Week 10 Outside of Class

Over the weekend I had got in touch with someone who was able to tell me a little more about the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce. Although the conversation was very brief, I was able to confirm the purpose of the website and learn about some of the services and seminars offered. I was told that the purpose of the website was to allow visitors to see what services would be provided by the Chamber, events, helpful links and etc. I had also chosen five UX Methods that I thought would be effective to use for my website. The five methods i'd use are:

• Card Sorting - I'd use card sorting to let users organize where they believe content should go. Although the website is organized to a degree, each dropdown (seven different options) on the navigation bar has around eight different options on the dropdown. This can be overwhelming to the user, and if tasked to find a specific piece of information it could be a challenge to them. Users could find a better way to organize this.
• Informal Usability Testing - This UX Method would be incredibly useful, as it would gauge whether or not the current method of organization is effective. Since every tab has so many different options, I think it'd be interesting to see whether or not the average user would find the site difficult to navigate in a relaxed and casual setting. 
• First Click Testing - On my website, there's multiple navigation windows that users can click to navigate the site. I wonder if an average user would know where to start, as there's a navigation bar, scrolling events window and five separate windows each with different clickable links in them. This method would be effective as it would gauge whether or not users will know the first step to accomplishing their task. With so many different ways to navigate the site, will a user know which one to use? 
• I Like, I Wish, What If - Although this ties into my other UX methods I've mentioned, I feel like having feedback from users is incredibly important if you want to have an effective website structure, etc. This would allow users to navigate the website and give recommendations as to better ways to navigate the site. As mentioned before, each tab has many different options which could surely be condensed in some way. Hopefully the IL/IW/WI method could provide valuable feedback for improving organization.
• Empathy Map - An Empathy Map is a type of chart that helps us understand a user's thought process and needs. As mentioned previously, feedback from users is incredibly valuable. Since the goal of these maps is to provide insight as to who the user is as a whole, it would allow us to get a better grasp of the target audience, and whether or not the website meets their needs based on the map.