As tourists and travelers, it is common practice these days
to visit websites of public places to learn more about the destinations of
interest and plan trips accordingly. The Internet has changed the way we live
our lives. It has certainly simplified the process of becoming knowledgeable
about tourist destinations even before one visits them in person. Personally, I
always find that websites of popular destinations play a big role in my
decision to visit a certain place. Websites that have incomplete or missing
information or are difficult to navigate tell me that the place I intend to
visit is not organized enough to provide an optimum experience. Websites, when
designed, should be made to look appealing, easy to navigate, and provide all
the information.
The garden staff and its management has certainly done an excellent
job of keeping its website current and interesting. The viewers are encouraged
to continuously visit the site and explore information ranging from seasonal
gardening advice to events and workshops. The most recent announcements are
displayed on the home screen making the new information accessible and
optimizing the viewers’ time on the site. Pricing and quick links to plan a
visit are provided in the home screen providing easy navigation to meet the
dominant goal of the organization.
One of the unique features on the garden’s homepage is
titled “Explore the garden” that allows visitors to plan their visit
beforehand. For instance, this feature permits visitors to actually view the
different scenic trails in the garden that can be explored during one’s visit.
It allows visitors to print trail maps and take online tours of the trails to
assess feasibility for hiking and other activities. In addition, the website features a “See
what’s new” section which is extremely useful as visitors plan their trip. This
section features ongoing exhibits, workshops, and educational tours among its
services. It allows visitors to immediately see the featured events that may
include work of various artists that are displayed in the garden, art and craft
workshops, informational events on best horticulture practices, etc. For instance, the user is immediately
informed of a number of workshops organized by the garden management that give
useful gardening tips to visitors on how to keep their landscapes healthy
during different seasons. They discuss best practices to grow flowers and
plants in the hot desert climate. Taking advantage of the diversity of interest
in the public, they attract artistically driven visitors to attend popular
workshops featuring the work of “Chihuly”, an artist famous for his glass
artwork. The user can view an entire array of events and presentations with
just a few clicks.
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| Photographs of Chihuly's work [dbg.org] |
As one navigates through the website, it immediately comes
across as a beautiful attractive webpage with a multitude of colors and
pictures of the Sonoran landscapes. The black and white flash on the website’s
homepage is a very attractive feature that immediately conveys history to its
visitors. It is interesting to see through the flashes as to how the garden has
changed over the years. It has not only expanded, but also improved
considerably in terms of the overall management and upkeep.
The quality photographs appeal to the audience and create an
inviting message to visit the Botanical Garden. A focal point of the site is
the logo, which appears on the top screen of all the linked pages. The logo
consists of a mixture of orange and green, which are in opposite hues of the
color wheel. This creates a contrasting effect that resembles that of nature.
The green color used is rather unsaturated to create the desert appeal of olive
green plants and bright flowering oranges and yellows unique to desert plants.
The yellow orange tint also creates an energetic feel that draws the attention
of the reader without overwhelming the visual context.
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| Logo of Desert Botanical Garden presented on Website |
Multiple pictures of botanic beauty are presented in a
balanced manner through use of innovative programing in order to prevent an
overwhelming feeling to the viewer. With the carefully timed java animations
the viewer can slowly appreciate the details in each picture and graphic
bringing the site to life. The use of modern designs enhances the interest of
the reader by providing diversity with in a small space. An optimum ratio between
screen space an information presented creates facility for the eyes of the
viewer and from a web designers opinion correlates with modern tactics.
The discrete background of the site has a gray texture and
does not distract the reader from the colorful photographs. In fact, the choice
of color enhances the presentation of the images by preventing the exhausting
effect of an all white background. Another tool effectively used is the font
types of the tabs and text. The site’s font alternates from serif to sans serif
guiding the reader from the content and multiple links on the same screen. For
example, the tabs for events, membership, about, etc. are consistent with the
websites layout, all written in serif. This hinders the reader from being
distracted from the information on each page presented with simple sans serif
fonts. By allowing the consistent tabs to be distinguishably different from the
information on each page, the reader can focus on the content rather than the
miniscule details surrounding the subject. Moreover, the optical sizes of the
headings distinguish the main ideas and facilitate access to information when
skimming through the pages.
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| Fonts: Serif Vs. Sans Serif |
Over the years, the Garden has been attracting several
thousand visitors from the local community and around the world by providing
research, exhibits, and shows to help people experience the desert flora and
fauna. Knowing the broad interest of the visitors, the website does not limit
the information presented to the Sonoran Desert, but organizes plants from
various deserts from around the globe. Today, the Garden features 145 acres of
cultivated land with more than 50,000 plants as claimed in their introduction
page; a very impressive lure for a first time visitor.
The easy usability of the website allows the user to
navigate through the information quickly to find concrete details on events and
more importantly pricing and tickets. It is easy to purchase tickets both
online and via phone assistance. Undoubtedly, a website that features
information on a state’s asset should be user friendly both in terms of content
and ease of navigation for its visitors. The Desert Botanical Garden’s website
hits these benchmarks completely. The overall goal for establishing a website
for a public destination is to allow people both in state and out of state to
experience the tourist attraction and be able to acquire all the necessary
information to help plan their trip. By having a user-friendly website with
abundant information, they attract a broad audience increasing the
effectiveness of their marketing goals.
The Desert Botanical Garden website is also well connected
with the public via Facebook , YouTube, twitter, and other online social
networking sites. These outlets provide the Garden the opportunity to market
itself to the public. The website has a large number of followers online and
the Garden staff does an excellent job of keeping its information up to date.
There is also a biweekly newsletter that the garden sends out to its members as
well as others who sign up for the letter and are interested in keeping up to
date on the Garden’s activities. The
Garden also posts short videos of their ongoing exhibits. For instance, in the
spring, they post videos of their famous butterfly exhibit that is extremely
enjoyable and attractive to people of all age groups. Arizona State University
is among the local schools that offer cultural passes allowing free entrance to
students and the public through the application of state appropriated funds.
This allows for multiple members of Arizona’s diverse socioeconomic
backgrounds to enjoy the deserts botanic beauty.
Without noticeable spelling errors, the simple language of
the page is befitting for the broad audience. The information is concise and
interesting with historical details added to create a full picture of the
exclusivity of Arizona’s botanic beauty. Without a doubt, if the reader has any
questions of the content multiple emails and phone numbers are provided to
clarify any inquires, a characteristic of a successful business.
Overall, the website on its homepage provides visitors with
access to key information related to admissions, purchase of tickets, and
timings of the Garden, among other things. Beyond using tactics for optimizing
functionality, the sites uses images and photographs to attract visitors to the
garden. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the public is insured that
attending a visit in person and judging the beauty for them selves is far more
enjoyable than just looking through the screen. All the while, the viewer is
left with a positive impression and attention is maintained through the
manipulation of color and font to create a useful resource for the community
and tourists.
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