Intended audience:
· Individuals who want to stay up-to-date on current world events in a creative way
· Individuals interested in documenting history and events through photographs
· Individuals interested in the ability to combine RSS feeds, linguistic analysis of websites, and website design to create something that is both aesthetically pleasing and useful.
Usefulness of content:
· The content of the website is very useful. Each hour the website scans RSS feeds from Reuters World News, BBC World Edition and the New York Times International News. From such scans, the website determines the most important 100 words used in the current news stories and 100 photographs that correspond thereto. It then presents the photographs in a 10 x 10 grid next to a vertical listing of the 100 words. Users can literally “see” the most widely published current world news. Users can also access the corresponding news stories by clicking on a photograph or a word in the listing.
· The website also provides archives of the top 100 words and photographs for each hour, day, month and year dating back to November of 2004. The availability of this historical data is a very nice feature of the website.
· It would be great if the website scanned more than three periodicals and if it provided a link to a local “10x10” website in Austin.
· I also noticed that the time stated at the bottom of the grid sometimes reflects a time several hours from the current time, which is somewhat disconcerting if you are utilizing the site as a type of historical index.
Consistency of design:
· The website’s consistency of design is its greatest strength. The design is very clean, consistent, and minimal in its style, which focuses the user on the 10x10 grid in the center of every page. The only items that change on the website are the photographs and the listing of words, which create a different visual collage each hour.
· The most impressive visual design aspect of the website is the way each word on the word listing increases significantly in font whenever a mouse is moved over it.
· My only critique of the design is that, because of its minimal style, the exact purpose and features of the website may not be readily apparent to someone who simply stumbles upon the website.
Ease of navigation:
· The website is very easy to navigate, especially when the simple “rules” of the site are explained to you or you read the helpful “How it Works” link. The menus are clearly marked and generally self-explanatory.
· The current homepage does little to enhance the website’s effectiveness and may actually detract from it. The only information it provides is that 10x10 is “100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time.” This lack of information is not problematic for one who knows the website’s purpose, but a user coming to the website for the first time may not be sufficiently enticed to click on the “This is Now” link which launches the 10x10 experience.
· Navigating the sight could also potentially be frustrating for users who do not have internet connections of the highest speed. I noticed that even with a cable modem the website appeared to load slowly at times and sometimes did not load all 100 pictures. At times, the corresponding articles in Reuters or the other publications were not available, as well.
· Overall, however, I like the creative concept and design of 10x10. Hopefully the designers will continue to build upon the website’s features.
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