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Unit 17 LO1 M1:Comparing 4 interactive media authored products:The 4 interactive media products that I am going to be comparing and contrasting in this document are:BBC bitesizeASOS fashionGovernment driving theory testPreziThe key topics that I am going to be looking at for each individual products and then comparing between the 4 different products are as follows:The content of the products; so everything that is included within the products, like multimedia, text and so onThe client and user needs; so what a client who the product might be made for will need to be included in the products and the content that a user will need to use the websiteThe format it is delivered in: so how people can go about obtaining the product i.e. CD, website or a phone appAnd finally the strengths and weaknesses of the programs and any improvements that could be potentially madeBBC bitesize:BBC bitesize as a lot of will know is an educational website that helps students at school with revision, offering information on different subjects, revision key points, and revision activities like quick-fire quizzes and games, but it is not simply a website full of boring information like Wikipedia, it is a very interactive website that tries its best to keep the user fully interested in what’s going on and not likely to switch off from the topic. Therefore I can begin to look at the different areas that I need to consider for this website.Content of the product: bitesize is very much about trying to provide the fundamental information that someone needs to revise from, not all the background information that people will waste time reading and not need particularly, therefore one of the main content elements would be key information in the form of text and numbers which people can learn the backbone of the information they need to know to succeed. So as well as raw information, BBC bitesize is also very focused on making revision a bearable procedure rather than it being a drag, and one of the main ways that they try to encourage the user to engage with the revision tasks is to use multimedia. One of the main elements of bitesize is the images and animations that they use throughout their information pages, things like GIF’s and diagram images are the most commonly used multimedia elements that you will find throughout bitesize, although you will also quite commonly come across video demonstrations and revision walkthrough videos. This means that the bitesize website is considered one of the best for its purpose, although it can potentially be quite slow to load each page as it definitely is a ‘media rich’ website.Client and user needs: client and user needs are possibly one of the most influential elements that web designers have to consider when producing this website in particular due to it being for educational purposes, it is all well and good making a website how they want to, but if they aren’t making it relevant to what the client, and especially the user needs, then the website isn’t really of any use, therefore it is important to make sure it is produced to the specification of the client which will then continue on to benefit the user. So the client needs will be things like important information about subjects, for example math’s, the students don’t need to know where Pythagoras came from or his history, they need to have information in front of them that teaches them actually how to carry out the equations, and the clients of this website will specify this, so the exam boards who work with BBC bitesize, for example AQA will specify to the BBC web designers the kinds of information they want to see on the website. Similarly, on the other hand when looking at user needs they are likely to be virtually the same to the client’s needs, so the user will want things like:Relevant and key information that will actually help them to learn subjects, not simply send them to sleep.Additional options for learning, so instead of standard writing on the screen, things like video explanations and activities are definitely what the user will need as some people don’t learn as well as other from lots of text on a screenTesting activities so once they have read through a topic, they can test themselves to figure out their own personal strengths and weaknesses within that topicDelivery format: delivery format refers to the different ways that someone is able to access the interactive products. Nowadays you can find nearly anything on the internet and almost everything has been produced by an ‘app developer’ meaning that you can download the programs onto your devices like tablets and smartphones and use them on the go, or wherever you are in the world. Technology is developing at a rapid rate and so is the level of ease that people are now able to gain access to the internet and the information that is on the internet. For this particular example of BBC bitesize there are several different available formats that people can use the program on:Website: the standard webpage is the most commonly used way of obtaining the information because it is so easy to access, and it includes the full range of features they offer. Also virtually everyone in education will have some kind of access to internet and a computer at home or at school, so everyone can access the webpage. This is the main format that they offer their product in.Smartphone app: BBC bitesize is also now available in the form of a ‘smartphone app’ meaning that whoever owns a smartphone can download a scaled down version of the website onto their phones or tablets, and then use them on the go wherever they are. This particular format doesn’t necessarily offer all the features of the website, but it will provide you with the main fundamentals you need to learn, being the raw information that one will learn from.Strengths of BBC bitesize:Weaknesses of BBC bitesize:Possible improvements of BBC bitesize:it has very relevant and important information for students to use and utilizeit has lots of multimedia that can aid people learn, rather than lots of block writing and informationit is a free service that anyone with internet access can utilizeit works with the main exam boards, so information is all specific to the course you are working throughsometimes the webpages can be slow to load as they are media richthe apps that are available will cost people money and only cover one subject per ‘paid app’ for example the ‘science’ app costs ?1.49 whereas the website is completely freesometimes doesn’t go into enough depth for the more ‘theory heavy’ subjectsone possible improvement could be to reduce the amount of data required to load pages, so they load more quicklymake the phone apps more detailed and either free or at least cheaper to buyASOS:ASOS is a clothing website that operates purely online and sells all of their products through the internet. It is very important that ASOS have a highly interactive product when it comes to people using their website and app to buy their clothes as it allows the user of the website the full opportunity to view what they are purchasing, unlike some website which won’t offer that service, thus making them less attractive to customers.Content of the product: so as I briefly mentioned earlier ASOS is a clothing website. This means that the media products like the website are going to be heavily made up of imagery and not so reliant on information like BBC bitesize, just the basic information on the products they are selling. So I would say that 80% of the content on this webpage and the app they offer is images and other forms of multimedia. Although there is definitely other content on the web pages, each product will have some kind of explanation on it explaining the materials used, prices, shipping options and special offers so text is without doubt a big element of the content involved in this particular product. The third and final kind of content that is included within the ASOS website and app is the interactive multimedia options you can use when viewing products. What I am referring to here is things like the zoom option meaning one can click on a part of the image, and zoom directly into that part as they please, so for example a collar on a shirt, if you wanted to see it in more detail, a simple click will zoom into the picture for you, and secondly the rotate options, meaning that when looking at a product, you can spin around it 360 degrees and view the front, back and sides of the product with minimal effort required.Client and user needs: for client and user needs it is fairly obvious and fairly simple to establish what they are going to want. For the client or the owner of the product they are going to want:an efficient and effective website that is easy to maintain, and appealing to the customer to usea variety of delivery formats so people don’t always have to rely on a laptop and broadband to order the goods, they can order them wherever they are, e.g. having a smartphone app which people can order from over mobile internetan efficient ordering process, for example having an ‘add to basket’ option on every product so customers can easily keep track of what they want to buya simple website that can be produced and updated at a minimal cost and with minimal effort and time being wastedand finally they will want the website to be easy to find on the internet, so things like a simply domain name i.e. will mean people can find the website with easeAs for the user it is likely that they will want similar kinds of features to be included on the interactive products but they will also want some different features for sure, including:an efficient process of viewing products, so things like the zoom and rotate interactive options that I spoke of earlier are good examples of thisEasy to use website, so it is not a task navigating round the website. Interactive elements such as search bars and navigation bars will help to ensure this is the case on the website and appand finally good customer service help for potential issues they might come across, so things like an online chat service to provide answers to the question they need to ask is a good method of providing good customer serviceDelivery format: ASOS uses two main delivery formats to provide the full service that it offers and these two formats are the standard web page, and the app that is compatible with smartphones and other devices. So for the regular more traditional method of online shopping, ASOS have a very good website that consists of lots of different products and ways of viewing these products for example 360 views of the different clothing products and zoom features, meaning that if someone has access to a computer or a laptop and they want to shop from this website, they have a great opportunity to fully view the products they are buying without having to physically go to a shop and view it in person. On the other hand though they also offer an app format of the website, so if you are out and about, or you simply can’t get access to a computer, you can simply access the app via mobile internet if you have a smartphone and then browse the products you could potentially be buying and then purchase these products via the app. The issue with this is that the app version of ASOS is a more watered down version of the full website so some features aren’t as good, if they are even included in the app version of the website. But overall I would say that the two different formats that ASOS offer in terms of delivery format are both consistent and definitely improve the user experience.Strengths of ASOS:Weaknesses of ASOS:Possible improvements:the first strength of ASOS as an interactive media product is that it supports several different formats, so it is not just reliant on the website versionanother strength of ASOS is that it has several, well thought out interactive elements which massively improve user experiencethe final strength of ASOS is that the whole website and the app format are incredibly easy to navigate as they have navigation features like a search bar and a navigation barOne weakness of ASOS as an interactive media product is that the website can be slow at times due to the high amount of content on the websitethe second weakness of ASOS is the lack of accessibility on both formats, neither of the formats have any kind of accessibility features to help people who can use the website as wellone improvement that ASOS could definitely make to their interactive products is to work on improving the speed of the website, so by doing things like increasing the server side could help them to see to this issue of a slow websiteGovernment driving theory test website: the driving theory test website is an interactive media product that is used on a regular basis as it is so helpful to assisting people to pass there test, therefore it has to be a well-made website and offer all the kinds of assistance people need, so elements like theory information and actual practice tests are going to be vital to this website.Content: as I briefly talked about earlier the driving theory test website uses lots of different kinds of content to make the website as effective as it is, so it combines several different elements to make the website what it is, including: text information, video footage, practice questions and images. The reason that all these different types of content are used on this website is because the website actually replicates what the real theory test is like, so it has to use all these different content types to make it more legitimate and effective for the user. So the images will be things like road signs, the video footage will be for parts of the test like hazard perception and video demonstrations of the different parts of the theory test and final there will be lots of text for things like questions and written explanations of the theory test.User/Client needs: so due to this website being used to help people learn the driving theory in order to take the test, I think there are some definite client needs that they are going to have to address. These user and client needs are as followsThe first one is the information that they are providing, this is going to need to be completely correct and precise, but also to the point. So again like BBC bitesize, people don’t want to be reading through pages of information, they simply want to learn what they need to know and nothing else really. Therefore the precision of information is crucial to the client. The second main client need that will be included for this website is the multimedia elements are well made. Due to the actual theory test consisting of lots of different multimedia elements like the ones I talked about previously, it is important that the website people are practicing from, has similar kinds of questions so people are learning and practicing from the right information, rather than pointless information and they have the best possible advantage for when it comes to taking the final test.And finally the user of the website is going to want it to be a fast and efficient website that doesn’t take long periods of time to load. Again because this is an information based learning website, the user wants to learn from it quickly, therefore they aren’t particularly interested in the content of the website, so they are unlikely to be committed enough to wait around for a while to let the pages load, thus meaning that one user need is fast loading web pages.Delivery formats:the driving theory test website has three different delivery formats available to the user meaning that out of the 4 interactive media products I am reviewing, it could be considered the best for options in terms of delivery formats. The driving theory test comes in these 3 different formats:CD: the government agency that supplies the practice theory test resources have produced a theory test CD which covers all the aspects that people need to know before taking the proper full test, so it covers elements like practice questions, practice hazard perceptions video clips, voice over explanations and questions and all different highway code images. This means that it consists of a large amount of multimedia content which all help the user to aid their own personal learning from the diskWebsite: the website is the first delivery format that the practice test was produced on. So lots of people will go onto the internet and look to find theory test revision and this is the first one that will come up as it’s the official one, therefore anyone who has access to a computer and wants to practice there theory test, is able to do so. The website format offers a very similar range of content, like the CD although the website is less in depth, but it is also free unlike the CD versionApp: the final delivery format that the theory test comes in is an app. This means that you can download the theory test onto a smartphone or a tablet, then revise whilst you are mobile. This is the newest delivery format that the theory test has been made available in but it is incredibly useful as it can be used literally anywhere you want to use it, so if you’re in a car and want to practice or on a train then you can without having to rely on a computer and internet connection to access the website or a laptop or computer to run the disk versionStrengths of driving theory test interactive productsWeaknesses of driving theory test interactive productPossible improvementsPossibly the biggest strength of the practice driving theory test is the fact that it supports 3 different delivery formats, so virtually anyone can access the interactive productsIt is a well-made website that has good information and multimedia options to optimize ones learningAnd the website delivery format is completely free, meaning that anyone who has access to a computer can utilize the materialThe first weakness with the driving theory test interactive products is that the other two formats cost money, meaning that if you don’t want to spend on it, you have to rely on the website for the material you needThe website requires you to have a decent internet connection as the web pages are so media rich that some internet speed simply won’t load the pages, which could be a considerable downfall to the interactive media productThe most obvious improvement to the products I would say would be to maybe make the webpages slightly smaller, so remove some of the content which is less important, or transfer it to new web pages, so individual pages aren’t so data consumingAnd secondly maybe making the app a free service could make the whole user experience much betterPrezi:Prezi is an online program that allows someone to make an interactive presentation which can include lots of different elements which the user wants to use. For example you can implement YouTube videos and imagery however you want to. Prezi is a free service that anyone can use as it is on the internet and it is a very good program for making presentations if you don’t want to create the regular, more standard Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.Content: so in terms of the content actually on the Prezi website, there isn’t really that much, purely because it is a design based program meaning that the user is in control of what content is being put into their presentations, although there is some built in content let’s say which the user will utilize to help them produce their own presentation. The actual website consists of text based information, things like explanations of how to use the website and how to produce your own presentations, it also uses pre-made templates which the user can base their own work around, and finally it has video content on the page, this is a video that explains how the website works which is very beneficial to the user.Client and user needs: the client and user needs for this website are going to be quite different compared to that of the other interactive products which I have looked at. Prezi is all about the user being creative and making nice products themselves therefore the kinds of user needs involved with this interactive product are as follows:An effectively produced website which has different options which the user can utilize for their own work e.g. template optionsLots of creative interactivity option on the website, so things like the ability to include a variety of different multimedia in their work like video and imageryA quick website, the last thing that a user wants to be doing is fighting against the website to try and produce a presentationAnd finally a free service, this is the kind of thing that lots of people will like to use as it is different to the usual PowerPoints that people produce, but at the same time it is an incredibly effective, and useful piece of software for people to use, but if it is going to cost lots of money, the chances are people wont be as interested in using the product so low costs at least or even a free service are going to be a big user need. Delivery format: Prezi again is an interactive product that has several different format which a person is able to use to their advantage. As with all the 4 different interactive products I am reviewing, Prezi does in fact offer a website based format meaning that if you have a computer, you can access and use Prezi on that, but Prezi also has a free app version of the website which is fairly good to use if you haven’t got access to a computer and internet connection. Both delivery formats have their benefits, firstly the website, the website offers a free service which anyone can use to produce there own interactive website, although that relies on a computer and a sufficient internet connection, whereas the app can be accessed wherever you are in the country, so long as you have mobile internet on your device. But overall again this interactive media product offers two very effective formats In which someone can use to their own advantage to produce their own presentation.Strengths of Prezi:Weaknesses of Prezi:Possible improvements:Prezi is a unique service that offers a very different option to the regular PowerPoint process and is much more interactive and interesting to the regular PowerPointPrezi is a free web based service meaning anyone can access and utilize the softwareAnd finally Prezi has lots of interactive options, like the option to import a YouTube video into your presentation, meaning that you can create some very impressive pieces of workThe first problem with Prezi is with the app version of the program, this is an issue because you can’t actually edit you work on the app, you can simply review it and present it. So in order to work on your presentations, you actually need a computerSecondly Prezi can be quite complicated to use, so for anyone who isn’t particularly good with computers may struggle to get on with the program.The most obvious improvement here would be to improve the app version of the software, so people can work on their products wherever they want toComparison of all 4 interactive media products:Similarities between all the products:Differences between all the productsAll of the products offer some kind of free service, mainly consisting of an internet based program that anyone can gain access to.All of the different services offer more than one delivery format, meaning that it makes getting hold of the products far easier for the userAll of the products offer a variety of different content, meaning that they are more beneficial to the user because of the variety of information the user can get from the productsAll of the products support multimedia in some kind of fashion. This means that they are more interactive for the user, therefore more interesting for the user when they are using the productsThe first difference between the products is the level of each kind of content they used, based on how much of that content they need, so some will have more information, whereas some will use more images and interactive elementsAnother difference between the 4 interactive products is the costs of each products, 3 out of the 4 products have some kind of cost for a particular delivery format, for example the BBC bitesize website has a free internet service, but doesn’t have free apps unlike Prezi which does have free apps.The final difference between the 4 different interactive products is the user needs for each interactive product. So for the educational based products, like BBC bitesize they want information, whereas the ASOS website users don’t need heavy amounts of information, more a good website and an effective system to use. ................
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