2009

Christina Svensson

Christina Svensson

Colonel By Secondary School

000953- 189

25.03.2009

ITGS Assessment

G IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM WITHIN A SOCIAL CONTEXT

Introduction

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music. They are generally held outdoors, and do often incorporate other attractions such as social activities, merchandise vendors or performance art. European music festivals have had some of the greatest musicians play on their festivals, and festival lovers from all over the world would come back every year. A festival is all about peace, love and music!

Purpose This summer (2008) I have been visiting quite a few festivals, and when I came to Canada, I felt like no one knew anything about European festivals. This is why I sough to make Canadians interested in European festivals. As I found more and more pictures and collected information and festival evaluations, it was obvious that there was a need for a way of sharing all this information without having to contact each and every interested Canadian by phone or mail.

I chose to use e-mail as the information sharing medium. Sending out newsletters by e-mail would be a perfectly fine way to send pictures, videos and other information. It was also easier, since people now could send me responses to the media attached, or add other information which would be sent next time a newsletter was sent out. The “members” of this festival interest group could now also send mail to other “members” and share experiences and information.

Problem After a while I learned that e-mail was a hassle, and it took time and effort to send of all the e-mails. Some e-mails would fail to reach the recipient, and some would even never be sent. This was most likely caused by the massive amount of media (pictures, videos, etc) that would be attached to each e-mail. There would also be “members” who was no longer interested in the European festivals, and wanted their name of the e-mail list. This was quite a job; looking trough hundreds of names to find that certain name that was to be taken of the list. By sending everything by e-mail, I also had to duplicate my effort, in order to answer everyone’s questions. It was great that so many responded and kept adding comments, but they kept asking the same questions, and I kept giving the exact same answer. By sending out these e-mails I would also infringe upon the members privacy, because I would also provide all the recipients with e-mail and name of the other “members”.

Alternative solution After several negative comments on the present system, e-mails, I decided that there was time for a new information distribution system. This IT solution would have the ability to include a large amount of media files (e.g. pictures, videos, etc) and being able to change at a moment’s notice.

End-user The end-user of this IT solution would first of all be Canadian youth interested in European culture and/or music, but also other, in general, festival-, music-, and culture interested.

3

H ANALYSIS AND FEASIBILITY OF THE SUBJECT

IntroductionTwo feasible and different IT approaches to the solution of the problem will be analyzed. For each approach, four areas will be examined in order to justify a chosen approach, and explain how it solves the problem. These four areas are; Introduction, benefits, detriments, and feasibility.

Brochure:

IntroductionA brochure is a splendid mean for distributing information to the masses. The brochure could be made using one of Microsoft Words publishing or processing programs, such as Microsoft Word. By selecting an appropriate layout, appealing to the “correct” audience is more likely. By using this brochure, users can obtain the wanted information from notes and articles.

Advantages Disadvantages

Can be distributed by mail Distribution by mail is costly

Information is current Past information not available If the users do not wish to receive the brochure any more, that can be arranged within short time

Users will not get the information unless they request it

Can be distributed by mail (everyone has an address) Those who receive the newsletter by mail can-not easily replicate articles to further distribute

Through internet distribution (if possible), users can copy sections and forward to other in order to spread the infor-mation

Such features result in a product that is costly to print for mail distribution

Update articles can provide minimal information while still being informative

If lost, there will be no possibility of obtaining the brochure again

Most users have internet access, if sent by mail Not all users can access internet

FeasibilityCreating a brochure is very feasible, as programs for making brochures are user friendly and many tutorials are available. The brochure would only have to be made once, because it cannot be updated as more information is available and renewed.

4

Web site:

IntroductionThis would act as a guide through the world of music festivals. It could be laid out on separate web pages, each addressing one aspect of the topic. A 'table of contents' page would offer links to each page on the site, and there would also be links between the pages, offering visitors a clear overview and the possibility to check a specific question quickly.

Advantages Disadvantages

Internet is an splendid source for information, and information can be spread to the whole world

Not everyone have access to the internet

You can obtain only the wanted info without committing to any-thing; a website is open for every-one

You have to check the internet yourself, and will not receive a “reminder” (as you will by choos-ing to receive the brochure)

Past and current information is available

Information can change over night, you will have to update yourself frequently

Can be distributed by e-mail and sending internet links

Errors in sending the e-mail might occur

Web pages could include a num-ber of attractive visual effects -colour, images, animations, movies, links, etc.

Ergonomic issues could hinder use of this site regularly. E.g. The animations and bright colours might damage the users’ eye sight.

FeasibilityCreating a website would be very feasible due to the user friendly programs, and the popularity of internet accessible information. Updating the website would be easy, as it is changeable. The website would also be easily accessed by people all around the world, and would not limit the target group.

Final solution and justificationIn comparing the benefits and detriments, it has become evident that a website is the best solution to solve the problem. A webpage can not only be changed within seconds, it also provides enough room for all the media and information. The chosen solution is also the cheapest one, as the paper and all the ink for the brochures would have to be paid for. Other benefits are that a website is open to everyone, meaning the end user group will expand – which with a brochure would be impossible at this level – and the interest in European music festivals will grow.

5

I PLANNING AND DEVELOPPING THE CHOSEN IT SOLUTION

IntroductionThis part of the report will concentrate on the development of the solution to the problem of awareness to Tabby’s Hair studio. It will focus on 5 main areas: a timeline, design, Software, Hardware and the data collection process.

TimelineThe following timeline shows the days of the events and processes that were completed during the creation of the IT solution.

Date Project status Person responsible

22-Oct-08 Came up with two optional solutions, for dis-playing information, to replace e-mailing

Christina Svensson

01-Nov-08 Presentation of both solutions to end, followed by discussion. Preferable IT- solution chosen.

Christina Svensson / Bjorn Vilsten

02-Nov-08 Information is collected Christina Svensson

04-Dec-08 Website layout created Christina Svensson

12-Dec-08 Colour Scheme incorporated into website, cre-ation of DHTML menu bar

Christina Svensson

08-Jan-09 All pages created, photos collected Christina Svensson

17-Jan-09 Photo gallery created and incorporated into web-site

Christina Svensson

29-Jan-09 Homepage designed, font size and style selected Christina Svensson

28-Feb-09 First Beta Test (Beta Test 3) completed, changes made to header

Christina Svensson / Hans Gjoksoy

02-Mar-09 Second Beta Test (Beta Test 2) completes, home-page introduction constructed

Christina Svensson / Amelia Bailey

04-Mar-09 End-user testing (Beta Test 1) completed, no changes made

Christina Svensson / Bjorn Vilsten

06-Mar-09 Report started Christina Svensson

24-Mar-09 Report completed Christina Svensson

25-Mar-09 Project submission Christina Svensson

Design

6

The following is a flowchart of the site map of the design of the European Music Festivals website:

Originally, the plan was to have 7 festivals, each with 6 subcategories. After some trouble with one of the html codes, I decided I had to cut down on the number of pages; it was just too much work correcting the mistake. Also, time started to become a serious issue, and therefore cuts had to be done.

As for the technological aspect of the website, a template was created using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 9.0. The template created was dark, using bright colours for the writing. This was done to ensure a young, but still professional look throughout the whole website. This one template was subsequently used for each page. The difficulty changing the pages later was a problem I encountered. Instead of changing the template, every page had to be changed, by altering the html code for each and every one of the pages. This was highly disadvantageous for me in terms of time, and caused trouble several times during the process.

7

European Music Festivals

Exit All Tomorrows Parties

Roskilde Electric Picnic

Hove

About

Artists/Bands

Costs

Pictures

About

Artists/Bands

Costs

Pictures

About

Artists/Bands

Costs

Pictures

About

Artist/Bands

Costs

Pictures

About

Artists/Bands

Costs

Pictures

Header created in Adobe Photoshop CS3

Menu bar is placed here when viewed in Internet Explorer. Due to the fact that the menu maker software Sothink is not compatible with the website creator Dreamweaver, the menu bar created is not visible other than in the html code when displayed in Dreamweaver.

Displayed below is a screenshot of the header while being worked on in Adobe Photoshop CS3

Different effects, among them the effect of transparency used to create the EU- rings in the middle of the header image.

Layers were made in order to create depth and a unique look.The image below is a screenshot of the program used to make the menu

8

bar, Sothink.

The drop-down menu is made by mixing effects like colours, shading effects, outer glow effects, etc. from the sidebar in Sothink.

The sections and subsections of the menu created is displayed on the left side

Software A screenshot and description of how each of the software was used is included below:

Microsoft Word (word processor) Adobe Photoshop CS3 (photo editor and graphic design) Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 (web design and coding) Microsoft Paint 5.1 Sothink DHTML Menu 9.0 Internet Explorer (web browser)

Microsoft Word is a word processor used to create this report, type the information that is on the website, and the testing forms used to get feedback for the website from the end users. Features such as spell-check corrected any spelling and grammatical errors, helping me make the website look more professional. The thesaurus also helped me constructing a more professional look with synonyms and correct terminology. Both features helped extensively throughout the creation of the website.

9

Adobe Photoshop is a graphic design program used to create and enhance images such as the header and some of the festival logos for the website. Features such as layers and crop/ resize were used. Layers helped to preserve the original state of an image while manipulating another version of it through another layer and resizing helped to resize the photo while keeping the high resolution.

Adobe Dreamweaver is a website design and code application that was the one of the primary applications used for the creation of the website. Features such as CSS panel, layout visualization, and site definition were used to assist in ensuring a formal working website.

Microsoft Paint 5.1 is a simple graphics painting program. Picture cropping was the main feature used. Parts of pictures were easily cut out, cropped, and resized. One of the advantageous qualities of this software is the cutting; the size stays the same and the high resolution kept.

10

Sothink DHTML Menu 9.0 is a user friendly navigation menu builder. The menu was used to create a cross-browser and a modern drop-down menu. The different features, like the diverse colour scheme and the transparent look, make this professional looking, dark drop-down menu look modern and eye-catching.

Internet Explorer 6.0 is a series of graphical web browsers. It was used for testing the product, and preview the product throughout its creation.

11

Hardware:

The hardware required to run the software above is satisfactorily provided by the system displayed. These are all the specs of the computer in the schools computer lab used to create the final product. Dreamweaver, Sothink, Microsoft Word, Paint, and the rest of the software were all accessed through this computer system, as the software was installed on it.

This Ixus 95 IS digital camera has 10 mega pixels, 3x optical zoom, and a 2.3” LCD-screen. The camera was used to most of the pictures displayed in the websites photo galleries (the rest was collected from the festivals’ websites).

12

Data Collection: The data and content used in the website was collected from the music festivals’ websites and the key people associated with the European Music Festivals website. I made a request to several members of the end user group – youth between 16-25 years – about the content they wished for to be accessible on the website. All other data was collected from the Beta Testers who were determined to have the proper expertise in website design and who were festival experienced enough to be able to contribute to the website content.

13

J TESTING AND EVALUATING THE CHOSEN SOLUTION

Introduction

This section is dedicated to the testing process. Three testers will be asked to perform a Beta Test questionnaire, with questions concerning the design, navigation and content of the website. I will display the comments they made, refinements made (if any), and the result. Beta Test questionnaires can be found in Appendix A.

First Beta Test (Beta Test 3)

Hans Gjokoy was asked to test the product because of his experience from visiting and volunteering at several Norwegian festivals. He is also a part of the end user group; youth between 16-25 years. He has been requiring information about European music festivals.

Comments

Mr. Gjokoy gave excellent rating for almost every section of the questionnaire. He mentioned the “appropriate and relevant content” and navigation as outstanding, but he disliked the design of the header in every page.

Refinements

Mr. Gjokoy’s comments gave one suggestion for a refinement:

Make the header smaller, so the menu would be more outstanding.

Justification

This refinement will help the users of this website to see more of the page without having to scroll down, and they will also see the professional-looking menu better. The new header also makes the information look more reliable and professional.

Result

Before changes were applied:

As displayed in the screenshot on the left; the header is too big, covering most of the page causing inconvenient scrolling and taking the attention away from the menu bar.

14

After changes were applied:

As the screenshot shows, the new header makes the website more professional looking, and it also makes the navigation easier because there is no longer a need to scroll down to see the main part of the page.

Second Beta Test (Beta Test 2)

Amelia Bailey was asked to test the product because of her experience from visiting several European festivals. She is also a part of the end user group; youth between 16-25 years.

Comments

Ms. Bailey really enjoyed the website, and marked every section perfect. Ms. Bailey really liked the refined header, I quote; “perfect”. The whole design section was commented to be good. The only suggestion she made was that she did not like the homepage because it had no further introduction.

Refinements

Ms. Bailey’s comments gave one suggestion for a refinement:

Create an introduction on the homepage

Justification

This refinement will help the users of this website to better understand what the website contains, and give it a more professional look.

15

ResultBefore changes were applied:

As mentioned in Ms. Bailey mentioned, the homepage was missing something: the introduction.

After changes were applied:

As displayed, an introduction was added. The introduction is a welcoming paragraph mentioning the main sections of the website. This change made it look far more professional, and the homepage seems more complete in its whole.

End User Test (Beta Test 1)

Bjorn Vilsten was asked to test the product because of his experience and expertise in website creation for several Norwegian and Swedish music festivals. He is also a part of the end user group; youth between 16-25 years.

16

Comments

Mr. Vilsten made it clear that he was satisfied with the design, navigation and content. He said it “had a very professional look”. Due to lack of time, the comments were not as extensive as wanted, but due to his fine expertise and substantial experience, the scaling is more than good enough for the testing.

Refinements

Mr. Vilsten’s comments gave no suggestions for refinements, so none will be made

Justification

No refinements made

Result

As seen in this screenshot, no refinements were made, and the website remains the same. Previous changes due to comments from Beta Testers, helped provide me with the changes both they and I felt like the webpage needed.

17

K ASSESSING THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRODUCT

Observed social impactThe observed social impact of the solution was first noticed during the first Beta Test. Mr. Gjoksoy has previously been involved in a gang activity before he became interested in music. When he saw the website, his face turned into a big smile. He mentioned that this type of websites was what saved him from the “gang environment”, and that the website was interesting for youth because of the modern layout and interesting content. “This is what kids need; a healthy hobby. This website creates cultural interest, and approaches youth from a different perspective than other web pages by posting personal pictures, showing how it is “in real life””.

I was astonished when Ms. Bailey was interested in the content, not only the pictures. She, as every other typical youth that age, usually does not read the content on the web pages she browses. But with my web site, she was reading about the festivals because she was not familiar with them, and she wanted to learn more.

This was the reaction I was hoping for, making this website. In conclusion, this website has been observed to be the perfect solution to the product, and has given the wanted results; it is available to everyone with internet access, larger target group (end user), and promoting European music festivals.

Projected social impact

Because of the website, I believe that more people will attend the European music festivals, developing cultural interested youth, only to become great artists and culturally open-minded leaders. By attending to the music festivals you obtain a kind of life experience you will never get anywhere else. The combination of being on your own (which is the most likely scenario), interact socially with people from other cultures and from a totally different part of the world, and obtain artistic skills is genuine.

The world is a place for everyone, and if there is one thing history has taught us, it must be that cultures must be united in order to achieve equality and peace. And that we must be united in culture.

18

APPENDICES

Appendix A: The works

Sothink

Adobe Photoshop

Appendix B: The Product

All Tomorrows Parties Main Page

19

Electric Picnic Main Page

Exit Main Page

20

Hove Main Page

Roskilde Main Page

21

All Tomorrows Parties Pictures Page

All Tomorrows Parties Photo Gallery (from link displayed in previous screenshot; “All Tomorrows Parties Pictures Page”)

22

Hove Costs Page

Roskilde Artists/Bands Page

23

European Music Festivals Main Page (showing drop-down menu bar)

European Music Festivals Main Page

24

Appendix C: Evaluations (Beta Tests and End-User Test)

25

(See following 9 pages)

26