Archive for October, 2009

Fairfield University – Episode #119

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Site Scores:

Site Visual Information Code Overall
Fairfield University 94 87 79 (260/300) 87% B

Today’s Tip:

Too much movement can distract from the users goals. It is great to the them involved but make sure the movement emphasizes the goals of the site and is not just there to make the page look active.

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Colorado State University – College of Liberal Arts – Episode #118

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Site Scores:

Site Visual Information Code Overall
Colorado State University – College of Liberal Arts 96 92 84 (272/300) 91% A-

Today’s Tip:

Simple is usable. Design and layout your site to emphasize the content. Users are coming to your site to get something done, they don’t want an experience. You can impact how they feel by the colors and photos but re-inventing the wheel can only confuse them more.

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Happy 1st Birthday EDU Checkup!

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

1-birthday

Time flew by so fast this post is even a day late! I knew the one year mark was coming soon and luckily I checked today instead of next week. It’s been a blast and I just wanted to write a short note about the past and future year of EDU Checkup.

Lets take a trip down memory lane

Frankly the first episode of EDU Checkup (October 17, 2008) left much to be desired, but it was a start. It was the first time I had ever recorded myself on video let alone knew what I was going to talk about. In the end it went well, got a ton of feedback and a great deal of support from everyone. Every piece of feedback shaped the rest of the 117 episodes.

It’s not about me, it’s about you

I cannot begin to name all the people who has shaped EDU Checkup into what is now. The thousands of you who watched, subscribed, commented, retweeted, told your friends, submitted a site for review and most of all learned something from the episodes. I am humbled at the higher education web community and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I’ve had people email and call to thanking me for showing their administration how good or bad their site is and I’ve even had people call me an idiot. The amount I’ve learned from the community is more than I could have in any book or classroom. What is comes down to is it’s not about me, it’s about you! You all make this possible.

The coming year

It’s been a blast so far and I’ve loved every episode but what has been missing is some consistency and new additions. Going through the statistics in the last few weeks made it apparent that EDU Checkup needs an official schedule.

  • New episodes will now be coming out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s
  • The weekly eduStyle wrap up will be coming back but on Saturday’s
  • Mild introduction of sponsors – I hate the idea as much as you but it won’t be obnoxious
  • Last but not least, the introduction of guests

The last two have been simmering in my head for a while, it just comes down to the right format and timing. I want to make sure things are right before introducing new features.

Thank you, thank you and thank you!

Again, from the bottom of my heart I want to thank each and every one of you! You make this all possible, keep up the rock star work!

University of the Cumberlands – Episode #117

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Site Scores:

Site Visual Information Code Overall
University of the Cumberlands 35 60 28 (123/300) 41% F

Today’s Tip:

If you are going to put an events calendar on your homepage a user is more engaged if you give them automatically what is going on today right up front. This way they are not forced to choose a day then see the events for that date.

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