Menu Design Task Force Report ----------------------------- 14 June 1995 By Andre Vellino (an386) and Lisa Donnelly (am412) Preample -------- The Menu Design task force has been working for almost a year. Our initial strategy was to make major changes in the NCF main and sub menus. The current changes slated for implementation are not sweeping but improve the categorization of items on the System. This new organization was chosen based on the resources available and because it still provides the equivalent of "urban zoning" on NCF. The changes will benefit all categories of members and improve how we place our Information Providers during our continued growth. Menu-Design Committee --------------------- Ian Allen, Al Banner, Alana Boltwood, Matthew Darwin, Lisa Donnelly, Jim Elder, Miranda Gray, Al Seaman, Andre Vellino Report ------ This is a brief report that outlines the principal changes that the menu system for NCF will be undergoing. The initial intent of the menu design committee was to re-design the entire NCF menu system to be consistent with in a single coherent design philosophy. After much work was expended toward that end we concluded that given our limited resources, we would re-implement only the subset of the menu system that needed the most attention. The purpose of the changes that will be implemented are to: (1) improve the overall usability of the NCF menu system; (2) streamline and rationalize some of its existing functions; (3) to introduce some valuable new capabilities; (4) provide a more cogent organization of Information Providers. There are 2 principle additions to the main menu: * a "Getting started and personalizing your account" item for new-users * a "Search" item for searching menu-titles, newsgroups etc. The "Getting started" item already exists on a 2nd-level menu (under a different name) and is being given greater visibility to make the NCF more accessible to new users. The "Search" item is a new function that has undergone successful testing for some time and greatly enhances the usability of the NCF. The 2 major modifications to the main menu are an amalgamation and rationalization of: * the Post Office and Communications Centre menus * the Community Associations, Professional Associations and the Social Services menus The net effect for the main menu is greater simplicity. The existing menu has 17 submenus, the new menu has 15 submenus. The Communications Centre and Post Office have been successfully merged and streamlined. Another new function, controlled access to World Wide Web sites chosen by the user is now available in the new Communications Centre. Pending additional updates and maintenance, the Organizations-centered menu has been rationalized into one coherent group. This area, organized by Al Seaman, reflects his two years of experience as the NCF Information Provider (IP) administrator and provides the template for continued growth and diversity among our IPs. Schedule -------- The Menu Design Task Force plans to have completed the menu-reorganization by the end of June. Our strategy is to introduce the new menu structure at 9:00 AM on Sunday, 9 July 1995. Advance announcements advising our members of the change and encouraging them to start utilizing the menu now while in test mode can begin immediately. According to Menu Design member and statistician Alana Boltwood, within three weeks of announcements over 80% of the regular NCF members will have seen this announcement at least once before it goes into effect. New Main Menu ------------- <<< National Capital FreeNet -- X Test Menu >>> (go xmenu) * 1 All about the National Capital FreeNet... 2 Getting started and personalizing your account... 3 Search tools... 4 Communications centre... 5 Public discussion... 6 Government... 7 Organizations: charitable, non-profit and NGO... 8 Science, engineering and technology... 9 Schools, colleges and universities... 10 Newsstand... 11 Libraries... 12 Special interest groups... 13 Help Desk... 14 Menu principal frangais... 15 Make a donation to keep FreeNet free ------------------------------------------------ h=Help, x=Exit FreeNet, p=previous, u=up, m=main -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lisa K. Donnelly, am412@freenet.carleton.ca Executive Director, National Capital FreeNet/Libertel de la Capitale nationale -----------------------------------------------------------------------------