COM/MKT/TEC 309 Module II Design Blueprint

Assignment due: ____________(see class schedule at:

http://www.management.eku.edu/SIEGEL/M309/DATES.htm)

Late assignments will be reduced by 10% for each day late

The paper must be typed. The sitemap diagram for your marketing site must be laid out and printed in a program like Power Point or MicrosoftWord. Sample marketing homepage page must be drawn in correct aspect ratio and in color.

Hand-coloring is acceptable.

Grammar, spelling, completeness will count.

Worth 90 points (90% of COM Module Grade)

COM MODULE 2 ASSIGNMENT (Communication/Design)

The Module 2 assignment builds a "blueprint" for the marketing web site you will be designing in Module 3 of this course. The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with a guideline and sitemap for the creation of the web site. It will establish design guidelines that will make your site more appealing to the target audience, keep it consistent throughout, and allow the site to maintain a personality.

There are three parts to the assignment: (1) the written plan/blueprint (in paper form), (2) the site map of the proposed site and (3) a mock-up design of the homepage for the site (including at least 3 thumbnail sketches from which the final design was chosen).

PART (1) The Written Plan

This is an individual project, please work independently. Conduct your research using a variety of sources. These should include the following: owners/managers of the business/service for whom you will be designing the site, the WWW

(you can find information for target profiles, site design ideas, navigation/architecture help), the VALS typology, Claritas.com and any other sources you can locate.

The short paper should include the following information:

I. The Receiver/Target/Consumer of the site

Discuss the following in paragraph form:

A. Demographics (cite sources – where did you get the information?)

1. Gender, age, income, educational level, geographic location

B. Psychographics (cite sources)

1. Lifestyles, values, attributes of the group - Use the VALS info – pick a category you think best represents the audience

2. Interests, preferences, other characteristics that differentiate them from non-customers of the product/service

C. Does your client currently maintain a database of customers? How is it used? Do they

use it for promotional purposes? Give an example.

D. Where does the client expect future business to come from? (Growth potential?)

II. The Goal(s) of the Web site

A. Define it/they (if you have multiple goals) clearly -- use the suggested goals from

lecture: to sell, to educate, to entertain, to provide information, to drive traffic to store.

B. What is it, exactly, that the web site must accomplish for the client?

C. What main point do you want the consumer to take away from this point of contact

(the Web site)?

1. Try the product or service

2. Send for more info?

3. Use product/service more often?

4. Change their perception of the product/service??

D. What is the one thing the consumer will remember if interviewed five minutes after

viewing your site?

E. Explain how controls will be used to determine whether the goals have been achieved?

How will you measure that?

III. IMC Considerations

A. How will you drive traffic to the site? What other "points of contact" will you use to

make the target audience aware of the site ?

B. How will you make sure the target keeps returning to the site?

C. How will feedback be obtained? What can you do with the feedback?

IV. The Design of the Site

A. How will the target audience and their attributes drive the design of the site? In other

words, why does the design the you have chosen “fit” the target audience?

B. What IS the design of the site - discuss layout, colors, photos/graphics to be used, the

ratio of text to graphics, amount of white space allowed - be specific.

C. how will you maintain consistency throughout the site (similar "look" for each

individual page

D. What is the overall "personality" you want to create in the web site? What is the “feel” of the site? Is it “sophisticated?” “fun?” “corporate?” “trustworthy?”

PART (2) Site Map for Marketing Site

Prepare a complete site map/flow chart for the marketing site - clearly identify each of the pages and sub pages (a minimum of 10 pages total) - use a program like Pagemaker or Microsoft Word that you allows to construct boxes and lines showing interconnections (sample is attached)

PART (3) Sample of home page for Marketing Site and 3 thumbnail sketches

Hand draw, use clip art, or an actual hard copy of the Dreamweaver page you've already created that demonstrates exactly how the homepage will look. Use correct colors and design elements. Be sure to use a landscape format (11 X 8.5), NOT a portrait format (8.5 X 11) – or an aspect ratio of 3 X 4 units (3 units high X 4 units wide)

PART (4) Any Appendices &/or References

You might include sites you went to (print the first page – notes from meetings with owners/clients, etc.

EVALUATION

Your work will be evaluated on:

1. How well you have thought out the process -- do you have a handle on the client –

what they want -- what the site should accomplish -- what the target is like?

2. How well your design fits the audience and the goals

3. Quality of materials used to support conclusions

4. Quality of the effort expended to gather and digest information

5. Attention to details like spelling, grammar, following directions

6. Quality/creativity of the design itself and the mock-up of the homepage

Overall value = 90 points out of the 100 possible points in Module 2 - see grade breakdown on Dr. Siegel's site.

Some URL's for demographic data:

* HYPERLINK "http://www.clickz.com/stats" http://www.clickz.com/stats

* HYPERLINK "http://www.nielsen-netratings.com" http://www.nielsen-netratings.com

* HYPERLINK "http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/" http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/

*claritas.com (demographic and psychographic data for various zipcodes – click on “You are where you live”)

* HYPERLINK "http://www.census.gov/stat_abstract" http://www.census.gov/stat_abstract

*Business Wire (hyperlinked to various corporate home pages - HYPERLINK "http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?front_door=true" http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?front_door=true

*Web Design Tips - HYPERLINK "http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/98/34/index1a.html?tw=design" http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/98/34/index1a.html?tw=design

NOTE: Please submit the project in some type of folder. Don't use plastic covers. Be sure your name is on all pieces.