Center Web Sites Operations Management – Session 1 NSF I/UCRC Meeting January 12, 2006

Center Web Sites

Operations Management – Session 1

NSF I/UCRC Meeting January 12, 2006

NSF I/UCRC 2 Jan. 12, 2006

Elements of a good web site

Delivers a message immediately Logo, name, what you do

Conveys information effectively Easy to read Easy to navigate to find more information

Creates an impression You want people to remember and return

Your home page is your “window on the world”


Elements of a good I/UCRC home page

NSF logo or name, link to I/UCRC site Membership information

Benefits of membership, how to join, costs Corporate members: list, logos, links Academic partners: list, logos, links Contact info for directors, staff Copyright and date


The best I/UCRC home pages have:

Research objectives, mission statement Current research project abstracts Accomplishments:

Tech transfer, new products Publications, theses

Meeting agendas and registration online Email form to get more info


Challenges for I/UCRC sites

Conveying complex ideas in simple terms Protecting confidential information

Members only Board, PIs, students

Keeping content current Staff = Time and $ Students require supervision = Time and $


What you’ve said … survey results

16 of ~50 sites responded (34%) Summary here, details in last slides Purpose of web site:

Public presence for center (16) Membership marketing (16) Deliver project updates (14) Report news on center changes (12) Symposia, workshop materials archive (12) Project documentation archives (8)


What you’ve said … survey results

What is your biggest problem or concern regarding your web site?

Timely updates (4) Members don’t visit the site as often as we

would like (4) Getting content from faculty to update it Keeping external links up to date


Examples from I/UCRC sites

Variety of Centers big, well funded small, underfunded

Discuss what works, what doesn’t If your site is featured, lead us through it:

how were decisions made what are the most active areas of the site what are the problems


IUCRC for Intelligent Maintenance Systems http://www.imscenter.net/ Simple, easy to navigate Landscape orientation puts most info in

the screen, no need to scroll down Membership info on home page Research links on left menu Link to brochure What do you like? Dislike?


Center for Identification Technology Research http://www.citer.wvu.edu/ Clean, simple presentation Comments on home page? Where’s the contact info? Research area: good length of abstracts


Center for Nondestructive Evaluation

http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/ Where does the eye go first? What is the most important info? Where would you place it?


Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics

http://cave.auburn.edu/ Do you like that banner? Easy to navigate, lots of information in

links Research Areas: brief summary, then

requires log-in Web PPTs and videos for membership

promotion


Cooling Technologies Research Center

http://widget.ecn.purdue.edu/~CTRC/ Amount of text

Reader habits have changed Expectation for hyperlinks

Pull-down menus: do you like them? What are the problems?


Center for Design of Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits

http://www.cdadic.com/ Beautiful graphics but where’s the info? Size of text in menus Inside pages well organized

Who We Are Members Meetings


Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering

http://www.capce.ohio-state.edu/ Uses frames … different in Firefox &

Explorer Moving objects: NSF and “new” Link to another web site, all acronyms …

why? Newsletters link … list by volume


IUC for Glass Research

http://cgr.alfred.edu/cgr.html Rollover menus: discuss Membership

Most information below screen. How to sign up?

Frames: not universally compatible Link: The Glass Researcher


Center for Engineering Logics and Distribution

http://celdi.ineg.uark.edu/ Doesn’t show in Firefox, compare to

Explorer Research areas requires you to read a

PPT


Center for Wireless Electromagnetic Compatibility

http://www.ou.edu/engineering/emc/ Another example of why frames don’t work

across browsers. Compare in IE and then Firefox … news

line at bottom, page title at left side


IUC for Biosurfaces

http://wings.buffalo.edu/iucb/ Look at flashing highlight for news …

below screen What does the graphic tell you?


Center for the Built Environment

http://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/ Information rich and easy to navigate Probably the largest IUCRC? Obviously

has resources for web maintenance and design.

What do you like? Dislike?


Power Systems Engineering Research Center

http://www.pserc.wisc.edu/ Another large IUCRC, site is very info

heavy … but does it work? Note use of page locators at top, very

helpful. Not consistent in sections from side menu.


Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center

http://www-bsac.eecs.berkeley.edu/ Very info heavy, but well managed. I prefer a landscape layout to portrait. Browse top menu, note page locators.


Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research

http://www.cppr.purdue.edu/index.html Plain and simple, well packaged Do you like the fade-in for university

names?


Measurement & Control Engineering Center

http://mcec.engr.utk.edu/index.html A bit busy on the home page How would you group or link the

information differently?


IUCRC in Coatings

http://www.psrc.usm.edu/NSFIUCRC/ Where’s the name of the center? NSF logo? 2002 date for meeting Size of text Seems to be a case where a lovely web

site was designed but upkeep not funded


Connection One http://www.connectionone.org/ Frames? Too much info, scroll down Image mapping: NSF (how many people do

this?), names of universities, home page Page locator: left menu and top of page Research project abstracts: well done Full publications: how many others do this? Search engine Email address form


Biomolecular Interaction Technologies Center

http://www.bitc.unh.edu “Wrap” of banner and side menu What does the logo tell you? Membership info buried in Administration Research titles should have more info Most efforts go into maintaining the

members section … behind the scenes


BITC behind the scenes

Admin interface IAB online voting via survey Evaluator surveys online Project documentation & meeting archives Protected files = upload & download Not used as much as we had expected:

Member surveys & forums Board listserv


Summary

Multiple purposes: Marketing for membership Research documentation Communication for stakeholders

Good info wins over pretty graphics Reader habits have changed Short text lines and LINK to more info

Web sites need to be maintained = $


Lingering questions

Does anyone use web conferencing? Problems with audio & video? Do you allow or encourage direct IAB-PI

contact via the web? How can we increase members’ use of the

web site? How do your students use your web site? Any other questions?


Other resources

web design http://www.useit.com/alertbox/991003.html

home page http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020512.html

web pages that suck http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/


Survey: Purpose of your web site?

Public presence for center (16) Membership marketing (16) Deliver project updates (14) Report news on center changes (12) Symposia, workshop materials archive

(12) Project documentation archives (8)


Purpose of your web site?

Board-staff communication (4) Job postings for members (4) PI-staff-board communication (2) Posting student resumes (2) Directions and list of local hotels (2) Other (from http://bsac.berkeley.edu ):

researcher resources, profile postings for researchers, faculty profiles, relevant links, patent disclosures,)


Survey: Registered users?

283 … 125 … 79 … 50 … 42 … 30 … 30 … 30 … 20 …

40 in past but now use CDs to distribute materials

Larger numbers: industrial members, faculty, researchers and students, center staff

Smaller numbers tend to be board members, faculty and center staff


Survey: Documentation of projects

What do you provide on your web site for documentation of research projects?

Title (13) Presentations (10) (2 are restricted) Abstract or summary (9) Publications (9) Progress reports with data (8)


Survey: Maintaining your site

Who creates/maintains your site? Most: staff and/or student

How often is material updated? Varies: as needed, every couple of days, every two

weeks, monthly, 3-4 times a year, twice a year for board meetings.


Survey: Biggest problem or concern? Timely updates (4) Members don’t visit the site as often as we

would like (4) Getting content from faculty to update it Keeping external links up to date Making the content understandable not only to

technical people but financial and administrative people

Incompatibility with Mozilla & Netscape Problem is frames, which is an older method and not

universally compatible. When you change web pages, use tables. Mozilla has an HTML editor (free) called Composer which is easy to use.


Survey: Biggest problem or concern?

IP concerns make it difficult to make the site useful because info is restricted Need to use privilege-based access and restrict

some areas

Driving traffic to the web site Have students browse for it. Feed them.

Making it valuable as a recruiting tool Member-researcher “chat” or special interest

blogs or wickys

Documents

Center Web Sites Operations Management – Session 1 NSF I/UCRC Meeting January 12, 2006