About The Project
A balanced education which considers all sides and opinions is critical to arriving at good decisions for controversial issues, and the discussion of public transit is no different. This web site hopes to educate and prepare the citizens of the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati areas for the next public transit discussion in region - whether they are for or against rail initiatives. The hope is that the next discussion concerning the prospect of a rail transit system (like the MetroMoves campaign of 2002) might occur with a better-educated public, more open to thoughtful and rational discussion.
This project was created in 2014 by a group of urban planning graduate students at the University of Cincinnati - Rachel Comte, Emily Carnahan, and Julia Brodsky. While our individual personal leanings tend to be pro-transit, this site is specifically meant to be a resource to all citizens, regardless of ideology.
Methodology and Rationale
After some initial research, it was realized that there are several plans already out there awaiting enough support to implement a rail system in Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area. Instead of creating a whole new plan (and thereby duplicating past efforts), the team decided to research the process and reasoning behind rail transit and provide an educational resource to the public about this hot issue. Research topics included: the history of public transit in Northern Kentucky, what transit systems and technologies are currently available, the previous attempts to create a regional rail transit system in the region, the process of transportation planning in our region, the available funding sources and potential economics impacts of rail transit, the existing local plans for rail transit, common arguments for and against rail transit, and ways to get involved in the issue.
The main goal of this project is to provide educational resources on, and advocate for, rail transit in Northern Kentucky. A website is the obvious and most convenient medium to disseminate this information to the widest audience possible. In order to effectively present our information, we also researched web design strategies.
Theory Basis
This project is based on one major facet of planning in particular and that is that public involvement is of the utmost importance. Who are we planning for if not for the people? The diversity and conflictual nature of the human race makes it difficult for planners to put forth ideas and plans that will be accepted and embraced by the community. Abram Bergson, an American economist, stated that the only way to determine if something is for the public good is to formulate a set of explicit value judgements regarding the appropriate procedure to employ in passing from individual preferences to social policies (Brooks, 2002).
The problem is then determining who makes the value judgements and how? Achieving societal consensus is the answer, but how exactly is that accomplished? There is no perfect answer to this, but this project hopes to educate enough people to make an informed decision about welcoming streetcars back to Northern Kentucky or not. Planners cannot plan for the public good if the public nor the planners do not even know what that public good is.
The more knowledgeable the public becomes about a certain issue, the more informed decisions and plans can be made. Good policy is a product of knowledge, and this project is intended to guide the public in that direction, to create better communities.
Web Design Strategies
Understanding the Design of Websites For Disseminating Information and Persuading
To better understand how web sites can be used for the purposes of education and persuasion, we examined thirty home pages for interest groups, non-profits, political groups, publications, educational organizations, and other movements to see how they use their websites to communicate their goals and messages to the public.
Specifically, we examined website homepages, as they are typically the first thing a user sees on a given website and are a key factor in drawing a user in. Without an effective home page that communicates with the public clearly, the quality of an organization’s underlying content is a moot point if the user decides to skip the page altogether. Therefore, understanding how home pages are laid out for these popular organizations is an important step for creating our new student website, which is designed to advocate for rail transit in Northern Kentucky and educate the public on key issues relating to public transit.
______________________________________________________________________________
The elements of the homepages we examined are as follows:
§ Branding*: The logo / name of the organization and its relative size
§ About us / information page*
§ Get involved / join page*
§ Social media links*
§ Blog links*
§ Donate option / link*
§ Animations / videos*
§ ‘Focus factor’: Examines what the eye is drawn to immediately upon navigating to a given home page, scale is an important factor here, but, in some cases, so is contrast
§ Image count: How many images are on the home page; does not count small icons as images as they require less visual attention from the user
§ Word count: How many words appear on a given homepage; measured using Nguyen Hoang Hai’s Word Count Tool extension for Mozilla Firefox.
§ Language complexity: What is the required education level to comprehend home page text content; measured using Nguyen Hoang Hai’s Word Count Tool extension for Mozilla Firefox.
§ Color scheme
§ Local or non-local: Is the website local to the Greater Cincinnati region
* Indicates that the location of the element was also recorded (i.e. top/header, mid-page, base/footer, or ‘splash’). A ‘splash’ is an overlay which appears to a user prior to the homepage itself; typically these focus on one particular topic and often come in the form of a few pictures or a short animation or video.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
We also examined some professional literature on the topic of web strategy.
According to McShea, there are several key components that are integral parts of a web design strategy (2008). These include:
1. The goal: The website needs to have a purpose and communicate it well
2. Branding
3. Targeting the audience
4. Identifying the needs of the audience and addressing them
5. Defining the narrative being told
6. Understanding the limitations of your software
Analysis and observations:
Virtually all of the homepages examined have their branding in a prominent position at the top of the page, with three of the four publication / news pages examined giving their branding a relatively large amount of space on the home page. Surprisingly, four of the eight interest groups examined make their branding relatively small on their homepages -- minimizing its importance.
Every page examined had an ‘about us’ or ‘information page,’ with most of these being found at the top of the homepage.
Most homepages examined also had ‘get involved,’ ‘join,’ or ‘subscribe’ pages to further involve users. The main exception to this trend is five of the six educational websites examined did not have this feature. This is perhaps owing to the fact that the organizations developing these sites deemed the educational content the core of the site, with no further need to actively involve users. The only educational site which does attempt to further involve users with the host organization is TED, which invites users to create a site account and attend its conferences. This trend carries over to the use of social media -- half of the educational sites do not provide links to the organization’s social media, nor does our student website (the Future of Northern Kentucky Rail). Most homepages that do use social media links list them at the top, although some of the home pages consign them to the middle or base of the page.
Organizations vary in their use of blogs to disseminate their information. Some homepages are actually structured as blogs, although there is no significant trend observed as to which types of organizations do this. Again, four of the six educational websites do not use blogging as part of their web strategy. Virtually all interest groups (with the exception of the NRA), non-profits, political groups, publications, and other movements examined use blogging in some capacity and feature it on their homepage.
Most of the homepages examined make donating to the host organization easy, and give it a prominent position on the site. The exceptions were the two student web pages; two large, for-profit, publications; a local civic group; and four of the national interest groups and non-profits (AFL-CIO, How Stuff Works, TED, and Transportation for America).
Sixteen of the thirty homepages feature picture slideshows (mostly automatic, but a few are manual). Only six homepages have embedded videos.
The ‘focus factor’ is difficult to analyze in aggregate, since the homepages examined use a variety of different strategies -- still, some trends can be observed. Eleven homepages use still images as their focal points; four of which use it in a large-scale, background context, with the content in the foreground, in front of the picture (e.g. the Occupy movement’s homepage). Nine homepages draw the eye to the provided slideshow, generally using it to link users to other content on the site; however, none of those nine are educational sites. Using images as a focal points is a clear trend in homepage design. Only three of the homepages (The Awesome Collective of Covington, COAST, and N+1) use the organization’s branding as the focus.
The average image count for the homepages examined was thirteen. However, this statistic skews right, as nineteen of the homepages have ten images or less. A similar trend is observed in the word count statistic. The average word count is 1,548 words, with sixteen of the homepages having less than a thousand. Some of the websites which function as blogs offset this statistic and drive up the word count.
One of the more interesting findings related to language complexity. Surprisingly, all but six of the homepages analyzed tested at a college graduate level for language complexity. This is surprising as most of these organizations are seeking broad support for their goals and missions. Four of the six less linguistically complex homepages were local in origin (The Awesome Collective of Covington, Believe in Cincinnati, Cincinnati TransForum, and COAST). The other two were a publication (N+1) and a criticism / news site (the New Inquiry); the latter of which has language which appears fairly complex in comparison with many other homepages which were actually rated as being more complex (e.g. Peace Corps). This suggests that there may be something wrong with the indicator, warranting further analysis.
The color schemes examined generally matched or complimented the homepage branding.
Conclusions:
§ There are certain elements which all of the websites examined have (branding and an ‘about us’ or ‘information page’).
§ Imagery, often in the form of an interactive slideshow, is the focal point strategy observed in the majority of sites examined. Videos are seldom used, and never the focal point.
§ Websites that seek to educate are less prone to use tactics that actively involve the user (e.g. ‘join’ or ‘get involved’, social media, and blog links) than those which seek to persuade the user.
§ The ‘less is more’ adage may be a good approach for website content. Less than ten pictures and under 1,000 words seems to be the norm (this standard may not apply to homepages that are in the form of blogs). Some of the more frustrating sites to navigate and look at have too high a concentration of text and images (e.g. AARP’s homepage).
This project was created in 2014 by a group of urban planning graduate students at the University of Cincinnati - Rachel Comte, Emily Carnahan, and Julia Brodsky. While our individual personal leanings tend to be pro-transit, this site is specifically meant to be a resource to all citizens, regardless of ideology.
Methodology and Rationale
After some initial research, it was realized that there are several plans already out there awaiting enough support to implement a rail system in Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area. Instead of creating a whole new plan (and thereby duplicating past efforts), the team decided to research the process and reasoning behind rail transit and provide an educational resource to the public about this hot issue. Research topics included: the history of public transit in Northern Kentucky, what transit systems and technologies are currently available, the previous attempts to create a regional rail transit system in the region, the process of transportation planning in our region, the available funding sources and potential economics impacts of rail transit, the existing local plans for rail transit, common arguments for and against rail transit, and ways to get involved in the issue.
The main goal of this project is to provide educational resources on, and advocate for, rail transit in Northern Kentucky. A website is the obvious and most convenient medium to disseminate this information to the widest audience possible. In order to effectively present our information, we also researched web design strategies.
Theory Basis
This project is based on one major facet of planning in particular and that is that public involvement is of the utmost importance. Who are we planning for if not for the people? The diversity and conflictual nature of the human race makes it difficult for planners to put forth ideas and plans that will be accepted and embraced by the community. Abram Bergson, an American economist, stated that the only way to determine if something is for the public good is to formulate a set of explicit value judgements regarding the appropriate procedure to employ in passing from individual preferences to social policies (Brooks, 2002).
The problem is then determining who makes the value judgements and how? Achieving societal consensus is the answer, but how exactly is that accomplished? There is no perfect answer to this, but this project hopes to educate enough people to make an informed decision about welcoming streetcars back to Northern Kentucky or not. Planners cannot plan for the public good if the public nor the planners do not even know what that public good is.
The more knowledgeable the public becomes about a certain issue, the more informed decisions and plans can be made. Good policy is a product of knowledge, and this project is intended to guide the public in that direction, to create better communities.
Web Design Strategies
Understanding the Design of Websites For Disseminating Information and Persuading
To better understand how web sites can be used for the purposes of education and persuasion, we examined thirty home pages for interest groups, non-profits, political groups, publications, educational organizations, and other movements to see how they use their websites to communicate their goals and messages to the public.
Specifically, we examined website homepages, as they are typically the first thing a user sees on a given website and are a key factor in drawing a user in. Without an effective home page that communicates with the public clearly, the quality of an organization’s underlying content is a moot point if the user decides to skip the page altogether. Therefore, understanding how home pages are laid out for these popular organizations is an important step for creating our new student website, which is designed to advocate for rail transit in Northern Kentucky and educate the public on key issues relating to public transit.
______________________________________________________________________________
The elements of the homepages we examined are as follows:
§ Branding*: The logo / name of the organization and its relative size
§ About us / information page*
§ Get involved / join page*
§ Social media links*
§ Blog links*
§ Donate option / link*
§ Animations / videos*
§ ‘Focus factor’: Examines what the eye is drawn to immediately upon navigating to a given home page, scale is an important factor here, but, in some cases, so is contrast
§ Image count: How many images are on the home page; does not count small icons as images as they require less visual attention from the user
§ Word count: How many words appear on a given homepage; measured using Nguyen Hoang Hai’s Word Count Tool extension for Mozilla Firefox.
§ Language complexity: What is the required education level to comprehend home page text content; measured using Nguyen Hoang Hai’s Word Count Tool extension for Mozilla Firefox.
§ Color scheme
§ Local or non-local: Is the website local to the Greater Cincinnati region
* Indicates that the location of the element was also recorded (i.e. top/header, mid-page, base/footer, or ‘splash’). A ‘splash’ is an overlay which appears to a user prior to the homepage itself; typically these focus on one particular topic and often come in the form of a few pictures or a short animation or video.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
We also examined some professional literature on the topic of web strategy.
According to McShea, there are several key components that are integral parts of a web design strategy (2008). These include:
1. The goal: The website needs to have a purpose and communicate it well
2. Branding
3. Targeting the audience
4. Identifying the needs of the audience and addressing them
5. Defining the narrative being told
6. Understanding the limitations of your software
Analysis and observations:
Virtually all of the homepages examined have their branding in a prominent position at the top of the page, with three of the four publication / news pages examined giving their branding a relatively large amount of space on the home page. Surprisingly, four of the eight interest groups examined make their branding relatively small on their homepages -- minimizing its importance.
Every page examined had an ‘about us’ or ‘information page,’ with most of these being found at the top of the homepage.
Most homepages examined also had ‘get involved,’ ‘join,’ or ‘subscribe’ pages to further involve users. The main exception to this trend is five of the six educational websites examined did not have this feature. This is perhaps owing to the fact that the organizations developing these sites deemed the educational content the core of the site, with no further need to actively involve users. The only educational site which does attempt to further involve users with the host organization is TED, which invites users to create a site account and attend its conferences. This trend carries over to the use of social media -- half of the educational sites do not provide links to the organization’s social media, nor does our student website (the Future of Northern Kentucky Rail). Most homepages that do use social media links list them at the top, although some of the home pages consign them to the middle or base of the page.
Organizations vary in their use of blogs to disseminate their information. Some homepages are actually structured as blogs, although there is no significant trend observed as to which types of organizations do this. Again, four of the six educational websites do not use blogging as part of their web strategy. Virtually all interest groups (with the exception of the NRA), non-profits, political groups, publications, and other movements examined use blogging in some capacity and feature it on their homepage.
Most of the homepages examined make donating to the host organization easy, and give it a prominent position on the site. The exceptions were the two student web pages; two large, for-profit, publications; a local civic group; and four of the national interest groups and non-profits (AFL-CIO, How Stuff Works, TED, and Transportation for America).
Sixteen of the thirty homepages feature picture slideshows (mostly automatic, but a few are manual). Only six homepages have embedded videos.
The ‘focus factor’ is difficult to analyze in aggregate, since the homepages examined use a variety of different strategies -- still, some trends can be observed. Eleven homepages use still images as their focal points; four of which use it in a large-scale, background context, with the content in the foreground, in front of the picture (e.g. the Occupy movement’s homepage). Nine homepages draw the eye to the provided slideshow, generally using it to link users to other content on the site; however, none of those nine are educational sites. Using images as a focal points is a clear trend in homepage design. Only three of the homepages (The Awesome Collective of Covington, COAST, and N+1) use the organization’s branding as the focus.
The average image count for the homepages examined was thirteen. However, this statistic skews right, as nineteen of the homepages have ten images or less. A similar trend is observed in the word count statistic. The average word count is 1,548 words, with sixteen of the homepages having less than a thousand. Some of the websites which function as blogs offset this statistic and drive up the word count.
One of the more interesting findings related to language complexity. Surprisingly, all but six of the homepages analyzed tested at a college graduate level for language complexity. This is surprising as most of these organizations are seeking broad support for their goals and missions. Four of the six less linguistically complex homepages were local in origin (The Awesome Collective of Covington, Believe in Cincinnati, Cincinnati TransForum, and COAST). The other two were a publication (N+1) and a criticism / news site (the New Inquiry); the latter of which has language which appears fairly complex in comparison with many other homepages which were actually rated as being more complex (e.g. Peace Corps). This suggests that there may be something wrong with the indicator, warranting further analysis.
The color schemes examined generally matched or complimented the homepage branding.
Conclusions:
§ There are certain elements which all of the websites examined have (branding and an ‘about us’ or ‘information page’).
§ Imagery, often in the form of an interactive slideshow, is the focal point strategy observed in the majority of sites examined. Videos are seldom used, and never the focal point.
§ Websites that seek to educate are less prone to use tactics that actively involve the user (e.g. ‘join’ or ‘get involved’, social media, and blog links) than those which seek to persuade the user.
§ The ‘less is more’ adage may be a good approach for website content. Less than ten pictures and under 1,000 words seems to be the norm (this standard may not apply to homepages that are in the form of blogs). Some of the more frustrating sites to navigate and look at have too high a concentration of text and images (e.g. AARP’s homepage).