ICT 320 - Assignment 2 IA Critique (Sarah Redmon)

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Sarah Redmon Professor Brodsky ICT 320 October 22, 2023 Assignment 2: IA Critique Introduction and Screenshots of Home Pages The website that my group decided to look at is Pacific Northwest X-Ray Inc. (PNWX) - https://www2.pnwx.com/ . For this assignment, I looked at two other X-ray and medical equipment supply companies’ websites and deeply analyzed the information architectures of the sites. Here are the two websites I will be comparing in this critique:  Merry X-Ray Corporation (MXR) - https://equipment.merryxray.com  RC Imaging - https://www.rcimaging.com (screenshots of home pages on next page) Merry X-Ray Corporation (MXR) RC Imaging

Organization Systems Both websites appear to follow a metaphor-driven scheme, where you would expect what the label says to also have that said thing contained inside. For example, on MXR, clinical specialties are under Clinical Specialties, and on RC Imaging, products are under Products. On both sites, Contact Us has contact info listed on the page alongside a form to be filled out. Both sites also have a mixture of deep and shallow depths; the Equipment/Product pages are deep, as well as Services/Service and Clinical Specialties, but the other pages are relatively shallow. The only difference is that the Service section on MXR’s site is deeper than on RC Imaging’s site, having slightly more subcategories under the Service label. Additionally, both sites have a narrow breadth, but MXR has a deeper depth as it also has a Clinical Specialties label that is close to the depth of Equipment. On MXR’s site, the organization is fuller and more traditional than on RC Imaging’s site. On the home page, there are links to some products/equipment, services, hospitals, and orthopedics. There is also some info about the company. The subcategories under the Clinical Specialties label are in alphabetical order (except for View All Clinical Specialties, which is at the top). However, none of the other dropdown menus are in alphabetical order, which makes the organization a bit weird, but nothing that hinders user experience. Additionally, when you hover over Equipment, Clinical Specialties, or Service, at the top of the dropdown menu there is an option to view all the items in that category, but this leads you to the same page as if you were to click on the label (e.g., Equipment) in the navigation bar, creating an unnecessary redundancy of links. When viewing products, there is a handy category bar on the side listing all the categories on the page, even though they are already there in grid view; this is convenient and very user- friendly as it shows two views of the categories and not just one like on RC Imaging’s site. On RC Imaging’s site, the organization is not as good as MXR’s. Everything is spread out and largely padded, leaving a large amount of empty space on the pages. Less of the site’s main content is shown on the homepage than on MXR, showing only the site’s about and product info as a short preview but none of its services. There is a section labeled Latest News & Events that does not have anything relevant nearby. There is also no submenu for Cassettes and Imaging Plates, DR Panel Protection, Dental, or Grids and Grid Encasements even though there should be

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as they have multiple subcategories; Imaging Accessories, Positioning Aids, and Weight Bearing Accessories all have a submenu. The organization of products and services is not as abundant as on MXR. MXR wins the organization systems category because its organization is more developed, and the content is presented in a way that fills up the screen more than on RC Imaging. RC Imaging is in more of a top-down format (i.e., you must keep scrolling down to look at more content), and there is a lot of empty space because of this. RC Imaging’s organization system is average with its linear layout, but MXR’s organization system is better with its grid-like layout. Labeling Systems On MXR’s site, there are the following navigation system labels: EQUIPMENT, CLINICAL SPECIALTIES, SERVICE, QUOTE REQUEST, and CONTACT US. You can hover over Equipment, Clinical Specialties, and Service to get a dropdown menu that lists the subcategories for that particular label. The Service label is a bit misleading because there is more than just one service, so it should be pluralized. None of the specific services are listed in the dropdown menu; just the broader services (parts and software) are listed. One question I got is: what is the difference between Equipment, Clinical Specialties, and Service? Because when the user visits Clinical Specialties, the page contents resemble close to Equipment, and Clinical Specialties and Service mean similar things, so these three labels are confusing because of their surface-level similarities that may confuse first-time users. Also, under Clinical Specialties, what is the difference between Dental and Orthopedics? Users must know exactly what they are looking for, or else they will get lost if they do not use the search system or type in the URL. More positively, the contextual links under the labels and headings are perfect, and they are exactly what you would expect as when you click on a label, things get narrower. For example, Digital Radiography under Equipment leads you to a page of digital radiography equipment, and Podiatry under Clinical Specialties leads you to podiatry clinical specialties. Another positive over RC Imaging is that there is a sitemap for categories and products that each contain index terms and provide even better organization and navigation systems. RC Imaging’s site has the following navigation system labels: HOME, ABOUT US, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, NEWS, FAQS, and CONTACT US. You can hover over Services and Products to get a dropdown menu listing the subcategories for that label. RC Imaging uses more common and generic language for its labels, while MXR uses more complex language (e.g., Clinical Specialties). Like MXR, the contextual links under the labels and headings are excellent and help the user to understand the information that is on the page so they can find what they are looking for, whether it is through simple text or text and images combined. The winner here is close, but RC Imaging wins the labeling systems category because of its easier-to-understand labels. The site has fewer subcategories overall, so fewer errors are present in the labeling system compared to MXR. These labels make it easier for first-time users to understand what the labels mean, while MXR’s labels have a bit of a learning curve. Navigation Systems Both sites use visualization to show the products offered by the site. This allows the user to know what the product looks like without having to look at the details. Details should come second after a visual is shown; this is why the “view more” button is shown below the image on both sites, allowing for a visual presentation to shine through the most. Despite this, the two navigation systems have a lot more differences than similarities.

MXR’s navigation system is simpler and easier to use than RC Imaging’s. MXR has a global navigation system at the top that contains the main labels which are categories with subcategories inside some of them. The main Equipment and Clinical Specialties pages as well as some of the subpages have a local navigation system on the left side that provides a supplemental navigation to what is already in the main content area, which itself has some contextual navigation links that help to give the user more relevant information. MXR also has a useful sitemap (for categories and products) and a bottom navigation bar/footer for more places to navigate to and see all the pages on the site, acting as supplemental navigation systems. Yet another navigation system on the site is the comparison page that shows the user’s handpicked pages on the site, showing the option of customization, which is handy as it allows the user to access the information they need to see. These pages are put on this list through the user clicking on Add to Compare located under View Details which is located under a product image in both the search results and indexes on the site. The Quote Request and Contact Us links in the global navigation bar lead to the same page; this page seems to fit more with Contact Us rather than Quote Request, but it can be presumed that the designers intended for both these labels’ purposes to be performed on this page, it just needs to be labeled as such to avoid confusion. A breadcrumb trail is shown on the page to show users exactly where they are on the site without having to look at the URL. RC Imaging’s navigation system is not as fluid as MXR’s. Like MXR, RC Imaging has a global navigation system at the top that contains the main labels which are categories with subcategories inside some of them. However, there are no local navigation systems on the site, but there are contextual navigation links inside the Products category. The most negative thing about RC Imaging’s navigation is that there is no sitemap. Requesting a quote is a page on RC Imaging; however, there is no button in the navigation bar to go to this page. There should be a button for this kind of page as MXR has the Quote Request button in its navigation bar. Despite this, the button to request a quote is at the bottom of the page all over the site. The site is smaller than MXR’s in terms of number of pages, but finding what you need to find is harder because of its unclear categorization at times. MXR wins the navigation systems category for its multitude of navigation systems, compared to RC Imaging which has only one (other than contextual navigation links). The numerous navigation systems make finding information a lot easier and are supported by a superior organization system as well. Unfortunately, RC Imaging falls flat with both these systems when compared to MXR. Having a sitemap (or any other supplemental navigation system like indexes and guides) of the whole website, like what MXR provides, is one of the best features for a site to have alongside a search system to provide the best navigation possible. Search Systems Both sites have a search bar at the top right that allows the user to search for information on the site, and after searching both sites provide filters to narrow down what the user is looking for. The only difference between the formatting of the search bar is that MXR’s says “Search entire store here...” while RC Imaging’s simply says “Search”. In addition to small differences, there are also some big differences between the two search systems. MXR’s search system allows users to sort by relevance or name, show the results in either an ascending or descending order, view the results as a grid or list, and show the number of results per page (e.g., 12, 24, 36, or all). The user can also view details of products and add results to the compare page, which helps to provide a comparison of different products on one

single page. The results are determined by whether the keyword(s) are located anywhere on the page; for example, searching for “wall” brings up multiple results, and these results contain the word “wall” somewhere on the description page and not just in the title. One specific example is “INTEGRITY 2000 FMT” which does not have the word “wall” in the title, but it does contain the word on the description page where it says: “J1000 Wall stand: Center mounting or side mouting of Bucky makes this wall stand flexible for any patient application or installation limitation. Ergonomically designed hand control for ease of positioning wall receptor.” This makes the results more specific and tailored to what the user searched for, and thus they are more likely to find their needed information. There is also an advanced search option, unlike RC Imaging, that is listed in the bottom navigation bar under Quick Links. You can search by name, description, short description, additional accessories, and specifications. This should only be used if the user is skilled with using the normal search as amateur searchers may not know what each field means (some of these labels are unclear, such as specifications, and the site does not have a note explaining what it means). RC Imaging’s search system allows users to filter search results by categories or archives. There is a read more button, a title, and a short description. There is no comparison customization on the site, but users can add products to a list called Quote that acts as a shopping cart; however, this button is available outside the search system and is on the description page. Images are not shown in the search results, unlike MXR, requiring the user to click on the result to see more than just the title and a short description. Also, the categories and archives dropdown menus are always empty, so they are completely useless. The results are determined in the same way as MXR: if the keyword is in the title and/or description, display the result. However, the lack of proper filters and images in the search results makes the RC Imaging search system greatly inferior to MXR’s search system. MXR wins the search systems category because of its more complete and advanced search system, whereas RC Imaging’s feels neglected and incomplete. There are no actual search filters on RC Imaging’s site, whereas MXR’s site is built around the search system. MXR has all the necessary search filters, while RC Imaging does not have any. Winner Overall and Conclusion Overall, MXR has the superior information architecture over RC Imaging, winning three out of the four categories, with RC Imaging barely winning just one. RC Imaging’s site is nowhere near as bad as PNWX’s, but it is just average while MXR’s site is almost superior in every way in terms of information architecture. A complex topic like radiology requires a complex information architecture, but one that is easy to use and understand, and MXR’s site is perfect for that.

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ICT 320 - Assignment 2 IA Critique (Sarah Redmon)

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