CENSUS WEBSITE

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the structure and supplementary content of the website – there are still issues of confusion and lack of directing/providing context for the visitor. After meeting with Anna Greenspan today, it is clear that I need to pare down the site as well as allow it to shift into something a bit less in keeping with the original desire to “copy” the official website.

Thus far user testing has included faculty, students, and staff at NYUSH; friends; family; IMA LR peers and faculty; and some friends of friends. What has resonated most strongly for me are the conversations which have come out of discussing the website and my intentions. I introduced the project at an unrelated event – the discussion which ensued was surprisingly intimate and inspiring. Sharing individual narratives in this way has helped me understand that this connection is of utmost importance to me and needs to be highlighted moving forward. The current project is only the start and creation of a platform for dialogue, coalition building, workshops, and future communication.

The heart of the project is providing a space to contemplate, imagine, and input one’s own ideal self-named categorization. This implies having a basis to understand how to interact with the site. Additionally, the static, rather drab nature of the previous site is uninspiring to me (and I assume others) and thus creating a disconnect between the personal nature of the project and its current form/aesthetic/user interaction.

The revised project is only focused on the US. This website can be a launching pad for subsequent projects focusing on other countries. Already I am in discussion with NYUSH’s diversity office to use this website as a launching pad for on-site workshops, a potential student working group for related projects, and discussion groups. Additionally, I will limit the website to 5 pages:

Landing page

Informational/About page

Input page

Archive page

Supplementary info page with links and contact info

The new landing page is a time-based view (slide show) of the time-line and corresponding categories of the US census. Using this as a model:

The informational page will shift to be more direct and helpful in regard to context and website usage/intention. Additionally it will include a more narrative approach – including a brief history.

Input page will consist of one text box and display only the last few inputs alongside (similar to existing):

A separate Archive page will be the running list of “categories”

The Info/About page will include links to my research, workshops, and my contact info.

 

Updated timeline:

June 7-13:

complete basic website:

  • Informational/About page
  • Input page
  • Supplementary info page with links and contact info

user testing

June 14-21:

complete website:

  • Landing page
  • Archive page

user testing

June 22-28:

user testing

add supplementary info/links

 

Cornell Boxes:

As with the website, the interactions with individuals has proven to need more attention than time allows for. In addition to the conversations themselves, the project has taken a turn to include the participants in the making. This came out of my general discomfort with using gifted objects without sharing agency with the givers. Conversations have been taking place via Zoom, with discussions about how to use/position the materials, and thus progressing very slowly.The boxes will be an ongoing project and not completed for this thesis.