Production project A

The main reason for choosing the Commonwealth Bank as an assignment piece was based solely on the accessibility of information and the ease at which a transaction could be completed. The immensity of the website was a challenge to explore and document, but due to this immensity the work ultimately benefited. The amount of content, allowed the research to take a direct path through one of the sites particular interactive transaction processes (in this case the transferring of money from one account to another). The transaction process is displayed using screenshots mashed up together in a sequence as a chronological timeline of events and interaction. This directly show’s the viewer exactly what is happening in the process rather than using iconography as in the first page, which is more of a site map which displays possible navigation outside of the content path of the transaction flow.

Colour within the Information flow was based on the colour of the Commonwealth Bank site itself. Although the site had grey within its colour spectrum a decision was made to stick to the main colour of the logo (Black, Yellow and white). Aesthetically and in functionality the site is very boring but extremely slick and streamlined, and on this basis the iconography was created. The icons used are black which is a dominant colour in the logo and would become the dominant colour within the information flow. Upon this choice of colour, a type of glass effect was applied to the iconography to enforce the professional essence of the site. The iconography was then broken up into sections of varying aesthetic quality and functionality. This was achieved using a key at the bottom of the first pages key. All the graphical elements are categorised n this way.

As the transaction process that was chosen was rather brief, the intricate site map/Information flow was created to illustrate the immensity and bombardment of options one faces when opening a site of such complexity. Even with all this information being drilled into you, the site retains its slick and clean approach to its design. On closer inspection of this site it becomes clear how much thought and effort was exerted from the people responsible for the site, and it ultimately produced a wondrous example of information flow and its uses on the web.

As for the functionality a user could not hope for more in a tool to access and directly affect their account information as they wish. So instead of only focussing attention on the bad things that the site does (not anything), what the site does well will have to be discussed. What it does right starts with what was discussed briefly before which is it’ accessibility to information and how it accomplishes this. Clean lines, clear text, high contrast and a visual hierarchy all contribute to a high standard of user interaction and the ability to access important user info. Another factor to the sites success lies within the realm of its content. The site has very brief yet informative articles, which is great when trying to skim through a bunch of information to access one little piece of info.