Notes from IEEE IPCC99 Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana, September 7-10, 1999

Web Environments

Communicating to a Wider Audience: An Experiment with the Internet

David Ma
University of Hong Kong

Session Description: The speaker was unable to complete his paper, which was "OBE," and offered to cancel, but the conference asked him to present his results informally, which he did. Essentially, he attempted to integrate a Web page assignment into an English curriculum, and found he had overestimated students' capability in Web page design, which led to the "OBE" state of affairs.

• Web is an excellent training medium: e.g., task-based online tutorials (how to prepare a campus newsletter, etc).
• U. of Hong Kong English Department teaches ESL and English for professional communication.
• Chinese students tend to be reticent about approaching professors; the workshop environment tends to break down this "high-context" wall.
• Students asked for more frequent and longer workshops; the hands-on approach has been extremely well received, as compared to conventional lecture and tutorials.
• How can we leverage the Internet to communicate to a wider student audience?
• U. of Hong Kong is well equipped with state-of-the-art computing equipment, and most students are PC-equipped.
• However, the presenter overestimated students' capability in Web page design and did not allow adequate time for conceptual development before project onset. Students tended to view the Web page as a technical exercise, rather than an integral part of English course content.
• Structure and contents are more critical than special FX such as embedded video clips, animations, etc.
• The Web page preparation process got out of control; the technological overwhelmed the rhetorical.
• The fix will be to strike a better balance between content and format, with more emphasis on the organization and writing and less on the HTML side.

Designing Web Sites for the Intranet: Identifying Your Audience, Determining Your Goals, and Satisfying Your Constituent

Brenda Rubens
IBM Corporation

The presenter has a Ph.D. in communications theory and research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has 12 years' experience with IBM, most of it as a human factors engineer.

Session Description: This session analyzes how to derive maximum benefit from an Intranet site. The key is to understand the audience, establish goals and objectives, and decide what you can deliver based on your resources and your timeline.

• Goal was to cut the volume of user calls to the IBM Human Resources central organization in Raleigh, NC.
• Lotus Notes was used initially, but it proved to be too slow. It was abandoned with about a month to go before implementation. The alternative was to convert from Lotus Notes via Dominos to a Web-based documentation.
• Web site currently houses more than 5,000 pages worth of information.
• Original database was in a hyperwise environment, but it was written in stilted, jargon-filled language unsuitable for user consumption.
• First Web-posting was graphic-rich, with icons on the main menu for each subdepartment within HR.
• Politics and sensitivities entered the picture; e.g., some users objected to a baby bottle as an icon for maternity benefits on the basis that breast-feeding was a better alternative (give me a break!).
• One early error was to use 6 separately loading green buttons next to each menu item, because the manager liked them...never mind that it took forever to load.
• Excessive navigation down through submenus was required to access the information...usability tests showed the need to reduce the number of levels.
• Gen-X for outdated Web design: "It's so 1996..."
• Next phase organized the main menu more verbally than graphically, identifying the subdepartment and placing key types of data available within that area in parentheses next to the subdepartment name. This was much more useful than cutesy graphic icons.
• Usability testing essentials
   
• Identify your users, talk to them, listen to them. This can be done simply and inexpensively, without sophisticated usability labs, but it must be done.
• Materials: basic note-taking gear (pencil and paper is better than audiotape, videotape, etc.--the latter tend to intimidate the audience and artificialize the process, plus the resultant database is unwieldy to search, as compared to concise notes on paper).
• Key steps
   
• Identify users
• Avoid assumptions
• Sketch out the design and test it
• Create a static prototype and test/fix/test/fix
• Create a clickable prototype and test/fix/test/fix
• Code it and test/fix
• Gather feedback, identify
problems, prioritize requirements, design solutions, implement solutions.
• Latest main menu is 100% text, strictly lists of subtopics within each category, plus an alphabetized list option. Users want functionality, not gratuitous graphic effects.
• Preceding the main menu is a graphic-intensive splash page.
• Top 10 requirements:
   
• Easy to find: users are busy and do not want to waste time searching
• Consolidate information: for data-rich Web sites, don't abide by the one sentence per screen approach with needless graphics...go text only, and include a full paragraph per screen.
• Quick and easy navigation... don't let user get lost in Hyperspace
• FAST...after the splash page, the IBM HR Web site has zero graphics. Except for the front page, there is a 6-second max for loading.
• Effective and efficient search... current IBM search engine is insufficient; needs work on sort capability
• Print capability...people still want paper (consolidation of information onto fewer screens helps)
• Provide interactive capabilities... right now, users can print forms but not fill them out and submit them online (to achieve that would require a tie-in to the insurers)
• Provide easy to find and use feedback function...many sites have no provision for users to provide feedback to the designers. Fast response to inquiries is essential.
• Relevant and accurate... keeping information up to date is critical
• Maintenance...make sure Web site is well-maintained; fix broken links, fix errors, etc. Software exists to check links automatically.

How to Reach Your Audience and Get Proven Results
Using Satellite Training

Judith B. Strother (presenter) and Carol H. Shehedeh (co-author of paper)
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL.

Strother is chair of the graduate program in communication at FIT, and is also a curriculum specialist for Virtual Languages, Inc. Shehedeh chairs FIT's BS degree program in communication, and is an active consultant in business and industry.

Session Description: This session explored the potential for linking remote professional expertise to a university as well as academic expertise to industry users, via distance learning. There is a vast international market demand for business English and standard aviation English.

• Objective was to link remote professional expertise to the main university and vice versa,via distance learning.
• Financing a large Web site designed for international use requires corporate support...the solution is a synergism between academe and industry.
• Demand for business English is a major market niche.
• Standard aviation English is another growth area, with vital implications for safety cross-ref).
• Demand for Business English
   
• Most large U.S. corporations face a multilingual workforce, even domestically
• Rapid globalization of business
• Entrepreneurism
• Career advancement... linguistic limitations can be a "glass ceiling"
• Virtual Language's Target audience was adult learners, business professionals, students preparing for business careers, and the aviation industry.
• Every lesson is available at 4 different levels of proficiency in English. Readings are high-interest, with audio recordings, meaningful graphics, glossed vocabulary, chat rooms, bulletin boards, and an e-mail system.
• Curriculum is available both through Internet and within corporate Intranets (with closed chat rooms, etc).
• Lowest common denominator on user platforms is a critical consideration in the international Web-based communication market Many non-U.S. users lack the platform capability typically available to the domestic US corporate user.
• Lessons are therefore either entirely textual, or with small graphics, to minimize file size and load time. However, sound files are a must, so ESL users can click on words and have them pronounced.
• Content development
   
• Content experts...Virtual Language exploits university tie-in to get SMEs to develop content within their areas of specialization
• Linguistics specialists
   
• Reading
• Listening
• Grammar
• Editors
• An exception is aviation training, where animation and more complex graphics are sometimes essential to convey the concepts.
• Publishing: sound, graphics, Web publishing...using special tools for Web-based instruction, with templates for interactive quizzes,etc.
• Beta testing is important...is content relevant and interesting, is navigation clear, do all the links work?
• Benefits of collaboration between corporations and universities
   
• Corporations tend to lack multi-source subject matter expertise, which universities provide.
• Universities tend to lack the funding resources to develop in-depth Web-based training materials, which corporations can provide.
• Educational value.