Homework 1

Homework 3: Visual Perception and Web Page Design

Due before class Thursday, February 6

Information design on the Web is a huge topic. In this assignment, you will find a Web page and then analyze it as a visual information design. You can choose any Web page at all, but you should choose one that allows you to make a more interesting analysis with respect to points 1-5 below, since that will allow you to earn a better grade!

1. Use the squint test and the Gestalt principles to identify key perceptual groupings (“figures”) in this display. Do they make sense given the likely use of the page? Which of the Gestalt principles (proximity, similarity, closure, area, symmetry, continuation) are used to advantage? Disadvantage?

2. Examine the use of language (e.g. word frequency, meaning ambiguity, appropriateness for different user populations). Focus on UI elements like buttons, titles, headings, and menus, not on domain-specific content like news or product descriptions. Do you see any problems with language use?

3. Examine the images (e.g., realism, refinement, concreteness, complexity, size) used in the display. Again, focus on elements of the user interface like icons, buttons, or other small elements, rather than product images or graphics. Do you see any problems with the images or graphics used?

4. Discuss the use of color (e.g., brightness, number of colors, shades of gray). Are too many (or too few colors used? Are colors used to convey task appropriate distinctions?

5. What if any page design changes would you recommend?

What to turn in:

Your paper should be organized into the five sections described above. Please capture and embed the Web page you analyze in your homework paper (it can be a fairly small image; please also give the URL).

Format your paper in 12-point Times or Times New Roman font, single-spaced. Write no more than two pages (including the image file you embed in the document), printed duplex (that is, hand in a single sheet of paper). Your name and your student number (SS#) should appear in the first two lines at the top-right of the first page in bold; the heading "Homework 3: Visual Perception and Web page design" should appear at the top-left of page 1 in bold.