Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Fishing for Interaction: The Seattle Aquarium Website


The Seattle Aquarium’s website is brightly colored with a background photo of water. At first glance, I know the website has something to do with marine life, water or animals. From the eyes of a child, I would be interested in the site because of the pictures of the animals and bright colors. As an adult, I am attracted to the types of tabs to click on, Plan on a Visit, Events and Programs, ect. As I scroll down the homepage, the Seattle Aquarium News section catches my eye. Currently there is a story titled “How much does a Northern fur seal weight?” and “Marine Summer Camp 2012.” Only after I read the description of the first article do I actually click to read it. It is a nicely written, informative article. Much like the website itself; nice and informative.

 

Because of this, the content is relevant to the Seattle Aquarium. The homepage advertises upcoming events, the news articles are about marine life, events and research in the field and the subjects you can click on are made of information I can use, i.e. plan on a visit. Though the content is relevant, it’s only somewhat interesting. The stories are dry and expected. There are no videos to watch and only expected pictures.


With that said, I have two recommendations for the Seattle Aquarium website. 
  1. The website is too structured and very linear. I would like to see more variety; maybe a coral reef you can click and see the tabs.
  2. The website is nor interactive and very flat. There is not a way for children to intact with the website and no videos for adults to watch. 
If the Seattle Aquarium makes these changes, it can increase the amount of traffic to the site and the amount of time spent on it. 

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