Purpose

Aquaponics is something I stumbled upon a few months before the project and had already become a long-term hobby of mine. There's not a whole lot of literature out there yet on how to do this sort of thing, and the instructional books and websites that do exist can get pretty technical and confusing. Most gardeners I've talked to are curious about the idea but intimidated by the thought of building their own system from scratch, so the site was a way to make relevant information easy to access and understand.

Context

Prior to beginning this semester project, the class had explored html, css, and javascript using Dreamweaver and some coding by hand. The website needed to establish credibility, utilize a single, external stylesheet, and include at least five pages with clear navigation and two dynamic effects through Javascript. It needed to validate and be compatible across browsers.

Role

• Submit a design plan, including site architecture and mockups of the home page and a standard page

• Write original content that gives gardeners and potential hobbyists a thorough introduction to aquaponics

• Utilize HTML, CSS and Javascript effectively for presentation of site content

• Troubleshoot using W3schools and Stackoverflow; perform W3C validation

• Complete peer review and usability testing; revise the site based on results

While none of the users had difficulty navigating the site, observation of each provided useful information on where users will look first for information and how much time they are likely to spend doing so.

As expected, the oldest participant in the usability testing (early 50s) took the most time to explore the site and provided the most comments during the process. The two participants in their 20s took almost no time to explore the site on their own and completed each of the tasks in a minute or less. They skimmed information and watched only the first few seconds of animations. The older participant also moved quickly through the animation, though he spent more time with text and raised many more questions. The experience served to assure me that the extremely short time that users, and younger users especially, allot to perusing a site should be a primary consideration in its design.

Loading time did not prove to be an issue for any of the usability testers; however, for future sites I will plan to upload graphics such as the header, background, and photos at a lower resolution for usability across a wider variety of devices and network speeds.

Participant 1, the older aquaponics enthusiast who read all of the site content word for word, pointed out two significant gaps in the information I have included. First, on the "Plants" page, where I focus on plant species without mentioning important logistic factors such as the size of the grow bed and where to obtain grow media, and second, on the "Fish" page, where I focus on size but neglect to list any species of fish or the time in which they can be expected to reach adulthood.

In addition to providing extensive comments regarding the three tasks, Participant 1 took the time to read all content included in the website and test out the fish calculator, which the other two participants noted as "cool" and one of the most interesting parts of the site but did not actually try. All three participants listed the inclusion of real photos as one of the best features of the site, and two of them said that the diagram included on the "Siphon" page was the most useful part. The younger two users complimented the site's design, while Participant 1 stated that it was "Informative enough to get me started".