Abstract
In today’s modern society, the Internet has become a widely accepted tool in our society and also one that is heavily dependent on by man. As further explained in this essay, not all online sources provide effective communication from author to reader and this essay has taken two separate websites, The Sartorialist and Lukeprog as specimens of a comparative study and broken them down to analyse them aspect by aspect using narrative theory and principles of web-based communication. This essay has ascertained that The Sartorialist is a more effective website relative to Lukeprog.
Introduction
With the expotential rise of the use of Internet in today’s society, there is an inevitable reliance on the application of narrative theory to in order to interpret the content on Internet-based media and narratives. As Mandernach(2006) has elucidated, the penetration of technology into our daily ablutions does not necessarily facilitate an increase in learning and can even result in problems. Instead of simply presenting information without putting thought in its organisation, Kozalka and Ganesan(2004) as well as Sadik(2004) posit that content management needs to be exercised wherein readers are engaged rather than merely reading or listening to their online sources. In order to demonstrate such narrative perspectives, this essay sees a comparative study of two sites: “The Sartorialist” and Luke Muehlhauser’s site, “Lukeprog” . The principles of effective web-based communications is also be employed in this analysis to further emphasize the importance of the organisation of content.
With that in mind, this essay thus endevours to establish that “The Satoralist” is a more effective wesbite in communicating its thoughts and purpose to the readers relative to “Lukeprog” and seeks to convey the narrative perspective behind eachwebsite.
Methodology
A comparative study for two sites involves laying out the similarities and difference between two specimen sites. According to Meadows (2002), a narrative is ‘an individual’s perspective of the surroundings’; Perspective allows us to see things very different points of view, predominantly visually and emotionally. Narrative theory allows us to analyze the content presented on the website from the viewpoint of the writer while the principles of effective web-based design enable us to comprehend how effective the websites are in delivering its messages and content across to the reader. Appropriate web design would fulfill the 9 elements of web-based communications, which as Collins(2007) has exerted are precedence, spacing, navigation, design to build, typography, usablity, alignment, clarity and consistency. Both of such insights would aid in shaping the perspective of the readers, ultimately shaping the perspective of the website as well.
In addition, I have interviewed two participants, A and B, on their thoughts of the two websites in order to expand the scope of my analysis for the two websites and their results will be used to further breakdown the websites under the Analysis section.
Results
The good website, “The Sartorialist” (The Sartorialist, 2005) is edited and managed by creator Scott Schuman, with the idea of introducing a two-way dialogue about the world of fashion and its relationship to daily life. Driven by his own interest in fashion and blogging, Schuman travels around the world to gather what he has come across in fashion shows, on the streets as well as book features in the form of the photographs that he consistently updates on the blog.
(Source: The Sartorialist, 2012)
The above picture is what the reader sees upon first viewing the site. At the top of the page, the name of the website is displayed in big bold block letters and there are many tabs in the menu bar below it. This Menu bar just below offers direct links to areas of interest and automatically leads the reader around the screen. The eye-catching title serves to add visual weight to the first impression of the reader and actually acts as a form of logo, allowing the user to know immediately what they are viewing. Coupled with an easily read font, this simple interface easily displays its messages and provides clear navigation, thus creating an overall stylistic aura to further reinforce a fashionable aura on The Sartorialist.
As one scrolls through this website, it is evident that the blog is one that uses pictures to tell a story to the reader. Images are in posts, thumbnails and small icons, they do not clutter the page. No doubt, illustration seeks to convey more effectively than words do. With pictures being the dominant feature of the blog, the white background serves as a base to contrast and attention is not drawn away from the pictures as readers continue to scroll the posts.
The wire frame of the blog, as chosen by the author, provides a great sense of balance. It divides the space on the website evenly, aligning the design and making it more digestible for the reader. The picture posts takes up the majority of the space, while the other less significant events and smaller categories such as archives, advertisements and updates on their Twitter and Instagram take up the remainder of the space. This keeps the overall impression of the website polished and such a feel coincides with the modern aesthetic of the blog itself.
There is a form of consistency in the content portrayed by Schuman, in which he divides his picture post mainly into two sections: If You’re Still Thinking About… and On The Street… The former showcases inspiration of a particular style that is woven into the outfits and caught on his camera while the latter is simply appealing shots that he experiences and captures while he is touring. This creates a sense of professionalism and exudes coherence between pages and on the same page.
The various aspects of web design has put The Sartorialist in a good light, bringing up the perception of quality of the blog by a notch and hence with regards to the principles of web-based design, it is effectually the better website.
(Source: Luke Muehlhausser, 2012)
On the other hand, the bad website, “Lukeprog” (Luke Muehlhausser, 2011) is run by Executive Director at Singularity Institute. He has put up all his works – writings, audio and video files – on the site for his viewers to enjoy as well.
Upon entering the website, viewers are greeted with a scene like that of the above picture. Similarly, there is a logo at the top of the page “Luke Muehlhausser” and the menu bar below the logo allow for easy navigation. The opening tab, Luke’s “About Me” page is centred in the middle, drawing readers to identify with the owner of the blog himself. Hitherto, the precedence of the website is straightforward and users can self navigate through the pages.
However, upon closer observation one would notice that the purpose of this blog appears ambiguous. In the “About Me” page itself, Luke states his position as Executive Director of Singularity Institute, which is a reasearch institute for Artificial Intelligence. Yet he includes his personal interests and this confuses the readers: Is this website a professional or personal one? Such a trend is not only found on the first page, but also every other page of the website. Despite the fact that his blog is well maintained and catogorised on the surface, it appears rather bland due to the combination of colours and fonts.
There is an overall blue background to contrast the centre board which is beige in colour and the text are in dark brown. According to the 9 principles of web design, this does not actually satisfy the criterias of Usablity and Typography. These links are displayed as a different colour from the original text to distinguish them, creating alternating colours on the page itself, and leaves a very messy impression of the website.
Luke does writing for a broad range of topics: Philosophy, Rationality, Scientific Self-Help as well as Less Wrong, which is a community devoted to improving human rationality. Yet these topics have not been catogorized accordingl; this leaves room for the reader to doubt the genre of his writings, confusing them. The bulk of the text on the website is assembled by these links and their descriptions or titles. These links have long title, do not facilitate reading for the readers and de facto suggest insincerity in web-page design. Due to the lack of graphics to simulate visual gratification, viewers are further discouraged from continuing to read due to the website being too “wordy”. This is proven by Friedman(2008) who has postulated that viewers don’t read but isntead they scan. In the brief moment they take to browse through the website, if they do not find anything entertaining for their eyes to feast on, they would lose interes. Even under the section of “Videos”, there are no thumbnails for actual videos, but rather external links that lead out to the videos that he displays on his website.
Thus this essay finds, that in lieu of the principles of web-based design, this website has failed in providing effective communication to its readers.
Analysis
For The Sartorialist, both participants A and B have agreed that the images form the main narrative perspective of the author, given that they are the main attraction of the website. This is in accordance with the standard usability of website, as websites, as users are generally impatient, want instant gratification, and look for easily identifiable points of references that might lead them to their goals (Friedman, 2008). Readers would search for specific points, which would guide their path of gaze along the content on the page. Both participants A and B have ascertained that navigation and organization of this web page is indeed user-friendly.
This is in contrast to Lukeprog, whose narrative perspective is formed wholly on the links that he has all around the entire web page. Participants A and B have agreed that while navigation appears ostensibly clear cut, the underlying organization of content on the website remains unclear and messy. The large amount of external links circumvents participants and causes confusion for them, especially in the case where they might be in search for a particular writing. Participant A suggested a search bar needs to be put in place, like in the case of The Sartorialist to facilitate the finding of any particular article.
Prior to interviewing both participants, participant A has conveyed much passion towards fashion while Participant B showed little interest. With that in mind, both participants are drawn into The Sartorialist’s web page when they first click on it. Upon further questioning, Participant A expressed satisfaction and wishes to continue to return to the website for further updates. Despite the lack of interest initially displayed, Participant B also expressed delight in viewing the picture posts. While it is subjective that such imagery would capture the attention of all readers, credit should be given unto Schuman such that his images are able to capture the interest of non-fashion enthusiasts as well. Illustration indeed captures the attention of all readers, regardless of their interest. With this being said, the main audience of The Sartorialist would be educated readers who have deep interest in fashion. Based on the section “On The Streets”, as readers we can tell the current location of Schuman himself as he uploads pictures of inspiration where he currently resides. Participant A connoted that this is a way that Schuman portrays his perspective of fashion and the fashion in his surroundings on the Sartorialist and that it gives a personal touch yet professional feel to his web page. Participant B however, felt that perhaps there should be more information provided alongside each picture. The lack of description coincides with the element of typography and certain readers might not be able to connect with the author, as they are merely “scrolling picture after picture” without fully understanding the meaning.
Adversely, Lukeprog does not contain much to indicate the perspective of the author since most of it are external links. Content-wise, since the bulk of the text are formed from the links and their description, the web page only becomes an index which provides a catogorised structure to divide and assist the reader in manoeuvring around the website. The aforementioned scope of writing that Luke does has a high level of interpersonal knowledge and offers much outlook for people who are acutely or remotely enthralled by these topics. However, both participants have highlighted they are not drawn in to explore and the read the writings due to the disorganisation of the content nor would they return to the website for future references.
Lastly, in both web pages the two respective authors have left their contact details for their readers to contact them. For The Sartorialist, Schuman has clearly stated that he can be contact via one email for work related purposes or other purposes while Luke left both his personal and work email for his readers to contact him. Schuman also has a comments section at the end of every post to allow his readers to pose questions for him in relation to any particular topic they wish. Lukeprog does not have this feature and all doubts would simply have to go through his email, Once again, this highlights the difference between the two websites as it leaves readers to question the purpose of Luke’s website. Perchance, his audiences are readers who wish to view the Executive Director of Singularity Institute in a more light-hearted light but still in a professional context.
Conclusion
In the examination of any website, the exact content contained in the website should not be the main focus of the researcher but rather, the experience which the website delievers. Therefore, the design of the websites has to be taken into full consideration. Singling specific characteristics within will not form a depiction of the conclusive meaning of the website has initially inteneded to bring fourth as a whole.
There needs to be a balance between fulfilling the 9 elements of effective web-based communication as well as the narrative perspective of the essay in order for one to conclude if a website is effective in bringing its message across to its readers. As this essay has concluded, The Sartorialist has sucessfully accomplished
Ultimately, a website can have ground breaking revelation or insightful knowledge that man would need into today’s digital age and time but if websites do not organise them accordingly, readers would not appreciate these information on website with poor content management.
References
Collis. (2007). 9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design. Available: http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-tutorials/9-essential-principles-for-good-web-design/. Last accessed 27th October 2012.
Friedman V. (2008). 10 Principles Of Effective Web Design.Available: http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/. Last accessed 27th October 2012.
Koszalka, T.A., & Ganesan, R. (2004). Designing online courses: A taxonomy to guide strategic use of features available in course management systems (CMS) in distance education. Distance Education, 25(2).
Mandermach, B.J. (2006). The evolution of online development: From basics to bells and back again.
Meadows, M S 2002, Pause and Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative, Peachpit, viewed 19 August 2012, http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=29598
Muehlhauser L. (2011). Luke Muelhauser. Available: http://www.lukeprog.com. Last accessed 24 October 2012.
Schuman, S. (2012) The Sartorialist. Availble: http://www.thesartorialist.com. Last accessed 24 October 2012.
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