CS-081 Assignment 1

We will be dealing with a lot of technology this term, and the goal of this first assignment is to get you to start viewing the Web with a developer’s eye: what’s good and what’s not so good out there?

Pick three web sites: one academic, one commercial, and one entertaining. The academic site could be Queens College’s, a department with the college, or some other college’s; the choice is yours. The commercial site should be one where you have actually bought something if possible. And the entertainment site can be any site that provides entertainment: YouTube, somebody’s blog, whatever. For each site, write out the answers to the following questions, and send them to me by email.

1. Describe the site’s customers. Most sites serve multiple categories of customers. Describe each category, and tell what you think they use the site for. For example, two categories of “customers” for an academic site would be prospective and currrent students. (I can think of at least two other categories.)
2. Tell what each site does to help each category of customers find what they want on the site. Is the site good at this? Give a specific example of what they do either well or poorly in this regard.
3. What makes the site either a pleasure or a bother to you when you use it?
4. Do you think the home page is well-organized and attractive?
5. If you were to suggest just one change to make on the home page, what would it be and why?

Write your answers to the questions in the body of an email message. You can use plain text or formatted email, but do not use a word processor and/or send your answers as an attachment. Send your email to me by midnight on the due date (January 31). My email address is:

The Subject Line of your email must say CS-081 Assignment 1, exactly like that, in order to avoid my spam filters.

Be sure to sign your email so I know who sent it!