| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | |
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1 | Note: All competitors for Interlochen Arts Academy have been assigned different names. | |||||||||
2 | Competitor Scoring Card | Interlochen Arts Academy | IAA Notes | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | Competitor D | Competitor E | Competitor F | Competitors Notes |
3 | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | (Rank performance on a scale of 1-5) | |||
4 | Visibility of System Status | |||||||||
5 | Breadcrumbs: particularly for Application steps | 3 | Breadcrumbs are small. Slashes might not be the most intuitive symbol for dividing modules. Maybe add arrows instead? | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |  |
6 | Quickly Loading Pages | 2 | Pages are generally slow to load. Especially faculty pages. | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Even though Competitor E's website is slow to load, the loading page still appears attractive enough with a satisfying loading bar at the bottom left that keeps the viewer's attention. Maybe IAA could use this for its landing page/main pages as well. |
7 | Reactive Graphics and Buttons: visibly adjust when interacted with | 3 | Buttons all seem to change color when hovered over. | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Competitor C's website has very reactive graphics in its landing page that provide a satisfying, intuitive experience for users. It feels like the website is doing the work for you by giving you constant feedback. |
8 | Match Between System and Real World | |||||||||
9 | Concise, Effective Copy and Concepts | 3 | Visual Arts Major Section: Guest Artist Section should include a caption with more information on Artist Visits | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Competitor E has concise yet witty copy. Only a few phrases and sentences are needed in Landing Page, and longer text is only used to describe specific courses that users would go in-depth looking for anyway. |
10 | Natural Storyline in the Text | 3 | There needs to be more context right off the bat that IAA is a 4-year high school in "Why IAA". Body text should replace subheading text. | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Competitor E has a strong storyline within their home page. Competitor D's landing page has compelling headers as well: "This is distinctly Competitor D" and "These are our stories." |
11 | User Control and Freedom | |||||||||
12 | Easily Discoverable Exit Links | 4 | Good | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Not Applicable |
13 | Back and Forward Arrows/Buttons: Can Users go back a step in the process? | 3 | N/a | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | N/a |
14 | Consistency and Standards | |||||||||
15 | System Adheres to Industry Conventions | 4 | Besides questionable menu bar, the system seems straightforward enough as a website. Transition from Interlochen.org to IAA site is a little unintuitive. Perhaps IAA should be the first module that appears on the left in the landing page rather than ICA. | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Competitor C: most accessible design system and menu bar |
16 | Consistent Typefaces for headers, title, body text, footers | 3 | The typefaces become slightly confusing at times. Forms typeface is also different. There seem to be at least 3 different typefaces and 2 is usually the standard. There is not enough size difference between subheader text and body text. | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Competitor C is a good example of this. |
17 | Consistent Visual Treatments | 3 | Academics page seems to have blurred background that is different from other pages like "Res Life" with the organic shapes. Why does the Tuition/Financial Aid page have a full-width hero page? Maybe each page should contain a full width hero like Competitor D. | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Competitor D: satisfying treatment of logo that is repeated multiple times in the website pages. |
18 | Recognition Rather Than Recall | |||||||||
19 | Retrievable, Visible Menu Items | 2 | Menu bar should hover as page scrolls. Menu items under Arts Boarding School in hamburger menu only appear once Arts Boarding School is clicked. "Arts Boarding School" should always have a dropdown menu for easy access to modules. | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Competitor C's menu is the strongest. It is constantly hovering at the side of the page which allows for easy access. |
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21 | Help Offered in Context? | 3 | FAQs included. An online chat/chatbot could be interesting to implement in the future. Currently, there's only a chatbot on the IAC side. | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Competitor B has a chatbot in the bottom right corner of all of its pages. Competitor C has a vertical icon menu. |
22 | Aesthetic and Minimalist Design | |||||||||
23 | Minimalist, Functioning Design | 3 | Design feels a little cluttered and strangely spaced. Text boxes tend to be cluttered, but then there are large gaps between these. Especially Events on landing page. | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Competitor D has a website that appears more minimalistic but has intuitive, functioning layout and features. |
24 | No Unnecessary Features or Information | 4 | In this section module in the Interlochen 5 page contains "Academics" and "Academy Academics" that lead to the same page. Should delete one. | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Competitor B has these ads on their website that look visually jarring and cheapens the site. The ads should appear more professional even if they were meant to mimic sports ads. |
25 | Help and Documentation | |||||||||
26 | Admissions Team or HR Team Easily Contactable From Website? | 3 | Maybe add an Inquiry Form | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | See Competitor D and Competitor C Inquiry Forms |
27 | Easily Downloadable/Acquirable Manuals | 4 | Yes | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Competitor F has a nice Issu viewbook that does not need to be downloaded. Maybe Interlochen could include this too while also having the Lead gen form option for those who would rather view in PDF form. |
28 | Visual Hierarchy | |||||||||
29 | Type, colors and layout all work together to create clean and intuitive design | 3 | Beige background feels a little outdated. Could maybe bring out the contrast between creme and blue by making the font a slightly lighter dark blue. | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Competitor C: satisfying layout with dynamic yet clean layout. Plenty of icons to help guide eye. Text and modules all aligned consistently. |
30 | Marketability | |||||||||
31 | Clear Value Proposition: benefits of products listed | 3 | More of IAA Campus can be showcased through a "Our Campus and Facilities" page. We have excellent facilities for music, arts, and recreation! | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Competitor E: Interesting abroad opportunities as well as lots of emphasis on the campus facilities. They have an excellent Campus map: https://www.Competitor E.net/about-Competitor E/our-campus-facilities |
32 | Strong Hero Page | 2 | IAA page could use its own Hero Page to establish school's officiality. | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Competitor E's hero page is a good example of a hero page without video clips. |
33 | E-List Sign Up | 4 | Lead-gen forms included heavily. | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Many schools like Competitor C, Loomis, and Competitor E include an "Inquire" button which leads to a form that create leads. It helps to be transparent about the form-- i.e. receive emails from us! |
34 | Eye-catching color choices | 3 | The blue within the text could be a smidge lighter and brighter because currently, the website colors feel a bit muted. A lighter blue text could also contrast well with the orange organic shapes while marrying better with the lighter blue shapes and banners. | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Competitor C ranks highest in eye-catching color palette because of blue and yellow are relatively complimentary colors which are visually striking. |
35 | Dynamic Visuals and graphics | 3 | The organic shapes are interesting. Strange dark blue lines that divide Guest Artist profiles. The slide decks for profiles feel a little cumbersome. Maybe simplying sliding to the left with mousepad could allow the deck to slide. Currently, you can only click the arrows to slide. | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Competitor C, Competitor E: moving visuals that react to scrolling, hovering, clicking. Competitor B displays many strong images of their students playing sports and participating in academics. |
36 | Relevant Imagery: Graduation, Campus, students performing | 3 | There is repeating images of Dennison Center(rock-climbing) in residence life page as well as landing page. | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Competitor B, Competitor C, Competitor D: well-taken, bright photos and videos that give nice views of spaces that students/faculty occupy and depict students having fun and smiling. Lighting also feels consistent |
37 | Statistics | 4 | Great amount of "stats" included like the universities that students get to attend after IAA, as well as "By the Numbers" section near the footer. Could "By the Numbers" be moved upwards? | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Competitor B: Good stats on amount of students attend university post grad, number of AP scholars, etc. |
38 | Application Section | |||||||||
39 | Straightforward Instructions and Rules | 4 | I enjoy how the application steps are listed in the landing page with additional instruction beneath each subheader in the Application page. | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | Competitor E's Admission Process page displays a satisfying full-width step-by-step instruction for applying. IAA should also include an application checklist similar to Competitor F's: https://Competitor Fschool.edu/conservatory/apply-to-the-conservatory/application-requirements/ |
40 | Financial Aid and Scholarship Options | 4 | "Make Interlochen Possible" button seems to be broken or be extremely slow at loading. There should be a section with scholarships that is easily accessible. If Interlochen is need-blind, this should be mentioned near the top of the page. | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Competitor E Merit Scholarship section is strong and lists out all of its scholarships. |
41 | Academics | |||||||||
42 | Relevant Educational programs Described | 2 | Course Catalog button could be larger. The Student Schedule examples are okay, but I think it could benefit with adding one non-traditional class to each grade level for the course to stand out. Additionally, a greater emphasis should be placed on the arts areas. Modules for those should be included in Academics page similar to the Landing page's. | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Competitor D's Academics page lays out each subject in a detailed and organized manner. https://www.loomischaffee.org/academics/departments I appreciate how each subject matter gets its own page and courses are included. This could be helpful for IAA's Art Areas. |
43 | Extracurriculars | 1 | No mention of school clubs/extracurriculars | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Student Life page on Competitor D website is strong and shows their signature events/traditions, and Student Clubs/Leadership. This could be really compelling for IAA to adopt to show prospective applicants the possible ways to find community and engage in extracurriculars. |
44 | Accessibility | |||||||||
45 | Alt Text on Images | 1 | Website would benefit from alt-text in images that appear when hovering over them or display a caption. This can benefit visually imparied communties. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Website would benefit from alt-text in images that appear when hovering over them or display a caption. |
46 | Legible, Large Typeface | 4 | Subhead typeface could be larger. Nice accessibility features | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Competitor C, Competitor B and Competitor D all have easily legible, large font sizes. |
47 | Captions in Videos | 5 | There are caption options in the videos which makes it more accessible for communities. Could benefit by having a translator also create captions in Spanish, Chinese, and other popular languages so that people with English language barriers can also comprehend. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Seems like other schools' websites don't seem to be prioritizing captioning/accessibility features on their websites. IAA could really benefit from campaigning for greater accessibility and appealing to audiences with disabilities. |
48 | Total | 96 | 72 | 110 | 125 | 114 | 121 | 87 | ||
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51 | https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/what-makes-a-good-website#2_Good_Page_Speed | |||||||||
52 | https://media.nngroup.com/media/articles/attachments/Heuristic_Evaluation_Workbook_1_Fillable.pdf | |||||||||