The purpose of my professional/personal website is to inform employers and the general audience about my skills, capabilities, and lifestyle. Upon visiting the site, viewers will know about my work experience, coursework, and personal achievements. My email address is posted on the site so viewers have a way to contact me for further information about my work. My intended audiences are employers and students in the states; therefore, the website is in the English language. Through creating this website, I hope to obtain a job or at least be exposed to potential employers.

I also will be at the same competitive level as my peers (for a lot of them already have their own professional site). On the personal level, viewers will catch a glimpse of my lifestyle and to begin to know who I am, and what I stand for. Audience Analysis The majority of the viewers will be young adults to adults. Middle school students up to college students may just happen to surf unto my website or be told about it by word of mouth. Through contacting employers for job opportunities, employers may visit my site to obtain more information about my work experience and education.

Although it is possible, it is less likely that young children or the elderly will visit my site. Demographic information Demographic information was not used to analyze the audience. Rather, past experience from working with professionals and students was used. See Conducting Research. Subject-Specific Information Employers skim resumes because they are busy people. If an employer visits my website, it is because they want to know more about me; however, that does not mean they will have time to read pages and pages of information.

The layout will be simple and easy to access; headers will guide the employers so they can choose to jump from section to section. Students are usually causal to opportunistic users; they tend to skim around and look for something that piques their interest. Since a lot of students like looking at pictures, there are quite a few of them on the website. Pictures of family and friends also add a personal touch to the site. The website caters to both employers and the general audience, providing from very specific information (e. g. , work experience) to general information (e. g.

, short biography). People who want to learn more can obtain more information; people who only want certain pieces of information will find that as well. Business model Creating the website will most likely benefit only me; however, students may come across some ideas that pique their interests upon visiting my site. Perhaps they will get some ideas of where to work, what classes to take, etc. Through visiting my website, employers will obtain more supplemental information about me than through reading a typical resume; they will know more about my personality and background.

There is no plan to produce revenue from this website. Conducting Research No research was conducted to analyze the audience; however, past experience was used to determine what type of information would be appropriate for the two audiences. From previous encounters with employers, my resume seems to be effective because of the job offers I’ve received. I also sought advice at the Engineering Co-op office for an evaluation on my resume. Through my peers and friends, I also know what kind of information interests them and what they prefer.

My technical communication classes have also taught me how to provide information to meet audiences’ needs. Segmenting and Prioritizing Audiences The two distinct audiences are the employers and the general audience. The viewer will know what scent to follow based on the links that are located on my home page. For instance, the general audience will most likely visit the links like “Biography” and “Inspiration” while employers will most likely visit the links like “Resume” and “Sample work. ” Theme and Style The theme is “Get to know Shirley better- professionally and personally through her website. ”

The theme includes all aspect of my life-my professional, personal, and spiritual life. Because my website includes different types of audiences, I used a neutral color for my home page My personal pages have more color variation than my professional pages; however, the colors I use are light and not flashy or too distracting because employers may visit my personal pages as well. The professional pages have white background to project a serious and formal tone. Comparison with Similar Websites Many student websites display information that I would choose to display (e. g. , personal and academic information).

Some student websites are more personal than others, while some are more professional than others. Every student had a unique design for his/her website and the design for my website will be unique as well. My website will be “middle-ground” in the sense that it’s not too personal or too professional looking; I want to make sure both audiences have their needs met. Website Content I began to brainstorm about information that I would want to include on my website. Then I got more ideas of for what to put on my website from class discussion; the professor also gave me ideas on how to expand my website.

Through Visio, I created a node link diagram of my website so I could better visualize where all the content will be located (see attachment). Plans for Content Acquisition My external links include links to my previous job, my school, and some club organizations. Since the content is about me, I will be providing all the information. If there is not sufficient information that I can provide (e. g. , detailed descriptions about courses offered at UW), I will then create an external link to an outside source. Early Design Reviews The website is still in progress, so the only people that have seen the site are my family members.

After all the pages are up, I will ask other students to run through my web pages. Plans for Project Evaluation A clickable prototype should be ready by the end of this week. I will ask students to surf the website to test if the links have a strong enough scent. An idea I have is to give the student a task to find a certain piece of information and observe whether he/she is able to find it on the first try. I will also ask them what links they think are misleading, what links should be converged, and what links should be associative.

Staffing, Equipment, Schedule, and Budget Staffing I am working on my own with this website, and I think the only fear I have is that I may not know enough about making websites. I know that my website will look fairly simple in comparison to other websites. Personally, if I am able to publish everything I want (the basics) and have everything working correctly, I will be content. My worry is that my website lacks special features like Flash or Fireworks that other students may have on their website. Currently, I do not know how to use that type of software.

My website doesn’t require animation, so I think the content that I have on my website is sufficient. However, through the class discussions about pertinent technical skills of TC majors, I realized that there are many skills I still need to develop in order to be competitive enough for the workforce. I plan on taking some tutorials or asking my friends for a crash course on the programs I’m still unfamiliar with. But realistically, I don’t think I will be able to learn them in time for this project. Nevertheless, through time my website will look better and better through practice and experience.

Equipment The hardware I will be using includes the computers in the TC lab and my home computer. I will also be using the Ultra Dev Dreamweaver to develop my website. Schedule I do not have a set time of when I work on the website, but I work on it as often as I can. I currently have the basics pages done but I still need to link them and add the graphics. I also need to use Photoshop to alter the pictures I scanned. I should have a testable prototype by the end of this week. Budget Public space is available for each UW student so there is no additional cost to me to create the website.