From the Field and Into the Classroom

Abstract

Although it is difficult these days to find a company that does not have a website, you do not have to look very far for to find a website with significant design and architecture flaws. Getting a visitor to your website is one thing, making the experience effortless and allowing them to find exactly what they need is another story. That being said, understanding how the consumer comprehends and navigates webpage content is an important part of the interactive marketing process that demands extra attention. Although this field is well established among marketing research practitioners, information architecture assessment and website usability tests are user-centric methods of website analysis that receive little attention from marketing academics. This article discusses the importance of user-centric methods of website analysis for the field of direct and interactive marketing and outlines strategies for implementing qualitative research techniques in an educational context. Classroom exercises and take-home assignments for an undergraduate curriculum are provided and discussed.