User Loyalty Articles

Following these findings the focus of the next version of the website shifted from establishing an online community to becoming a source for news and knowledge about the topic ideas and creativity. Therefore, the experience design focused on enhancing the usefulness of the news section and the visual design was redone to give the website a more desirable look. The low amount of user participation also influenced the choice of the personalisation systems which were used. To focus more on the topic of the web site and to satisfy the demand for background information the knowledge and the idea section were added.

The first step to enhance the news section was to give users another option to see the latest news. Therefore an RSS-feed was implemented. Furthermore, a user-perception test, with different icons for news categories, was conducted (Syarief et al. n. d.),. Eight participants in the target audience had to group icons in four groups and then assign category names to each of them. Every test was conducted separately. The evaluation showed that the category icons for the categories Design and Technology were inappropriate. Furthermore, two comments were made that the icon of the category Mobile ‘looks like an oven’, indicating that this category icon should also be changed. Another finding was that instead of four groups as was planned, five groups were better for the news categories. In a repeat test all of the three participants identified all icons properly (refer to Appendix H). A new idea section in which user can rate ideas or submit their own ideas offered a more concrete possibility than the forum for user to engage creatively.

To increase the credibility of the website, a privacy policy according to the ‘Online-Datenschutz-Prinzipien (transl: Online-Privacy-Principles) and an ‘Impressum’, which is a duty for commercial sites and recommended for non-profit sites under the German law, were written (Teledienstgesetz 2001, §6). Furthermore, detailed information about the background and people who run the site was added (Fogg, 2003, p.173). Content for the knowledge section and gallery was added and the news administration section was enhanced, making it easier to include pictures. Moreover, a section with a new citation and a new picture every day was added to the start page to give users another reason, besides the daily news, to visit the site on a regular basis.

The visual design of the beta site was build in contrast to the alpha site, using a spectrum of harmonic warm colours (Crüger 2004) with strong hues to make the site look exciting and active (Mahnke 1996, p.71). Another reason for this choice of colour was that warm colours increase brain activity (Birren 1984, p. 80) and Birren claims that extroverted people prefer warm colours over cold colours (Birren 1984, p. 119). The monk in the banner should give the site a face and communicate happiness. Faces are good ways to communicate emotions because these emotions are understood by everyone regardless of their background (Morand, 2001) and faces play a ‘major role in human interaction and nonverbal communication’ (Lien 1998). To establish a better brand recognition a logo was created. The first letter of idea symbolises a temple and the Asian font Wonton, together with the monk, give the site an Asian touch. The angular font for ‘temple’ is a strong contrast in shape to ‘idea’ and symbolises a foundation for ideas. The playful Asian font suits the topic ideas because ideas are not tangible (Boas 2003).The layout was changed from three-column to two-column layout because the site should focus more on the usefulness of its main features, which would be the news and the ideas section. An example of successful design for usefulness is the search engine Google. Because of its focus on usefulness it is one of the leaders in providing a valuable user experience (Hurst 2002).