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Lu Xing Emerson College

Safe Fish, Smart Baby

Fish Consumption Advice for Pregnant Women

www.safefishsmartbaby.com

Executive Summary

Fish is an important component of a pregnant woman’s diet because it can supply omega-3 fatty acids, a key nutrient that can greatly benefit an infant’s brain development. Pregnant women are therefore recommended to eat at least two servings of fatty fish per week. However, fish can be contaminated by mercury. Very high levels of mercury can damage the development of the brain and nervous system of an infant. Pregnant women are advised to limit their fish intake and to avoid certain types of fish. The fragmented information that pregnant women have received about the nutritional value and health risks associated with fish consumption resulted in confusion and misperceptions. Studies showed that many pregnant women needlessly reduced their overall fish consumption. Besides, pregnant women perceive the cost of fish and a lack of fish preparation skills as barriers toward their consumption of fish. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the confusion among pregnant women and decrease their perceived barriers, so that they are more likely to consume the proper amount of healthy fish to benefit their baby. Research shows that the probability of using the Internet for health-related information among pregnant women is high.

My aim for this coursework is to create a credible and professional website that provides clear fish consumption advice, fish coupons, and fish preparation skills for pregnant women, to help them make informed fish consumption decisions, so that they can have a smart and healthy baby. I developed my website through seven steps: First, I created several personas and did a need assessment to understand my target audiences. Second, I conducted a competitive analysis to see what other websites are out there offering similar services to my website, and to see what I could borrow or do differently from them. Third, I made my design decision based on the audience analysis and competitive analysis. Fourth, I did a mock-up of a homepage and a subpage of my website. Fifth, I developed an evaluation plan for my website. The last two steps that I came up with are a marketing plan and budget for my website.

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http://www.safefishsmartbaby.com/


Background and Specific Aims

Fish is an important component of a pregnant woman’s diet because it can supply omega-3 fatty acids, a key nutrient that can greatly benefit an infant’s brain development, immune function and visual acuity (The Nutrition Source, n.d.). Pregnant women are therefore recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to eat at least two servings of fish per week (USDA, 2005). According to a national survey, only about 25 percent of pregnant women in the US were following the recommendation (Committee on Nutrient Relationships in Seafood, 2007). However, encouraging pregnant women to increase their fish consumption is a complex issue; not only should they eat more fish, but they must eat the correct types of fish. Fish can be contaminated by mercury. Very high levels of mercury can damage nerves in adults and disrupt development of the brain and nervous system of an infant (Mozaffarian & Rimm, 2006). In order to minimize mercury exposure, in 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a joint advisory, advising pregnant women to eat two servings of fish per week, including up to one serving per week of white (albacore) tuna, and advising that women avoid four fish species higher in mercury: shark, swordfish, tilefish and king mackerel (FDA & EPA, 2004).

The fragmented information that pregnant women have received about the nutritional value and health risks associated with fish consumption resulted in confusion and misperceptions. Studies showed many pregnant women needlessly reduced their overall fish consumption (Frithsen & Goodnight, 2009). Besides, pregnant women perceive the cost of fish and a lack of fish preparation skills as barriers toward their consumption of fish (Hicks, Pivarnik & McDermott, 2008). Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the confusion among pregnant women and decrease their perceived barriers, so that they are more likely to consume the proper amount of healthy fish to benefit their baby.

I believe a website that provides clear fish consumption advice, fish coupons, and fish preparation skills might be an effective approach to address this problem. Research shows that the probability of using the Internet for health-related information among pregnant women is high, since 64 percent of women and 70 percent of adults in 18-49 age group look online for health related information (Fox & Jones, 2009). Therefore, my goal for this coursework is to create a credible, clear, and professional website that will help pregnant women make informed fish consumption decisions, so they can have a smart and healthy baby.

Potential Benefits and Risks to My Website

Benefits: Pregnant women can use this website as a supplemental information source and a

clear reference regarding fish consumption advice.

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Pregnant women can use this website as a starting point to focus on better nutrition during pregnancy.

Pregnant women can use this website to better communicate with their doctors about proper nutrition during pregnancy.

Pregnant women can increase their confidence about fish cooking skills by using this website.

Pregnant women might be able to cut their fish budget by using this website, so that they are more willing to consume fish, which will ultimately benefit their baby.

Risks: There is always the possibility that some users will misinterpret information on

the website and will end up making harmful decisions. There might be some pregnant women who are living with certain diseases, which

don’t allow them to eat fish. However, they may choose to eat fish because of the information provided on the website.

There might also be some privacy risks. If the website is attached by hackers, the information of registered users might be revealed.

Research and Design Methods

Target Audience AnalysisUnderstanding the target audience is the first and the most important step toward building my website. The primary target audience of my website is women ages 18-45, who are planning for pregnancy or who are currently pregnant. The secondary audience for my website is nursing mothers, since their fish eating guidelines are the same as pregnant women. Besides, husbands and other family members of pregnant women and health providers who need to provide nutrition advice for pregnant women might also become my website users.

Among all the methods to understand my target audiences, persona is a great way. Ranging anywhere from a paragraph to a couple pages in length, personas provide enough detail about relevant characteristics of my target audience, which can offer valuable insights for my design decision. Persona works through the power of storytelling. In order to create personas for my website, I first read blogs of pregnant women to get a better sense of their daily life. I tried to create different personas for my website, so they can be representative of my target populations. I also created some scenarios for each persona, so that I can better understand under what circumstances web users will come to the website.

Personas and Scenarios for My Website

Christina lives in Maine. She is 30 years old. She works as a high school English teacher. She and her husband have been

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trying to get pregnant for almost two years and this is the first time she got pregnant. She is in her fifth month of pregnancy. Her husband loves her very much and is very supportive. She is so happy and she wants to do everything right for the baby. She talks to her friends, family members and her doctors about their pregnant experience. She reads a lot of books and magazines about how to be a good mother. Although she tries so hard to get herself informed, she is confused and stressed because she heard different, even conflicting, advice from different people. As a teacher, she used computers a lot to search for information. One day, Christina went to work. Her colleague who has two children told her that fish is beneficial to infant brain development, so Christina decided to eat more fish, because she wants to have a smart baby. However, when she read a newspaper article that said something about mercury contamination, she began to worry about the safety of fish intake. She turned to the Internet to look for information, which brought her to my website.

Jane is 26 years old, living in California. Originally from Thailand, she came to the U.S. three years ago with her husband. Jane doesn’t have a job and she is a full-time housewife. Two months ago, she had an emergency c-section and gave birth to her baby over a month prematurely. The baby was below the average weight and Jane thinks he is fragile. Jane felt guilty and thought she might do something wrong during pregnancy and she became over concerned of her baby. She holds him all the time, talks to him all the time, and plays with him all the time. Her mother came to the U.S. to take care of her after the birth of the baby, cooking for her and doing other housework. Since her mother is preparing the food, Jane wants to make sure her mother provides the proper nutrition for her and her baby. She usually searches for information using the Internet. Jane has a college degree, but her English is

not very good. One day, Jane wanted to know the proper nutrition that she should provide to her baby and some different kinds of recipes her mother can try. She started researching nutrition-related information and came across a pregnancy blog that blogged my website. She decided to click through to read more.

Tina is a sophomore in high school. She is 16 years old. She lives in Boston. She is a good student in class and is very popular among guys. She loves her boyfriend and thought she was ready for sex, but she never knew how to protect herself. She got pregnant accidentally. Her boyfriend broke up with her because he was too scared of being a new dad. Tina was devastated and didn’t know what to do. She

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hates the baby so much and really doesn’t want to carry it. But she grew up in a family that is very against abortion. Her parents don’t want her to abort the baby, instead, they want her to keep the baby and want the baby to be healthy. They try to get themselves educated about how to take care of their daughter. Tina became depressed and irritated after pregnancy. Her mother wanted to cook some delicious food to cheer her up.

Sam is 29 years old. He lives in Philadelphia. He is a construction worker. His wife is pregnant but he barely has time to stay home with her and take care of her, because he needs to make more money to raise the whole family. He is doing different kinds of part-time jobs during his spare time. He is also trying to collect coupons, and thinking of other ways to save money. His reading ability is high-school level and he has basic computer skills. Sam knows that his wife likes fish a lot, but fish is too expensive. One day, he was wondering how he could get fish at a lower price. He asked his friends if they had any tips regarding this, and one of his friends recommended my website.

Design Implications from PersonasAfter going through the thinking process of creating those personas, I discovered several design implications: First, the overall look of my website should be professional, so that my website can be presented credibly, since Christina was confused about conflicting advice and was not sure which information source she should believe. Second, besides expert-generated content, my website should also include user-generated content, since Christina likes to ask her friends and colleges about their pregnant experiences. Third, the reading level of my website should be high-school level, since Jane’s English is not good and Sam only has a high school diploma. Fourth, the tone of my content should express love and care of the baby, since all personas seek for nutrition information out of love. Fifth, the content of my website should include fish recipes that are easy to follow, since Jane’s mother is looking for good recipes. Last, the content of my website should include how to find cheap fish or how to eat fish at a low cost, since Sam is financially struggling.

Need Assessment

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The insights gained from personas are a great start, but I would like to conduct a need assessment to further understand my target users. In particular, a literature review and focus groups will be used in the need assessment of my target audience.

Since pregnancy is a special period of a woman’s life. Women might change their diet attitudes and behaviors during pregnancy. A literature review regarding pregnant women’s characteristics, their mindset change, their expectations of nutrition advice, their life changes, their concerns of babies and their information need will help me understand the target populations.

In addition to a literature review, six face-to-face focus groups will be conducted to understand my target populations and to seek answers to the following questions:

What is their current behavior of fish consumption? What is their current knowledge of the benefits and risks of fish eating? What are their perceived motivators and barriers toward fish consumption? What are their preferred information channels regarding fish consumption? What are their perceptions of online health information? What are their expectations of a website focused on fish consumption advice? What key words will they use for searching fish related information? Do they want to sign up for a website offering fish coupons? Do they want to sign up for updated fish recipes? How often do they want to receive related emails from the website? Will they be interested in other pregnant women’s stories regarding nutrition?

Each focus group will last approximately 1.5 hours and will have seven to nine participants. Three focus groups will be held in Boston, a coastal city, where fish are abundant and easy to obtain. The other three focus groups will be held in Dallas, an inland city, where fish are not as easy to get as in coastal cities. For each place, one focus group will be with Caucasians, one will be with African-American women, and the third one will be with a mix of Hispanic women and Asian women. Free dinner will be served and $50 cash will be given to each participant as an incentive and compensation for their participation. Participants for the focus groups will be recruited by using posters displayed at Boston- and Dallas-area obstetrics clinics, advertisements in local newspapers and in online classified advertisements. A phone number and an email address will be provided for interested pregnant women.

Competitive AnalysisTo develop a successful web site I also need to understand what other kinds of sites are out there offering similar services, knowledge and resources. A competitive analysis will help me achieve this goal. The aim of a competitive analysis is to examine the websites that directly compete with or are directly related to a website in order to learn from what they do well, avoid what they do poorly, and determine how to differentiate a website from competitors.

I located four competing sites by searching different combinations of the following two groups of keywords: “pregnant” “pregnancy” and “fish” “seafood” “dietary advice” “nutrition” “food” “mercury.”

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Although there are no websites that are very similar or close to what I want to design, each of the four websites is related to my website in different ways: 1) US EPA: It is a government website and EPA is the original source of fish advisory for pregnant women; 2) American Pregnancy Association: Although it is not designed for fish or food recommendations, it is a website designed specifically for pregnant women, the same target audience as my website; 3) Seafood Selector: Although the seafood recommendation on this website is out of ocean conservation consideration instead of health concerns, its idea and design can shed some light on my website design; and 4) Fish facts – WSDH: The content covered by this site is similar to what I want to cover.

I analyzed each competing site regarding twenty areas:

1. Purpose: How clear is the purpose of the site at a glance from name, tagline, and imagery?2.Target audience: Which population(s) does the website serve?3.Layout and navigation: How usable are the layout and navigation including labels and

menus?4.Currency: When was the content published and reviewed? Is it dated?5.Authors: Are authors listed? Are their credentials available? Is there an advisory board?6.Readability: Is the content easy to understand? What reading level is it?7.Language: Is there any confusing language, jargon, or abbreviations? 8.Organization: How informative is the home page? Are the purpose and the vision clearly

stated? 9.Branding: Is there branding, accreditation (HONcode or URAC), sponsorship, advertising,

or clinician involvement?10. Design: How professional is the design? Characterize it (modern, dated, crisp, …)11. Section organization: How many sections does the website have? What are they?12. Expert-generated content: What are the expert-generated components (text, graphics,

audio, video, blogs, directions/maps, ask the expert)?13. User-generated content: What are the user-generated components (discussion forums,

blogs, user-submitted videos, wikis, social bookmarking, ratings, reviews)?14. Policies: How are user-generated components managed, organized, or moderated?15. Registration: Does the website offer registration, profiles, or personalization and, if so,

what, when, and with what benefits?16. Add-ons: Can users sign up for supplemental features such as a mobile app or a

newsletter?17. Financial: Can users donate, buy, subscribe to, or join anything?18. Users: Is there any information about users, through stories or testimonials, or number of

users?19. Social media: Is social media used? Can content be shared?20. Overall assessment: What are the overall best and worst features of the site?

URL and Screen Shots of the Four Competing Sites (see next page)

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1) US EPA: http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm

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http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm


2) American Pregnancy Association: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/fishmercury.htm

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3) Seafood Selector – Environmental Defense Fund: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?

tagID=1521&s_src=ggad&s_subsrc=ss&gclid=CNfxw_X8sKUCFQjd4Aod1XzGYA

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4) Health Fish Guide – Washington State Department of Health: http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/oehas/fish/default.htm

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US EPAAmerican Pregnancy Association

Seafood Selector-EDF Fish Facts- WSDH

Purpose

Not very clear.The name is EPA, short for Environmental Protection Agency. Tagline is the full name. The picture is a flower, something related to environmental protection. However, it is hard to connect fish consumption advisory to environmental protection.

Very clear.The name is American pregnancy association.The image is a pregnant woman.The tagline is “Promoting Pregnancy Wellness”

I only focused on the “seafood selector” section.The name and the purpose of this webpage are very clear. The image is a school of fish, informative.

Clear.The name is “Fish Facts for Healthy Nutrition.” The tagline is “Eat fish, Be smart, Choose Wisely.”The image is a little confusing though. Instead of eating fish, it shows people are either fishing or holding a big fish in hand.

Target audience

Women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers and health providers.

Women who are concerned about pregnancy related issues: birth control, infertility, pregnancy, etc.Health professionals.

People who care about ocean conservation

All residents in Washington State

Layout & Navigation

Not very usable.It is just one webpage providing related information.

The layout is clear.However, the navigation is confusing. Labels

The layout is very clear.The labels are very intuitive and usable.

Not very usable or clear.Labels are confusing on the

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Other labels are about other environmental issues.

on the menu bar have different categories and are unparallel and unintuitive.

menus. Left navigation bar is not consistent with navigation menus on the home page.

Currency

Not sure when was the content published. No date.

The content is updated.

The latest update is today. Very fresh content.

No dates on the webpage.

Authors

Very credible.EPA and FDA, the government agencies, provide it.

Credible.Authors are listed and there is a medical advisory committee.

Credible.The author is a scientist and there is a photo of him on the landing page of this section.

Very CredibleThe information is provided by Washington State Department of Health.

Readability

Easy to understand.The reading level is 8th grade.

Not very easy to understand.The reading level is somewhere between 9th grade and 12th grade.

Very easy to understand.The reading level is 6th grade.

Easy to understand.The reading level is 7th grade.

LanguageThe language is clear and understandable.

Tend to use medical terms.

The language is clear and understandable.

The language is clear and understandable.

Organization

Not informative.The purpose and the vision are not clearly stated.

The homepage is informative. All topics are related to pregnancy issues.

The landing page is informative. The mission is put in a simple and clear sentence: “Help save the oceans and fishermen”

Clear and informative.

Branding No Ads of new pregnancy technology, food company, etc.Sponsors from supplement companies and other research

The organization, Environmental Defense Fund has earned Charity Navigator’s highest rating.

No.

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centers.

Design

Dated. Fonts are too small to read.

The design is professional to some extent, but there are ads on the top of the page and the name and logo are not prominent, which make it look like a blog.

The design is very professional, modern and crisp.

Not professional.Dated and sloppy.

Section organization

Five sections: a horizontal navigation bar, a vertical navigation bar, main content, links to other notes, and downloadable PDF in other languages.

Six sections: main content, about us, members (for health professionals), personalized products, discussion forum and a blog

More than six sections, including best choices of popular seafood, complete eco-ratings, health alert list, sushi best and worst, and donation.

Eight sections: healthy fish guide, health benefits of fish, advice for women and children, fish consumption advisory in WA, mercury advisory, etc.

Expert-generated content

Text and frequently asked questions.

Text, graphics, video, ask a doctor and a blog.

Text, graphics.They also use color to mark different recommendation levels, very clear and user-friendly.

Text and graphics.

User-generated content

No such content. Discussion forumCan ask questions online

Users can recommend and like it on Facebook.

No such content.

Policies

N/A Staff will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum.Staff have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

N/A N/A

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Registration

No Registration for the discussion forum.Membership login for health professionals.

No No

Add-ons No No No No

FinancialNo Can donate, but the

donation page is very hard to find.

Users can donate. The donation page is user-friendly.

No

UsersNo The blog is all about

pregnancy related stories.

It showed 1092 people liked it on Facebook.

No

Social Media

Yes, users can share the content on Delicious, Digg, Facebook and StumbleUpo, but the optional of sharing is not very prominent.

No It actively engages Facebook and Twitter. The promotion of its Facebook and Twitter profile come up high on the menu. The Twitter stream also shows up on the webpage.

No

Overall assessment Merits: Government-provided, very credible.Target audience is very clear.The section of frequently asked question is very helpful.Users can print out a PDF format of the information.Providing different versions in other languages.Faults:

Merits:The medical advisory board builds up its credibility.Diverse formats of expert-generated content: videos, online experts and a blog.Have user-generated content: a discussion forum.The blog make the website more personal and more relevant for the

Merits:Very professional design.Very clear layout and navigation.Using color to mark different healthy and risk levels.Providing a downloadable pocket guide.High involvement of social media.Have a face of the scientist.Faults:Can’t name one,

Merits:The content is very substantial and helpful, covering the fish guide, fish recipes, benefits of eating fish, risks of eating fish, etc.Providing information for people living in a specific region, because the species of fish may vary depending on where people live.Faults:

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The design is dated.Lack of user-generated content.

users.Faults:Too many Ads.The navigation and labels are very confusing.The content is not easy to understand.

pretty much a best practice.

The design is unprofessional.The labels and navigation bar are very confusing.

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Lessons Learned from the Competitive Analysis

Things to borrow: Including an advisory board and providing a face for each expert to make it more

credible, personal and interesting, like Seafood Selector did. Providing sections covering general fish eating guidelines, benefits of eating fish

and fish recipes, like WSHD. Including a section of frequently asked questions, like the US EPA. Using colors to mark different healthy and risk levels, like Seafood Selector. Incorporating social media to engage users in conversations, like Seafood Selector

did. Providing a downloadable pocket guide, like both Seafood Selector and WSHD

did. Providing materials in different languages, like US EPA.

Things to do better: Having a separate section for fish recipes. Including fish cooking videos from YouTube in fish recipe section. List the benefits of eating fish in a more clear way, including scientific evidence.

Providing a map and when users click on the region where they came from, they will be directed to websites of specific fish advisories for their region.

Things to do differently: Including another section of tips for finding affordable fish or fish coupons. Offering a sign-up function to allow users to sign up to receive updated fish

recipes and fish coupons. Including a function to allow users to rate the provided recipes. May include a mobile application.

Technology and ContentBased on the audience analysis and the competitive analysis, I made the following design decisions regarding the twenty areas I mentioned in the competitive analysis. (see the table on the next page)

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Decision Justification based on needs assessment

Justification based on competitive analysis

Purpose

The name of this website will be “Safe fish, smart baby.”The tagline will be “fish consumption advice for pregnant women”The image will be something about baby and fish.

Research showed pregnant women were very confused about current fish advice and needlessly reduced their fish consumption. The aim of this website is to provide clear fish consumption advice for pregnant women and promote their fish consumption for optimum pregnancy outcomes.

There is not a website out there serving this purpose.

Target audience

Pregnant women or women who are planning for pregnancy; Nursing mothers

They are the groups of people who have to pay special attention to fish consumption.

There are websites targeting this population, but no one is specifically about fish consumption advice.

Layout & Navigation

The horizontal navigation bar will include “home” “advisory board” “fish and health” “fish choices” “fish recipes” “fish coupons” “pocket guide” and a search barThe left navigation bar will include “fresh fish” “canned fish” “sport fish” and “sushi”

Target audience need clear fish consumption advice. They also perceive a lack of fish cooking skill and the cost of fish as barriers toward eating fish.

All competing websites have very credible sources, so featuring an advisory board is very important.“Fish and health” “fish eating guidelines” “fish choices” “pocket shopping guide” and “frequently asked questions” are borrowed from competing websites.

Currency

Content will include dates and will keep updated.

Target audience need to know the most recent advice.

Half of the competing websites don’t have dates on it. Keeping content updated will increase the website’s credibility.

Authors There will be an advisory board. Target audiences seek for All competing websites

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Technology and Content Decisions


credibility. have very credible sources, so featuring an advisory board is very important.

Readability

The reading level will be 6th – 7th

grade.Target audiences may not receive high education and their healthy literacy may be low.

The reading levels of competing sites are mostly 7 or above 7, which pose challenges for users to understand their content.

Language

The language will be very clear, no confusing language, jargon, or abbreviations.

Target audience may include people with low education level and people who speak English as their second language.

The language of most competing websites are clear and understandable

Organization

The organization of homepage will include name, tagline, navigation bars, and images

The homepage should be very clear and informative; otherwise first-time users will get confused.

The homepage of most competing websites are clear and informative.

Branding

No Ads. May include sponsorship from American Pregnancy Association and The Nutrition Source from Harvard.

Target audience will doubt the purpose of this website if advertisements are involved.

Most of them don’t have branding.

Design

The design will be modern and crisp.

Target audience will expect professional and crisp design.

Some of them are old and dated.

Section organization

See layout & navigation section See layout & navigation section

See layout & navigation section

Expert-generated content

Text, graphics (fish images) and video (fish cooking videos).Color will be used to mark different recommendation levels.

Target audiences need clear and intuitive advice.The usage of multimedia will make the content more interesting and attractive.

Using color to mark different recommendation levels are borrowed from competing websites.

User-generated content

Users will be able to rate the featured fish recipes and fish coupons. They can also submit their own fish recipes.

Target audiences may expect involvement with this website and interactions with other

One website has a discussion forum; others don’t have user-generated content.

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users.

Policies N/A N/A N/A

Registration

Users can sign up to get updated fish recipes and fish coupons.

Target audiences perceive a lack of fish cooking skills and the cost of fish as two barriers toward eating fish.

N/A

Add-ons

Users can sign up for a mobile application.

Users may go shopping with their smart phones, and they can get information immediately when they are confused about what fish to buy.

None of the competing websites have such feature.

Financial No This is not a cause that users want to donate.

N/A

Users

There will be stories of pregnant women on the homepage.Users can also like it on Facebook.

Users need a place to show their confusion and other pregnant women will know they are not the only one who is confused.

N/A

Social Media

The website will have a Facebook and a Twitter profile, to promote this website and communicate to users.Users can also share the content on Facebook.

Research shows many people in my target populations are on Facebook or Twitter. It is a good way to reach them.

One competing website used social media actively.

Overall assessment

The website will offer credible and clear fish consumption information specifically for pregnant women and nursing moms. It will also provide fish recipes and fish coupons to reduce their barriers toward consuming fish.

Research showed pregnant women were very confused about current fish advice and needlessly reduced their fish consumption. Target audience need clear fish consumption advice. They also perceive a lack of fish cooking skill and the cost of fish as barriers toward eating fish.

There are no such website provide such information specifically for pregnant women.

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Design and DevelopmentWith all those decisions, I did a mock-up of the homepage and one subpage of my website. When I think about the actual design of my website, I think about both first time users and repeat users. I want my website to be attractive to both of them. This is the screen shot of the website I designed. (Next page)

Homepage screenshot

Subpage screenshot

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From the design we can see, first time users can get an idea of what this website is about from the image, the tagline, and labels on the navigation bar. They can also learn the purpose of this website by clicking on “our work” on the left navigation bar on the homepage. Besides, the main picture expresses their major confusion about fish: what fish should I eat? They can expect that this website may have answers. As for repeat users, because the information will be dated and updated frequently, they might be interested in finding new fish recipes and coupons or reading new articles about fish consumption information.

The layout and color scheme are attractive and simple to help pregnant women find what they are looking for. The navigation of the website is easy. The labels are easy to understand. The location mark will make sure that the users won’t get lost. This is a one-stop website for all the information related to fish consumption and infant healthy. Pregnant women might find it helpful and be more willing to consume more fish after navigating my website.

In class, I did an evaluation of the mock-up of my website. My teacher and classmates contributed a lot of valuable ideas to improve my design. Most of their comments are about the homepage. For example, some said the tagline isn’t very clear, since “intake” is different from “consumption”; some said two labels – “fish guidelines” and “fish choices” are similar and confusing; some thought the woman on the image doesn’t look pregnant; and some mentioned if her husband got fish from fishing, she wouldn’t know if it is healthy or not. Based on their precious suggestions and comments, I did a redesign of my homepage (see screenshot).

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To further establish the credibility of my website, I plan to seek accreditation from the HONcode. Principles my site complies with HONcode:

My site provides general information about the organization or individual responsible for its operation and content, and a person is named as editor or principal author.

My site provides medical/health information or advice. A statement describing the intended mission of the site is provided on the site. The site clearly mentions the intended audience of the site (general public, health

professionals, students). Information must be documented: Referenced and dated.

Evaluation PlanI will conduct formative evaluations and heuristic evaluations to make sure my website meets the following goals regarding appeal, usability and effectiveness.

Appeal: To ensure that users find the design is neat, modern and professional. Usability: To ensure that users find the content is substantial and helpful; the

information architecture is logical and clear; the website is easy to navigate through; and the labels are intuitive.

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Effectiveness: To ensure that users feel they are confident with their fish choices and are willing to consume enough fish for optimal pregnancy outcomes.

Formative evaluationsFormative evaluation provides an easy-to-learn approach for testing design decisions in order to increase effectiveness. The purpose of formative evaluation is to obtain user feedback during the design and development stages of a project. I plan to do formative evaluations with my website at two stages. First, I will test it with a mock-up homepage and prepared labels and information entries. Second, I will test my website with an early release. For the first stage, participants will be asked their opinions of the homepage and to conduct a card sorting of the information entries. Questions I will ask during this stage include:

At a quick glance of the homepage, what do you think this website is about? Do you find information provided by this website relevant to you? What is your expectation of a website named “Safe Fish, Smart Baby?” How do you feel about the color of the website? How do you feel about the graphics on the website? Do you find the design of the website appealing? How do you feel about the labels of the website? Do they make sense to you? What is your expectation of each label? Is the information covered by the website enough for you to make fish

consumption choices? For the second stage, I will test my website with an early release. This test will be

conducted around tasks. I will ask the participants to finish the following tasks by using my website and to think aloud while they are doing the tasks:

Find the proper amount of fish you should consume by navigating through the website.

Find out the benefits of eating fish by navigating through the website. Find out whether salmon is good for you to eat. Find out what types of fish you should avoid. Find a salmon recipe. Find a coupon for fish. Register as a user of this website. Download a pocket guide which you can bring with you for shopping.

For each stage of testing, I plan to recruit nine participants in total. To be eligible for the testing session, participants should 1) be over age 18; 2) be currently pregnant; 3) eat fish at least once a month; 4) be able to participate in an one hour and a half testing session on the specified dates. The nine participants will also be representative of diverse race/ethnicity groups. I will recruit them by using postings displayed at Boston-area obstetrics clinics and on Craigslist.com. I will offer free food during testing sessions and give each participant $50 cash for compensation.

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Heuristic evaluations Heuristic evaluation uses experts with specific types of expertise to conduct an evaluation to assess what works and what doesn’t work based on their domain-specific knowledge. I plan to conduct heuristic evaluations with an early release of my website. I will ask opinions from nutrition experts, environmental health experts and obstetricians, and other web designers, because they all possess certain knowledge that is related to my website.

Nutrition experts are knowledgeable about the nutrition value of fish consumption and the proper amount of fish pregnant women should consume.

Environmental health experts are familiar with mercury contamination. Obstetricians have a good sense of the daily life of a pregnant woman and are

knowledgeable about a baby’s development. Web designers are familiar with some common mistakes a web designer can

make.

Marketing PlanIn order to reduce the budget, I plan to market my website in some economic ways. I will primarily focus on search engine optimization. I will also focus on social media promotion, indentifying partners and marketing through registered users.

Search Engine Optimization: The most important marketing goal for my website is to rank high on main search engines, such as Google.com, Yahoo.com, Bing.com, etc. To achieve this, I need to understand the keywords that my target users usually use in searching for related information on my website. I will include these keywords in page titles, headers and hyperlinks, so that my website can appear on the first page of the search results. I will also research other ways to optimize the search results.

Social Media: I will build up a social media presence of my website and try to reach my target audience on Facebook and Twitter.

Identifying Partners: I will try to find other websites or blogs that also target pregnant women. I will ask if we can have a reciprocal link for each other, so that users of their website can be directed to my website, and vice versa.

Marketing through Registered Users: I will send special offers to registered users and ask them to invite other people to become members of the website.

Staffing and BudgetBefore I begin to hire someone to work for my website, I need to first know what I can do on my own. I can research the keywords for my website and write or organize the content for my website, as well as promote and market it. However, I need to hire a professional graphic designer to ensure the quality of images on the website, two researchers to do the evaluations, and someone to maintain the website.

The budget for my website will be put into the following categories: the cost of the domain, the cost of doing all the formative evaluations, the cost of a content management system and the payment for my website team.

In conclusion, I tried to create a credible and professional website that could help pregnant women make informed fish consumption decisions, based on the understanding

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of my target populations, an analysis of the competing sites, and the feedback I received in the formative evaluations.

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References

Committee on Nutrient Relationships in Seafood, Nesheim, M. C. (Eds.), & Yaktine, A. L. (Eds.). (2007). Seafood choices: Balancing benefits and risks. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.

Fox, S., & Jones, S. (2009). The social life of health information. Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx.

Frithsen, I., & Goodnight, W. (2009). Awareness and implications of fish consumption advisories in a women’s health setting. The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 54(5), 267-272.

Hicks, D., Pivarnik, L., & McDermott, R. (2008). Consumer perceptions about seafood – an Internet survey. Journal of Foodservice, 19, 213-226.

Mozaffarian, D., & Rimm, E. B. (2006). Fish intake, contaminants, and human health: Evaluating the risks and the benefits. JAMA, 296, 1885-1899.

The Nutrition Source. (n.d.). Fish: friend or foe? Retrieved November 11, 2010 from http://www. hsph .harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fish/ .

US Department of Health and Human Services & US Department of Agriculture [USDA]. (2005). Dietary guidelines for Americans. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf.

US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. (2004). What you need to know about mercury in fish and shellfish. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advice/index.html.

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http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fish/

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx


Personal Bio

My name is Lu Xing. One year and a half ago, I left China to work towards a Master’s degree in Health Communication, a joint program by Emerson College and Tufts Medicine School. I am very interested in using technology and the Internet to promote healthy lifestyle and benefit people’s lives. My interest in the topic of women and fish consumption came from a summer internship I did with the Harvard Nutrition School. I attended a lecture on this topic during that period. The complexity and the importance of this issue aroused my interest. From that time, I worked on this topic across several courses. I developed a social marketing plan for American Heart Association to encourage non-pregnant women to eat more fish. I designed a survey and an entire research proposal to study the current knowledge, behavior and attitudes toward fish consumption among pregnant women. Now I am trying to create a website to address this issue. This web design plan from this coursework is just a beginning. I plan to follow this topic and seek opportunities to make contributions to this issue after graduation.

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web viewshe loves her boyfriend and thought she was ready for sex, ... free dinner will be served...

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