Much has already been said about Ohio University's home page, but I decided that in all of our disgust over the new page, we have neglected to actually see what the target audience thought of it.
The general consensus among the 20-, 21-, and 22-year-olds I have talked to about the home page is that it is unprofessional, immature and pretty much just plain stupid. But, the university has admitted that the home page is not intended to appeal to us, that instead, it is supposed to make 17-and 18-year-old high school students want to attend this fine institution of higher learning.
So, I decided to find out what these high school juniors and seniors have to say about the new look. Luckily, I have a 16-year-old sister, who is a high school junior, at my disposal.
When I called her on her cell phone yesterday (I totally did not have my own cell phone in 11th grade). She was at the high school working on the yearbook. I asked her to gather up some other high school students for my focus group and told her to call me back after she looked it over.
She called back about five minutes later and asked again what I wanted her to do. Maybe the home page is for people with short attention spans. So I told her again, and after looking at it, her first comments were that the smiley face by the to-do list was stupid and asked if that white thing was supposed to be like an iPod.
Then I asked for the opinions of other students around, two of which are considering OU, and really, most of the feedback was positive. Students, who had seen the old home page, said it was too formal and that the new one was much more fun.
And then, when I pointed out the ring tone stuff that really got them on the bandwagon. My little sister was all about downloading a free ring tone, but then again, she also pays money to download ringtones if that says anything.
After my miniature focus group and through discussions with colleagues, I believe we have come up with a reasonable solution.
Obviously, the new home page does offer some appeal to a high school student, but, in my opinion, reflects very poorly on the university to prospective employers or parents. So, what the university should do is move the new home page to the admissions page and bring back the old home page for the rest of us.
If students are thinking about wanting to go here, they will probably make it at least to the prospective students page so they can still download the buddy icons and cell wallpapers until their hearts are content.
And we, as Ohio University students whose money is supporting this debacle, can reclaim our home page in all its boring, formal glory.
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