End-of-Term Inventory Questions

TOTAL # of blog posts currently on your blog: 25 excluding this one, 24 excluding the Mid-Term Inventory post from October 1, 2019.

In a bulleted list, name and describe any new blog posts added after the mid-term deadline for which they were due.

• Week 11, Deadline 2 - Classmate Response 
• Due November 5th, posted November 8th.
• This assignment is a response to my classmates' progress on their DCPs.
• I spent a lot of time making sure I had posted for all deadlines, (I wasn't counting the other one we posted for this week and I was all kinds of confused) and I believe this is the only one that was posted after the deadline. 

Any other comments that you would like me to consider in evaluating your performance for the second half of the term?

• No comments that are of relevance. I hope I've performed adequately. I know some of my assignments haven't been 100% on time (although it felt like I had more I was late on), I've tried my best to work with my erratic school schedule and two deadlines per week.

Week 14, Deadline 1: DCP Revision To-Do List

I definitely have some things in mind for my DCP in the coming days. I have a majority of the weekend off and I have a couple days off during the week of Thanksgiving that I can dedicate to my final DCP. I've come up with a list of things I know I want to complete, although there may still be some additional revisions I decide to make along the way. 

Planned Revisions 

• Review DCP for accurate alignment and spacing errors.
• Review DCP for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Come up with a way to engage my audience to view my entire DCP and stay interested.
• Suggestions welcome! I'm not very creative. :( 
• Revise Expert Testimonials and Procedures. 
• I knew I wanted to expand on this but I have yet to be able to sit down and decide what more I want to do with this. 
• Revise and expand on Resources.
• Expand on animal shelter statistics and low-cost options.
• Add more artifacts where they make sense, hopefully creating a few more on my own. 

I plan to spend a significant amount of time on this project over the coming days as well as some final projects in my other classes and I'm both nervous and excited to bring this project to an end. 

Week 13, Deadline 2: Feedback and Reflection

Classmates' DCPs

I really enjoyed looking at everyone's DCPs. Meghan's DCP looks like it could be a legitimate government website and I was really blown away. At Meghan's suggestion, I looked into adding music to my narrative section, but unfortunately, Wix's Help Center says that due to policy changes many web browsers do not allow autoplay of music anymore. I don't think I would really want them to have to click play for the music to start, I would want it to just play automatically. Jenna has a very convincing call-to-action, and I officially do not want to be a pedestrian in Morgantown (lol!). Monty is killing it with his design and implementation of his Wix skills. 

My Plans

I've waited to see what suggestions my classmates have for the revision of my DCP. Other than Meghan's suggestion of music for my narrative, I did not receive any suggestions - I'm glad everyone seemed to like it! I plan to revise the Expert Testimonials and Procedures and Resources. I want to spend more time explaining and providing information from experts and adding some really great resources. For now, the resources I have are links to pages on those organizations' pages. 

I also plan to do a very thorough review of grammar and syntax. I've also made just about everyone I know look at my page and offer suggestions and was able to use it as an educational opportunity for a receptionist I work with that had questions about pyometra in dogs the other day. 

Week 13, Deadline 1: Complete Draft

→ Link to my DCP ←

• Audience - Pet owners.
• Message - Spaying and neutering your pets can save their lives.
• Call-to-Action - Spay and neuter your pet as soon as they're old enough or after you've finished breeding them to give them a healthier, longer life. 

Design Principles:

Some of the design principles that have guided my development of my DCP include color, alignment, highlighting, readability, cognitive dissonance, and aesthetic usability effect. In addition to the information that I've presented with credible resources to back it up, I believe having a polished web presence will add to the credibility of the information I'm trying to pass on. Most importantly, a lot of the topics I discuss are medically related and it is difficult for me to (having grown up in a family of nurses and going onto become a vet tech) realize what is not a common knowledge term and what is medical jargon sometimes - this is where readability is the most important objective for me. 

I'd like to call my DCP a 100% draft, but realistically I'm going to make changes to it. I could call this a final draft and I probably wouldn't get the grade I want from it, and with the feedback I'll receive I can revise it to be better. For now I would call it a 99.9% draft because nothing is ever perfect because there is always room for improvement. 

Questions:

1. What can I improve?
2. Does the information seem readable? Are the topics or terms explained enough for them to be understood?
3. Does my layout make sense?
4. Is there another topic I should touch on more?
5. Does the design and color palette chosen seem professional?

Week 12, Deadline 2

Progress

Since our last deadline, I have not been able to make progress on my DCP at all. I spent much of the weekend visiting a sick family member and working 16-hour shifts. I am off Wednesday and Thursday this week so I'm able to spend ample amount of time finishing my DCP for our draft submission later this week. 

Classmate Response

However, I really enjoyed viewing the rest of my classmates' progress.

I like that Lakynn thought to use a resources page. I'm likely going to use this in my own DCP because there are so many resources out there with varying opinions on my topic and this will aid in my quest for transparency. 

Meghan seems to have had some of the difficulty with strips that I have also run into. I've spent a lot of time moving strips around my page early in the beginning. It's doable but boy is it a pain!

Monty's experience with using Wix as his platform is really coming in handy! His DCP is looking amazing and I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Week 12, Deadline 1

DCP Progress

Since our last deadline, I have not had a significant amount of time to work on my DCP because I've been called into work extra shifts that have left me more than tired and slacking overall this week on homework. I've spent some time drafting plans in my head during my workdays of how I'd like to improve my DCP and my goals. As of my last post, I was estimating I was around 35% complete and as of now I'd say probably between 40-45%, so not a significant increase but I am off work two days in a row this week that I can spend a chunk of time on it. 

I've added my narrative (Cali's Story), benefits and risks, and added more hover box links to other locations on my site. The hover box links are more difficult to create than I anticipated because Wix does not have an easy way to make them, instead, you have to layer two different features to make it both hoverable and linkable.

Principle Application

I've tried to apply and keep in mind a lot of design principles throughout my work on this project, but I'll keep the list short and name only a few: alignment, five hat racks - continuum organization by magnitude, inverted pyramid, highlighting, color, chunking, layering - non-linear, readability, cognitive dissonance, and aesthetic usability effect. 

• Alignment - I've maintained alignment across my slides, starting the titles in the same places across each section and aligning up the benefits and risks across from each other. Wix uses some guiding lines as you drag a box or graphic to help align items, and it has proven very useful. 
• Five Hat Racks - I've focused on the continuum organization by magnitude style. This organizes items from highest to lowest or best to worst. For my DCP I'm focusing on the highest priority topics first before moving onto lower priority. 
• Inverted Pyramid - Along with the Five Hat Racks continuum organization by magnitude, I'm using inverted pyramid to start with the most important information first such as why to spay and neuter before going into detail about the benefits and risks of it and the added information such as animal shelters and euthanasia rates.
• Highlighting - By highlighting the most important information such as why you should spay and neuter and what happens when you do not, it brings my main information to the audience. 
• Color - Consistency in color is important and can show not only professionalism but can also add credibility to the author.
• Chunking - I've chunked my benefits and risks in a short but sweet way instead of writing long paragraphs about whether you should or shouldn't and when you should or shouldn't. Chunking these makes them short, sweet, eye-catching, and easy to read. 
• Layering - I've focused on the non-linear layering style for my website and tweaked it a little bit. For the most part, my DCP is linear until the end of the page and the other layers become evident for more information about extra topics. 
• Readability - I'm doing my best to maintain readability on my DCP by keeping wording and verbiage simple and in layman's' terms. I want my DCP to be effective for people that are not medically minded and people that may not understand all of the medical terms. It's not always easy when describing the names of certain ailments or diseases because of their names, but I've tried to expand and explain what they mean. 
• Cognitive Dissonance - I've tried to use cognitive dissonance to lightly persuade the audience because too much cognitive dissonance can cause them to shut down. People love their pets and want the best for them, so hopefully weighing the benefits and risks of spaying and neutering can persuade them to make a well-informed, but beneficial decision that can help keep their furry family healthy. 
• Aesthetic Usability Effect - I'm trying to keep my DCP aesthetically pleasing so it is perceived as easier to use, navigate, and read to persuade my audience. 

Reasoning

By using the above-mentioned design principles and other design principles we've learned thus far, whether by assignment or in the pursuit of knowledge, I believe I can create a compelling and persuasive DCP. I believe using rhetorical strategies to appeal to someone as a credible source that can reason logically and connect that logic on an emotional level will make for the best and most effective DCP. I don't want to only share my opinions in my DCP and come off as one-sided, I want to share both the good and the bad. Realistically when I'm working in the field as a Veterinary Technician, I'm talking to clients about the good and the bad so they can make the most informed decision possible because there is not always a definite answer for every pet. 

Week 11, Deadline 2: Classmate Response

This week I had the pleasure of reviewing my classmates' progress on the design of their DCPs. Parker had great success for an idea for his entry point. He plans to create an interactive video game feature that incorporates his topic and will engage the audience. I think this is a great idea, especially for his DCP. Vincent had entry point struggles, much like I did when designing my DCP. I find that deciding on an entry point to have been the most difficult challenge. He had planned on using an interactive wheel but later decided it might send the wrong message of fortune and luck which is on the opposite end of what he wants to convey to his audience. Jenna seems to have created a really great layout and has great local pictures for her DCP which really adds to the design.

At this point I have not made many revisions, I have instead chosen places of my DCP I want to focus on next. I want my design aesthetic to be simple, modern, professional, and with an analogous color palette. For my entry point, I have a call to read further on the left side and a slideshow of high-resolution pet pictures. The left side has a link to the main feature of my DCP - my narrative. My plan is to keep my DCP professional and simple. I believe a simple and professional DCP is more persuasive than one that is too casual and too flashy.

As of this deadline I'd estimate I've completed about 35% of my DCP, this might be overzealous, but I feel it might be around there. The next sections I want to focus on are my narrative section and the more information section.

                             

Week 11, Deadline 1

I've committed to using Wix as my platform for my DCP. I feel like I've made a decent amount of progress on it over the last few days. I started with a one-page design and anchors to direct to different slides of the page but decided to mix it up and add some additional pages for the more drawn out information and place links to these pages at the bottom in a section "More Information" I like the use of hover boxes as links because they're interactive and attention-catching so I've decided to use those for my links to additional information pages elsewhere on my page. I sketched out my design to help prepare where to put everything. 

As you can see in the video of my DCP as it is currently I've customized it and tried to create an easy-flowing curation of information. I've started with a greeting/homepage as the entry point and a link to the centerpiece - my narrative. The menu across the top reminds me of one of our early assignments when I discussed legibility and used an example from NASA's webpage menu. I really like the transitions between what Wix calls "slides". 

I've aligned the main slide titles on the left side, with a more modern look.I've used a pretty simple color palette with analogous accent colors, inspired by this analogous palette. I've chosen to use a color palette that incorporates greens and blues - especially navy - due to the symbolism behind the colors. Lifewire describes the color navy below: 

"Named for the uniforms of the British Royal Navy, navy blue is a deep, dark blue color that's almost black, although some shades of navy are a bit bluer. Navy is a cool color that can be used as a neutral color in graphic designs. 

Carrying the blue symbolism associated with the darker shades of blue, navy conveys importance, confidence, power, and authority, as well as intelligence, stability, unity, and conservatism. Like black, it carries a sense of elegance and sophistication. It's associated with the police and military."

Lifewire also discusses the use of green and it has a lot of meanings. The primary meanings I'm intrigued by is nature, life, health, and that it can be a calming color. See below for an excerpt from the article:

"Green is life. Abundant in nature, green signifies growth, renewal, health, and the environment. ... It is a restful color with some of the same calming attributes of blue. Like blue, time moves faster in a green room. ... Because of all the green in nature the color is reminiscent of Spring. It's also the color for "go" on a traffic light. Grow and Go with Green. Outside of traffic lights, coupled with red, it's a Christmas color."

I've chosen these colors because they convey trustworthiness and confidence. I've always heard you should wear the color navy to a job interview because it's a trustworthy color so it seems to hold true in design as well. I want my DCP to be viewed as informative, credible, unbiased, and professional.

I feel like I've accomplished a lot thus far on my DCP.  I was feeling a little overwhelmed starting the actual creation of the web presence because it felt like such an undertaking. Having started and now having a created a plan, I feel as though I'm able to complete this task efficiently and without as much anxiety.  I still need to add more items from my DCP archive, finish adding all the pages and subpages I decide to create, add the details, etc. So far this is a good start!