticipateinthecommunicationwithotherusers.Theywillbeabletocontributetheirowninformationtothesiteandhelpexpandtheknowledgebankofrhetoricalscience.TheuserwillfindthatHarlotisrelevant,interesting,anduptodatewithcurrenttheoriesandpracticesintherhetoricalsciences.

What web-related strategies will you use to achieve those goals?Strategiesofuser-centeredparticipatorydesignmethodswillbeusedtoachievetheprojectgoals.Thedesignteamwillgatherinformationfromuserinputandusertestingtovalidatethedesign.ThedesignteamwillalsoconductcomparativestudieswithcompetitorstotheHarlotjournal.CurrentconventionsofwebusabilityprovidedbyYale,Neilson,Tufte,Garrett,andKrugwillbeappliedthroughoutallphasesoftheproject.

Who is the primary audience for the web site?Asdefinedbyclients:

• Hip,notnecessarilyyoung,butculturallyrelevantusers

• Notnecessarilyliberal

• Studentsandrealworlduserscommunicatingtogetherfreelyinthisdigitalmeetingspace

• Userswhomayalsolikeslate.com,adbusters,orbitch.com

Inadditiontotheabovestatedgoals,TeamMFAwesomewillprovideresearchandinsightsintoassistingtheclientinunderstandingandmoreclearlydefininganinitialtargetaudiencefortheirwebsite.

Technical Requirements

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Operational Requirements

• Technicalrequirementsmustmeettheopen-sourcesoftwaredevelopmentprogram,OpenJournalSystems.

• Otherwise,therestrictionsarethatthesystemmustremainfluidtoworkinmultiplebrowsersbutnotonmultipleplatforms.

• ThebrowserusedintheofficeisInternetExplorer8.

• Peakusewillhappentwiceayear,onceintheautumn,andoncethespring,coincidingwiththereleaseoftheHarlotonlinemagazine.

• Theexpectedvolumeofuserswillspikewithpeakuse.

• Pageswillbetextbased.Therewillnotbesignificantdownloadtimes.

Functional Requirements

• ThewebsitemustmeetthebackendreuirementsoftheOpenSourceJournalProject.Inparticularthenavigationandwebsitecontrolsidebarmustbemaintainedinsomerelativeconsistancy.

• Asearchfuntionmustbeincludedthatindexesandsearchesthewebsite.

• Aloginfuntionmustincludedthatwillleadtothebackendsystemforreviewers,contributorsandeditors.Loginisnotforthepublictouse.

• ButtonsforRSSfeedsmustbemaintainedforAtom,RSS1.0,andRSS2.0

• Fontsizebuttomsmustbeincludedforsmall,medium,andlargefonts.

Business Requirements

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Requirements

• ThewebsiteshouldbethemaintouchpointforHarlottothepublic.

• ThewebsiteshouldsupportthemissionofHarlottoincreaseandadvancethepublicknowledgeofrhetoric.

• Theblogcurrentlyinplacewillberealignedwiththeiroranizationalmissionandupdatedtobeinsupportofthejournal.

• Thewikicurrentlyinplacewillberealignedwiththemissionandupdatedtoreflectanenhanancedcollaborationspace.

• RecommendationsontheuseofsocialmediawillbeconsideredsoastobettermarketHarlotandthejournal.

• Recommendationsonredefiningthelogowillbeproposedwhenredesigningthesitesoastomakethelogomoreuniformandusablethroughoutcollateralmarketingmaterials.

• RecommendationsonURLchangeswillbeproposedwhenredesigningthesitesoastostayconsistentwithamentalmodelthatpeoplehaveofthewebsite.

Design Requirements

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Requirements

• Basedoncurrenttrends,establishanewgraphicidentifyforthewebsite.

• Givevisualweighttothemoreimportantareassuchasthejournalandtheprojectdescriptionandsecondaryemphasistotheblogandwiki.

• Alterthecolorstomakeitmoreinvitingandcontemporaryratherthangothicanddarkasitcurrentlyis.

• Throughtheuseofthedescribedprimary,secondary,andmonotonepalettes,Harlotcanexpandtheirnewcolorpalettetobusinessmaterialsoutsideofthiswebsite.

• Theuseofred,whilediscouragedbyHarlot,wasincludedhereonlyasahighlightcolor.It’suseshouldbeminimalenoughthatitwillnotdrawtheusertorecognizethetraditionalvaluesystemassociatedwithHarlot.

Additional Considerations

• Color,visualcolorweight,andlogorecommendationsfollowthispage.

Design Requirements

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Palette

PRIMARY SECONDARY MONOTONE

Primary Colors

• Together,withblackandwhite,theprimarypaletteshouldbethemaincolorsofthewebsite,navigation,andoverallgraphiclayout.

Secondary Colors

• Thesecolorsshouldbeusedathighlights,topointoutimportanttextfeaturesorspecialitemsonthewebsite.

• Notethattheclientdiscouragedtheuseofredsoweintentionallyremovedthatfromtheregularprimarypalette.

Monotone Colors

• Thesecolorscanbeutillizedalongwitheithertheprimaryorsecondary;howeverhavebeenincludedhereprimarilyforprintcollateralmaterialsandsinglecolorpressprintingjobs.

Color Appearance

Thischartrepresentshowtheprimaryandsecondarycolorsshouldbemixed.Blueshouldremainthemajority.BlackandWhiteshouldhaveastrongpresencebutremainsecondarytoBlue.marroon,yellow,andgreenshouldbeusedforspotsofcolororhighlights.

Logo Design Recommendations

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Recommendations

• Forthcoming

Logo