Navigation
Navigation a lot of times is linked with interface. If a user things that a website has a good interface they most likely find the website easy to navigate. If they feel the page is easy to navigate, they often feel that the page has a good interface. If the user can easily get around your website and know where they’re going, where they came from and where they are currently at, you website has good navigation.
Where Am I?
Rutgers provides a simple way for all users to know where they are at on each page. If they go to the top left corner of every page there is a title that will tell them exactly where they are located on the website. Even looking at a member on a team, the title will tell you the sport and the person’s name you are looking at. Their titles are very descriptive to help users know where they are at. There are also headers on the left which allow users to know which sport they are in.
Connecticut does not provide titles for each page on their website. No matter what you click the title remains the same, www.UConnHuskes.com. The title does not change specifically with the sport and there is no big header that will tell the user what sport he or she is in. There is a sub header on each page that tells the specific sport. This sub header changes with every different aspect of the website, which will help users to know where they are at.
TopWhere Can I Go?
A better organized website can help the users know where they can go from page to page. The organization of Rutgers website makes it very easy for users to know where they want to go. On each page you can find the same menus with different tabs on specific ones. The usage of the menus on the top and left of every page allows users to feel so comfortable navigating the site and getting anywhere they want. Uconn's website is designed different there are not as many menu tabs and their menus on the left do not have any borders or stand out like the Rutgers site.
Although they do not have tabs and as good organization the content is still there. Things on their page are harder to get to because they don't stand out. A lot of the text blends in together making it hard for the user to plan their next move. Both sites use good terminology and make it simple for the users to understand what their clicking.
TopHow Can I Get Back?
On both sites the back buttons work well and will take the users back to their previous page every time. There are a few menus on each websites that open up new tabs on their own. That can become confusing for novice users who may not notice what happened. Both sites create a way to go back to the main page by using the same layout with the same home link to their logo. That always gives the users a sense of security because they can always make it back to the hope page. The only way to get from section to section is the menus on every page. That makes it very simple for the users to get from section to section. These menus are located at the same places on both websites the top of the page and running down the left side of the page.
TopFunctionality
Can I Search?
Rutgers has an advantage because their website enables users to search their news archives for past articles that have been posted. Connecticut does not have this feature and there is no searching on their website. The search on Rutgers websites goes by keywords in the title or story. Users can also plug in the date range if they can remember when the article was posted. The search works pretty good granted you have some of the information about what you're looking for.
TopOptimized for Search Engines
Rutgers and Connecticut do a good job with optimizing their pages for search engine use. When to google and typed in "rutgers men's basketball" and "connecticut men's basketball" both queries gave me the results I was looking for. Both searches gave me the official website of the Men's Basketball team and right underneath it was a link to the home page. Both Universities do a good job of making sure that their pages can be reached from search engines.
TopDownload Time
With any high speed internet connection both websites download time is pretty good. With anything slower the Rutgers website could take a little bit longer because of its use of images and videos on its home page. Rutgers has videos on their website to watch and those could take a longer time with a slower modem. Also Connecticut uses pdf files for some of their content which also takes time to download. Other than the images and videos both websites download relatively fast and the content appears on the page fast.
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