Memo

To:

Lehua Ledbetter, PhD

From:

Sergio Suhett, Emily Dodd, and Joao Veiga

Date:

April 9, 2015

Re:

North Kingstown Pet Refuge Website Redesign

This memo examines our redesign proposals for www.nkeapl.org, the website for the North
Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection Leagues Pet Refuge, based upon an evaluation of its
layout and design. We have divided the report into three sections as a means of organizing the
proposals:
1. CHALLENGES AND USABILITY PROBLEMS: indicating challenges and
problems associated with this site, defining the sites purpose, context, and designated
audience.
2. PROPOSALS AND JUSTIFICATION: applying the theories learned in-class to the
redesign and restructuring of the site. Indicating how our proposals improve user
experience, and how web redesign concepts were applied in the redesign, explaining
redesign process (including peer feedback) and distribution of work.
3. SUMMARY: recapping our findings.
It is our belief that in subjecting the content of the website to the standards of effective
communication learned in class, this memo illustrates how the organization can be more
successful in communicating its purpose to its intended audience.

Pet Refuge Website Redesign 2

1. CHALLENGES AND USABILITY PROBLEMS

Overview
The focus of our redesign is the website for the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal
Protection Leagues Pet Refuge. We selected this site because a team member happened
to come across it when researching a prior website audit assignment and it struck him as
an excellent and illustrative example of a site that fails to effectively define its purpose or
reach its intended audience due to obviously deficient design. Our group agreed that the
selection was appropriate, and we were, additionally, pleased to be able to focus on the
site for an organization devoted to animal welfare.

Organization Purpose and Mission Statement

The purpose/mission statement of the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection
Leagues no-kill Pet Refuge is provided on the About Us page and reads: the mission
of the no-kill Pet Refuge is to provide a warm home for abused and neglected animals
and also for those animals who can no longer remain in their homes for a variety of
reasons. We supply our pets with all the love, attention, pet meds, and veterinary care
they need. Additionally, there is an encapsulation of the mission statement appearing
just below the organization name on the home page: Dedicated to alleviating the
suffering of unwanted animals. The organization indicates as well that it is not
supported by the town of North Kingstown or the state of Rhode Island and that they
do not receive any municipal or state funding.

Context
There is hardly any visual context at all on the site to assist the visitor in identifying the
organizations purpose and mission due to an extremely scant application of photographs
and an almost complete absence of anything that might be called visual design.

Pet Refuge Website Redesign 3

Designated Audience
The designated target audience for the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection
Leagues no-kill Pet Refuge website is primarily potential pet adopters, as well as pet
lovers and others who might be interested in supporting the work that they do by
volunteering or making a donation.

Challenges and Problems

In reviewing the website for the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection Leagues
Pet Refuge, and applying design concepts discussed in class, it becomes clear that the site
is extremely ineffective in defining its purpose and reaching its intended audience, and
that its design flaws will inhibit usage. Areas of focus include issues related to
Navigational Hierarchy, Persistent Navigation, Breadcrumbs, Street Signs, Big Bang
Theory of Web Design, and CRAP.

2. PROPOSALS AND JUSTIFICATION

Navigational Hierarchy
The homepage for the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection Leagues Pet Refuge
is laid out in an extremely simple, dull and disorganized fashion that fails to engage and
discourages usability. There really is no Navigational Hierarchy to speak of, only a few
links to an Events page, and a How You Can Help Us Help the Pets page, as well as a
few email address links, embedded in the text. Other than the Persistent Navigation bar,
there really is no sense of any navigable structure whatsoever. Through the addition of a
Search function (the original had none), the application of color and graphics, as well as
the use of drop-down menus, we will draw the users eye to the Site ID and to the various
subsections in a manner that emphasizes their significance and encourages use.

Persistent Navigation
There is a vertical Persistent Navigation bar appearing along the left side of the Home
Page and every additional page. Included in the Persistent Navigation bar are links to the
Facebook and Twitter pages for the organization. The Persistent Navigation Bar is
functional in only the most basic sense, but like all other aspects of the site it suffers from
design defects and usability challenges which will discourage use and that fail to fulfill
its purpose. Once again, we will apply functionally practical but visually enticing

Pet Refuge Website Redesign 4

graphics that will operate as Street Signs, leading the user to them while clearing stating
their purpose.

Breadcrumbs
There are no breadcrumbs at all, and in fact, the Persistent Navigation bar is designed so
that if a user has ever clicked on one of the links, it will continue to show that link as
highlighted for every subsequent visit. As such, not only are there no Breadcrumbs to
help in structuring the user experience, flaws in design actually contribute to disorienting
the user. We will add breadcrumbs as a means of structuring the visitors experience,
assisting him toward his purpose in visiting while encouraging him to consider the
organizations mission and goals.

Street Signs
Street Signs that might assist the user in navigating the site and remaining oriented are
present, but they are severely lacking, suffering from a lack of imagination and intuitive
application of design principals. Other than black and white, the only other color utilized
throughout the website is blue, and font sizes are often uniform as well. Applying a
thoughtfully considered, visually arresting color scheme is essential.

Pet Refuge Website Redesign 5

Big Bang Theory of Web Design

The North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection Leagues Pet Refuges home page does
not convey anything which might be interpreted as a big picture. It is in no sense a
gateway to the site or to the organization, looking almost exactly the same as every
other page on the site. This will likely lead to user misinterpretation and frustration. A

sense of the home page as an orienting entryway needs to be incorporated into a complete
overhaul. Creating a sense of Context through the use of images and a repositioning of
the site name, logo, and mission statement will be integral to such an overhaul.

Adherence to CRAP Principles

No apparent thought has been given to the principles of Contrast, Repetition (in any
meaningful sense), Alignment, and Proximity. The North Kingstown-Exeter Animal
Protection Leagues Pet Refuge website is an example of no application of even the most
basic principles of design, rendering it nearly useless. A thoughtful and visually arresting
use of color and positioning is required to make the site useful and engaging.

Pet Refuge Website Redesign 6

Peer Feedback and Distribution of Work

We did not receive any usable peer feedback.
The three of us worked together in brainstorming and formulating the redesign concepts.
Once the concepts were on paper, Emily Dodd and Sergio Suhett worked on the
wireframe for the home page. Joao Veiga and Emily Dodd worked on the second
wireframe. Once we settled on the content, Sergio Suhett worked on the execution of the
memo text collected from all team members, as well as the formatting, creation of the
logo, and editing. We worked as a team throughout the project consulting with each other,
and collaborating on each others tasks with inputs and suggestions.

3. SUMMARY
The website for the North Kingstown-Exeter Animal Protection Leagues Pet Refuge is
especially challenging because it does not merely require tweaking. This site has never had
any sort of constructive design elements applied to it, and so we are in essence beginning
from square one. Through the application of structured navigation tools, helpful Breadcrumbs
and Street Signs, and the Big Bang Theory and standard CRAP principles, the site can be
reconfigured to communicate its purpose, and be a great deal more useful to its intended
target audience, resulting in the maximum benefit for the welfare of the animals for which
the organization advocates.