Website Evaluation (KSS-782)

I was assigned a website for a specific sport organization to evaluate its overall effectiveness based on the following: Ease of Accessibility, Ease of Navigation, Use of Interactivity, Use of Video, and Quality of Content. The website that I evaluated is for the Seattle Majestics at http://www.theseattlemajestics.com/.

My first impression of the Majestic’s website was that I liked the colors and the overall design, which was a black background with navy blue, lime green, white, and silver text and graphics. The specific links for the team’s schedule, roster, staff, media, golf, sponsor, store, and contact information were easy-to-read and clearly placed at the top of the home page. Therefore, I found the website to be very accessible and easy to navigate.
 
The home page was filled with four videos from their 2014 season and had their Twitter embedded along the side as well as team and league sponsors, their 2014 team schedule, and ticket price information. The Twitter section was great because it made it simple to tweet at the team or to follow the team right on the home page of their website. The website also had a “Contact” page which allowed people to submit e-mails to the team. I did not find any information about a Facebook page for the team though, but overall the website seemed to have good interactivity with its fans.

The website had several videos, including four from their 2012 season and four from their 2013 season on the media page. There were also four videos from the 2014 season on the home page. The major problem with these videos was that the ones on the media page played the sound only and the picture content did not show up. The videos on the home page worked fine though. Therefore, the use of video needs work on this website. There were also some photos available from past seasons and a news archive.
 
I had never heard of the Seattle Majestics before so I was confused about the website for a while because it was unclear to me what type of sports team it was without digging deeper for the information. The colors of the website are masculine but when I found out that the Majestics were an amateur Women’s American football team, the mascot and the fonts of the site made more sense.
 
A few changes I would make to this website would be to state that they are an amateur Women’s American football team on the home page. I would include pictures on the roster of each player and update the staff photos. The videos on the media page need to be fixed so that the picture content shows up with the sound. It would be beneficial to include more pictures, especially more recent ones, on the media page as well. The “Store” page is confusing because it is only used to buy tickets for the upcoming game, whereas most team stores are for buying team apparel and merchandise, so an easy fix would be to rename that page. The Majestics have a Facebook page which should be linked to their website as well.

The website seems to be thrown together without little attention to details. It seems like they just added some random videos and photos and called it good. As an amateur Women’s American football team that probably has a difficult time attracting large crowds to their games, I think that they should spend some extra time on the details of their website as well as linking their social media sites because these have become important tools for team brand identification. The website is simple and easy but unfortunately this is due to a lack of information and detail.

Technology Deprivation (KSS-782)

The first blog assignment for KSS-782: New Media & Technology was to attempt to go an entire day without using any of the newer technologies, such as e-mail, texting, and web-browsing. In the beginning, I knew the most difficult for me to avoid would be texting, Snapchat, and Facebook. I took the challenge on Friday, May 30^th, because I knew it would be a busy day for me which would keep me from using my phone or computer.

I woke up to the alarm on my phone, which I've used as my alarm clock throughout all of my college years. I didn't have any new texts or Snapchats so it was easy to avoid using those right away but I did catch myself checking the weather on my phone. Then, I went for a run around Vermillion and got ready for work. I noticed that I use my phone a lot to check the time of day.

At work, I kept myself very busy so I wouldn't look at my phone out of boredom. Then, I was sent to deliver season tickets to a few businesses around Sioux City. This was going to be impossible without using the GPS on my phone because not only is Sioux City one of the most confusing places to drive in, but I also have a tendency to get lost easily. Out of everything on my smartphone, I am most grateful for its GPS.

After work, I saw I had some text messages from my sister and boyfriend so I decided to call each of them instead. I knew this would keep them from texting me the rest of the day too. Once I arrived at my apartment, I had to pack and get ready for a wedding weekend in Yankton. I had to use my phone GPS one more time to find the hotel that I was staying at and to call the people I was meeting up with. I left my phone in the hotel for the rest of the night, but there were a few times that I wished I had my phone with me.

In the end, I thought it would be easier to avoid technology than it actually was. It is definitely more difficult to do with a smartphone because it has so many different uses. It is nice having a smartphone as it comes in very handy sometimes, especially when I get lost, but I do wish the world was less dependent on technology.