1. What did you hear the client say that they want the web site to accomplish? Describe the goal of the web site in one or two sentences.
The client wants to provide customers with information and explanations of the their products and services, which will help to bring in new clients. They also want to be able to deliver news or a calendar of events as well as sell products online.
2. Who is the intended audience? Who do you think will use the website?
The intended audience is Portland residents and visitors. Residents will use it to get to know the city they live in better. Tourists will use it to enhance their vacation experience.
3. What opportunity, problem, or issue did you hear that the client wants to address?
The client mentioned that they haven't thought about how they're going to market the site and asked for suggestions. They also mentioned that they don't have any social network accounts set up. Setting up social accounts with the most popular providers, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., would help them market the site.
4. What does the client want the site visitors to do?
The client wants the site visitors to search for information about their tours as well as book them. They also want customers to use the call and contact form features.
5. List at least two related or similar sites found on the web and why you think they are related. What did you like about the websites and what do you think you could improve on for the client's website?
Portland Walking Tours also provides tours around Portland. Both offer a few different tour options daily. I like that Portland Walking Tours' site has the most important categories for the site in the navigation section and that each category has a dropdown with all the related topics. The site also shows a schedule which identifies which timeslots are available for each tour. I think one thing I could improve on for the client's site is to make it look more up to date. The Portland Walking Tours' site looks like it hasn't been updated for many years based on the layout.
EcoTours of Oregon provides nature day tours and sightseeing of Oregon and SW Washington to individuals and groups. I like that it has buttons on the home page that make it easy to book or request a tour as well as view the schedule. One thing I could improve on for the client's site is to adjust the width of the navigation links. The outermost links' outer borders do not align with the outer borders of the navigation pane, which looks odd when one hovers over them. Another thing that could be improved is to remove the links to each of the tours in the home page's body since it is repeating what is present in the tours dropdown. This could then be replaced with something such as what the most popular tour is currently as well as customer reviews.
Content Inventory
Page Name: Home
Page URL: index.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide an introduction for the site.
Provided assets: The "How did we get started?" introduction in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used as the feature for the page. It provides the company's history and which tours they offer.
Page Name: Downtown Tour
Page URL: downtown_tour.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide information about the Downtown Tour.
Provided assets: The "Downtown Tour" section in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used for this page. It includes a description of the tour, what's included, the duration, transportation, food, price, and a customer review.
Page Name: Growth Tour
Page URL: growth_tour.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide information about the Growth Tour.
Provided assets: The "Growth Tour" section in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used for this page. It includes a description of the tour, what's included, the duration, transportation, food, price, and a customer review.
Page Name: Landmarks Tour
Page URL: landmarks_tour.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide information about the Landmarks Tour.
Provided assets: The "Landmarks Tour" section in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used for this page. It includes a description of the tour, what's included, the duration, transportation, food, price, and a customer review.
Page Name: Forms
Page URL: forms.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide information about the Reservation and Contact forms.
Provided assets: The "Forms" section in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used for this page. It includes two forms: Book a Reservation and Contact. The Book a Reservation form includes a list to select the tour and fields for the customer's first name, last name, email address, phone number, tour date, and a list to select the total participants. It also asks if anyone in the customer's party has food or drink sensitivities. The Contact form includes fields for the site visitor's name, email address, subject, and message.
Page Name: General Information
Page URL: general_information.html
Description and purpose: This page will provide general information about the site.
Provided assets: The "General Information" section in the "Portland Historical Tours Content" Word document will be used for this page. It includes information about when the tours leave, their accepted payment methods, online reservations, and the company's address and phone number.