ELECTRONIC COMMERCE MARKETING
EFFECTIVE WEB SITE DESIGN
Duty Area 4: Exploring the
technological aspects of Web-based electronic commerce.
Standard 4.4: Identify criteria
for effective web site design. (Essential Standard)
Assignment: Students
will analyze and compare similar e-commerce businesses in order to determine
the effectiveness of the site’s design.
Students may select from one of the following
product/service categories.
- Clothing
- Automobiles
- Travel
- Music
- Finance/Banking
- Sporting Goods
- On-line Auctions
- Food
- Flowers
- Games
Step 1: Students should select
a topic from the provided list. Allow only 2-3 students per topic
so that the class will have a variety of sites.
Step 2: After students have selected
their topic, they are to create a list of all e-business who sell their
product/service directly on-line. (Be sure to remind them that not all
sites will sell their products directly on line.) Students are
encouraged to use a search engine to gather their research. The
complete list should also include the URL addresses of each site.
Step 3: Student should select
and visit 3 of the sites pertaining to their on-line topic. They
should analyze and describe each of the 3 sites.
Information should include:
- Uploading/downloading speed
- Ease of navigation
- Use of graphics
- Color scheme
- Use of Java
- Use of Cookies
- Clarity of the site’s index.
Step 4: Students should answer
the following questions:
1. What is the range of products/services
sold?
2. How user-friendly was the site?
3. Was it attractive to its target audience?
4. Was it customized?
5. What type of internal/external links
did it provide?
Step 5: Students should break
into groups of students with the same topic (2-3 per group). Compare
the findings from each student. As a group, address the following
question:
1. What are the characteristics of a good
web site? List 8-10 characteristics.
Step 6: Students should select
their favorite and least favorite site and justify their reasons.
The student should then make 3 suggestions for improving the least favorite
site.
Tricia M. Poythress
Langley High School
McLean, Virginia
