Monday, April 27, 2009

Client Correspondence

The following is an email I sent to the client outlining a content idea, and his reply to that email:


Steve,

Thought of an idea for content on the website, and give another opportunity for myself to write content.

"Day in the life of: A Year 1 Student"
"Day in the life of: A Year 2 Student"
"Day in the life of: A Year 3 Student"

Diary-esque pieces, gives potential students an idea of what an average day is like for a Journalism Student at FUCA.

Assuming you like this idea, what I'll need from you are timetables for the various student years.

Thoughts?

Again, if you like this, I'll need the info ASAP.

Regards,

D



Yes I think that could work.

I suggest you use your own experience as the reference point. You have been through all three years of the course and you know the timetable pattern. You could use a certain amount of writerly licence in devising a day of classes, it does not have to be absolutely literal in terms of timetable. Or take a week in the life rather than a day which thenm allows you to consider a sample of classes.

I think this is a good idea because this is the kind of thing that prospective students want to know, and it has an engaging human interest appeal.

S.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Client Correspondence

The following is an email I received from my client and the respons that I sent (dated 14 April). I have yet to receive a reply:-



Steve,

Regarding site design, the only similarity to the FUCA website is the double left hand nav bar. The content design and navigation structure beyond that is different. The reason the double left hand nav bar was used is because the navigation style (by year group) made sense to have the sub-groups listed next to the main nav groups. I studied the ABC and Chris Hoy websites as discussed in the blog, and chose some of the elements of presentation of each. ABC's colour scheme and contextualising, without their layout as it seemed messy and confusing, and elements of Chris Hoy's layout, avoiding the content display as it involved scrolliing and I wanted to avoid this.

Regarding navigation by year group, that was a decision that we came to when it was decided that navigation by speciality would be too unbalanced. Besides which, from a personal note, I would want to see a break down year by year so I could see progression throughout the course.

Regarding tne listing of each unit and description thereof, I looked through the FUCA website and decided that the display of units that it featured was not good (one long list, bulk text). I preferred to see the units listed, then with the possibility of checking each for more information. Bear in mind the user is not forced to see this additional available information, but they can if they so choose to so I see no harm including it.

You mention you would want the important sections to be students showcase, over course information. I would point out that the sub-nav bar lists student testimonials and galleries, so the user is at most only ever 1 click away from seeing these sections.

Would you like me to change the layout in any way having discussed these issues?

Additionally, the blog screenshots are the maximum size allowed for by blogger, this is not a conscious decision, and they are just to give an idea and document progress.

D



David,

OK, I have had a look at the screenshots on your blog.

It is rather difficult to make judgments on the basis of such small screenshots and of course these shots are static so I can't really get a feel for what is always on screen and what if anything is pop-up or context-sensitive.

I see that you have gone for the UCA style navigation bars at the side although I did express some misgivings about these when we talked about using the UCA site as a basis for the design.

As a tutor evaluating this as a piece of web communication, I would say that the screenshots suggest a well organized site with well thought through systems of links and some quite complex levels of information about the course. Therefore the site suggests itself as a good example of technical skill in website building. However, how effective is it in attracting the target audience of youthful prospective Farnham students? Is such detailed information - down to the unit level - really necessary?

From a pragmatic assessment/project point of view, as we do not have much by way of student work content yet, it might be wise to decrease the focus of this site on student work samples and shift the focus a bit more toward information on the course. The pages and spaces for student showcases can be built in but we may have to wait a bit yet before mp3 files etc start to come in. Again you can write introductory text and contextualising content for these sections and leave space for the files to be plugged in later.

So to fill the site with unit information helps in the sense of obtaining content, but in terms of building an attractive menu bar, we are left with the years 1,2,3 menu options which are perhaps not what a prospective course applicant is thinking about. Although it would make sense to organize student work by year, I am not sure years should be main level menu choices.

I'll leave you to chew these points over. I am not that worried about the detail of wording used to describe individual units - the descriptions of content on the front pages of unit descriptors are well written on the whole and are easily usable and adaptable for a range of purposes. I am more concerned by the main menu arrangement which to me does not entice and how we flag up, display and signpost attractive elements of the website, such as the student views of the course and the best student work (even if the content ain't here yet we can still figure a way to signpost the place where it will be put).

Steve

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Client Correspondence

As stated previously, having received the email interview completed from the client, I replied regarding content re-purposing and content inpu. The following is the email I sent, and the reply I received from the client:-


My Original Email

Steve,

Thank you for sending me the email interview. Hopefully we will get some good input from other students regarding the rest of the content.

In the meantime, I have integrated and re-purposed your email interview. I have also taken a look at the FUCCA site and re-purposed some of their information regarding the course (overview) and its units. At present, I have done relatively little editing to them (referring more to the units than the overview (which I edited a lot)). I have re-structured them, and re-distributed/re-displayed them. I have additionally changed some of the tenses and tones, as well as the addressing statements. E.g. It no longer says, 'the student will', but 'you will', etc.

I am assuming that these unit descriptors closely match those in my unit handbook, and the writing style seems similar to yours, so I assume it is yourself that has written them? As you are the client, and the site is an extension of your 'product display', is this re-purposing a problem?

Please let me know ASAP so I can redraft if necessary (this will be very time-consuming as I am including a seperate description of each unit, so I would like to begin as soon as possible if this is the case)

Thank you in advance,

D



The Client Reply

I'm glad you got my email, I was concerned perhaps you had not received it.

I'll get back to you tomorrow about the questions in your email below. Apart from these, are there any other questions still outstanding?

I attach some MPEG4 video that might be suitable content. This is footage of the recent voice coaching session. The voiceover is self-explanatory and you can use that as a basis for some contextualising text introducing the footage and the idea that the course includes input from specialists.

Pay particular attention to your contextualising text throughout the website. With so much repurposed and edited text, your contextual copy will be one of the main written elements of which you can claim sole or principal authorship.

Sean Walsh completed an edit today of a vox pop video featuring student views on the course. We left it rendering tonight; all being well it can be converted to MPEG tomorrow and emailed to you.

Second year web projects are proceeding well and most are online so it will be possible to link to these. I will check the URLs and the live status and then forward the links.

S.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Site Construction

With some content coming in, I have begun site construction in earnest. The following is a screenshot of the 'Index' or 'Homepage':-



Year Overview:-




The Unit Index:-




And the Unit Detailed:-


Client Correspondence

The following is the email I sent back to the client having received the completed email interview:-


Steve,

Thank you for sending me the email interview. Hopefully we will get some good input from other students regarding the rest of the content.

In the meantime, I have integrated and re-purposed your email interview. I have also taken a look at the FUCCA site and re-purposed some of their information regarding the course (overview) and its units. At present, I have done relatively little editing to them (referring more to the units than the overview (which I edited a lot)). I have re-structured them, and re-distributed/re-displayed them. I have additionally changed some of the tenses and tones, as well as the addressing statements. E.g. It no longer says, 'the student will', but 'you will', etc.

I am assuming that these unit descriptors closely match those in my unit handbook, and the writing style seems similar to yours, so I assume it is yourself that has written them? As you are the client, and the site is an extension of your 'product display', is this re-purposing a problem?

Please let me know ASAP so I can redraft if necessary (this will be very time-consuming as I am including a seperate description of each unit, so I would like to begin as soon as possible if this is the case)

Thank you in advance,

D

Client Correspondence

I have heard back from the client, and as such can now begin re-drafting the email interview that was completed for me.

The following is the answers received:-


Year by year breakdown: What are the aims for student development in Year 1/2/3?

We aim to produce graduates who are distinctive and who can offer employers something extra.

Many of the media employers we speak to tell us they are looking for journalists who can do more than write. They are looking for content producers. Multiskilled people who can perform the traditional role of the journalist - research, interview, write, edit - but who can also operate the technology so as to present content in a variety of ways - in print, in audio form, in video, and of course on multimedia web pages.

Our journalism degree is a multimedia degree. Our graduates are multiskilled content producers and they are in demand by employers.

In year 1, all our journalism students get a thorough grounding in digital media production. Today, even print journalists working on a newspaper might have to go in front of camera to present a comment piece, or do audio or video editing, so all students learn the basics of digital media file formats and putting together image, audio and video content for the web.

Our students get a taste of print, radio, TV and web production in semester 1, and choose to specialize in any two of these four in semesters 2, 3 and 4. So, by the end of second year, our students should have a good level of writing and production skill in those two media. This increases your employment options and again equips you for a multimedia environment.

Also in year 1, there are background and contextual studies in journalism to broaden your knowledge and increase your understanding of the place that journalism and the media occupy in society.

There is practical training in Teeline shorthand - still much in demand by editors and a skill that enables accurate note-taking that will stand up in a court of law.

In year 2, training in media law helps you to further protect yourself as a working journalist and this is complemented by studies in politics, government and the institutions that you will have to report on.

In year 2 you will explore areas of media and cultural theory in order to prepare yourself for a dissertation in year 3. The dissertation can be on a wide range of topics and we encourage you to link it with your interests and with your journalism practice.

Also in year 3, there is an advanced group production in your chosen specialist medium (print, radio, TV or web), an individual final project and an industrial placement.


What is the final goal for the end of the course, i.e. What do you ultimately hope to teach students so as to prepare them for careers in the field?

This is probably covered in the above.


What makes this course unique, i.e. Why should students choose this course over another?

Our journalism courses are very flexible. The way in which you can mix media specialties in any combination - print and TV, or radio and online for example - is unique.

Also, the feature briefs are negotiable. If you wish to write and talk about sport, music, fashion, cars, politics, sailing, mountain biking or global warming - then any or all of that is possible.


What is your course philosophy (I'm aware this will probably tie into the earlier questions)?

We aim to produce distinctive graduates who are highly employable with versatile writing skills and a range of high-level production skills.


What are some prominent FUCA Journalism alumni doing now?

Farnham journalism graduate Alex Kramer presents Going for Gold on Five. In radio, we have graduates working in stations ranging from local stations like Eagle FM and BBC Southern Counties to BBC World Service and Radio Netherlands International. One of our current students works part-time at BBC2's Newsnight.

A number of our recent graduates have gone straight into good jobs in communication and public relations, such as at the award-winning London PR agency Taylor Herring and leading retail developer Westfield - the company behind Europe's biggest shopping mall, at Shepherd's Bush in west London.


Have you any upcoming plans for the course?- Is there any further information that you consider important and essential content?


I had better go home now but I will forward further content later.

Obviously we have the new degrees launching in September.

Feel free to adapt content from the course pages on the UCA website. There is a separate page for each of the journalism courses at Farnham - the main degree, then sports, motoring, leisure. There is a slightly different emphasis on each of the course pages and there are paragraphs and passages in there that could be adapted for this new website. You may be able to use or adapt the images on the course pages. If you cannot download them then I could forward you image files.

There are a few paragraphs also on the studentjournos blog page that potentially could be adaptable.



OK I hope this helps and gives you some content to work with.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Client Correspondence

I have still not received content from the client, so am unable to continue.

I have sent another reminder, dated March 24th, which reads as follows:-



Steve,

It is becoming a matter of urgency that you provide me with content for the website. I have begun construction, but am extremely limited without content to base design and navigation on.

I remind you that it was agreed that you would provide content as the site is a POS for the course and you will need to select the best students to showcase. I would also ask you to complete the email interview that I sent to you.

This is the fourth reminder that I have sent you, please respond ASAP. I do not wish to find myself unable to complete the unit and therefore my degree because I have no content.

D