Overview:
This project and the resulting paper describe and analyze empirical research used to assess metrics of visual design tool quality for two current Web design programs, one commercially available, the other freely downloadable. We studied how users new to these products approached a common design task of adding a page to an existing site and compared the resulting page to the provided design standard. Results of the evaluation and specific conclusions are reported.

We wanted to know how the design experience varied across two very different tools designed for very similar tasks. Are there significant differences, and if so, what are they? The two products differ in the extent to which they offer supporting Web design functionality, utilities, and extensions, but both should be equally capable in terms of simple page creation and editing functions. But for new tool users attempting common design tasks, where do the tools diverge? Does one product afford new users significant advantages for the given tasks? If so, in what way? And with which product were new users more comfortable?

Role:
Interaction and Web design, instruction & process development, research, analysis, documentation, and project management.

	Analysis Plan		Final Analysis Paper
	Evaluation Instructions		Final Presentation