Hershey Park. By: Alicia Danenhower. English 3880 Section 10. Deborah Welsh.

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Hershey Park http://www.themeparkpage.com/images/hershey-web/dsc00263000.

1 Hershey Park By: Alicia Danenhower English 3880 Section 10 Deborah Welsh 11/8/2011

2 Hershey Park 1 Introduction This report analyzes the ways in which the features of a particular website vary based on the specific genre of that website. As a group, we decided to study the features and genre of amusement park websites. All of us had been to an amusement park before and therefore, we had previous insight of the features and elements that we would expect to find on their websites. Genre includes a variety of elements ranging from the targeted audience to the page design, all of which will be discussed throughout this report. Individually, I chose to examine the website of Hershey Park, an amusement park that I spent a fair amount of time at as a child. Usability One advantage to the website that I found to be especially pleasing was the rapid response time when switching between pages. Some websites can be delayed when loading pages, which might lose attracted customers. If a website is taking too long to load, they may revert their attention elsewhere. I find myself doing such a thing all the time. Hershey Park s website downloaded all pages within seconds, which helped keep me focused on the actual site and the information that I was searching for. Another benefit that Hershey Park s website has going for them, is its visual appeal. I believe that the visual appeal of Hershey Park s website plays a small role in retaining interested customers. I found all links to be consistent, legible, and clearly identifiable, yet still catchy. The blue background on the home page is professional and calm to the eye. The font amidst the website varies between red, black, white, and blue. Although they have a few different font colors, I thought they were all clear and readable.

Hershey Park 2 The creators chose a red tab with white font to display the important tabs on the home page. Below, you will find an example of Hershey Park s home page.

3 Hershey Park 2 The creators chose a red tab with white font to display the important tabs on the home page. Below, you will find an example of Hershey Park s home page. Professional blue background Eye catching red tabs with white font One feature of their site that I found to be extremely helpful was their search options. Along with the tabs, the site also provides a search box in the top right hand corner of the home page that permits you to key in the information that you are looking for in order to reduce the amount of time spent searching for desired information. This allowed me to find information quickly and efficiently. Context There is a substantial amount of information throughout the entire Hershey Park website. Considering that Hershey Park is an amusement park, the information is more so geared towards advertising than sales. I believe that the purpose of this site is to promote the park in such a way that would persuade customers to visit in the near future.

Hershey Park 3 This particular site has a URL of www.hersheypark.com. Since the site is not for educational or political purposes, I consider.

Audience In my opinion, Hershey Park s website is generally targeted towards families, parents, and teenagers.

The website clearly displays all possible benefits that the park has to offer the interested parties.

4 Hershey Park 3 This particular site has a URL of Since the site is not for educational or political purposes, I consider.com to be a sufficient URL ending that still proves the website s credibility to interested viewers. Audience In my opinion, Hershey Park s website is generally targeted towards families, parents, and teenagers. With that being said, I think that the creators did a great job in constructing the site to fit the interests of the intended audience. The website clearly displays all possible benefits that the park has to offer the interested parties. Not only can viewers search the website while online, but they can also access the information via cell phone thanks to the mobile app they provide. With the increasing use and importance of cell phones, I think this puts them one step ahead of their competition. Their Webpage describing their Mobile App

Hershey Park 4 Organization and Navigation Personally, I believe that every website can make improvements to offer easier navigation from page to page. Almost every website can be confusing at times.

For example, Hershey Park s site has a tab for rides. The subcomponents for the rides tab are coasters, water rides, family rides, and kiddie rides.

5 Hershey Park 4 Organization and Navigation Personally, I believe that every website can make improvements to offer easier navigation from page to page. Almost every website can be confusing at times. Even though their tabs simplify navigation, viewers can still get confused when it comes to the actual information, or subcomponents, provided under each tab. For example, Hershey Park s site has a tab for rides. The subcomponents for the rides tab are coasters, water rides, family rides, and kiddie rides. If a customer is searching for a specific ride, they might overlook the ride by searching under the wrong subcomponent. If a visitor of the site positions their mouse over the tab, it immediately displays a drop down box of the subcomponents within that tab. By providing the drop down box, viewers can effortlessly discover all information available within the entire site. Here is a preview of the drop down box. A drop down box with subcomponents under the General Info tab In other words, this drop down box essentially makes desired information accessible with just one click. I found this one click accessibility method to be helpful when I was searching for specific information because it significantly narrowed my search options.

6 Hershey Park 5 Page Design Overall the design and arrangement of the website seems to be effective. When skimming through the different pages, the colors of fonts, backgrounds, tabs and headings all appear to be consistent. Although the home page does not include a lot of white space, the blue background is not distracting and shares the same effect that a white background would. I discovered that when you click on a subcomponent under a tab, the new page that the site takes you to contains more white space. In general I think that Hershey Park s site effectively uses the concept of white space by not overloading pages with an excess of information. Compare the home page, which was pictured on page 2, to the following subcomponent page regarding Hershey Park s hours. Notice there is a lot more white space on this page Content The content within their website was not only verifiable, but also reliable. Not once did I find an error on any page. Despite the park being closed right now, the information was still accurate and up to date. With that in mind, there is still contact

7 Hershey Park 6 information listed for potential customers to reach someone if they want to find out any extra information that is not already provided on the site. One thing that I also noticed was that all aspects of the site worked in every browser that I tested, including Mozilla, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Visuals Keeping in mind that Hershey Park is thought to be a form of entertainment, visuals are a great way to really sell the park to their customers. The home page presents a series of pictures that change every five seconds. I believe that all of the pictures are relevant and portray Hershey Park as an exciting place to visit. Also, every page that I selected had at least one picture on it. When navigating between pages, all visuals loaded extremely fast along with the information sharing the page. Even if I had never been to the park before, based on the pictures, I would assume that I would have a great time while visiting Hershey Park. Conclusion After examining Hershey Park s website in its entirety, I consider their site to be an extremely effective example within the amusement park genre. I feel as if the site is easy to navigate through considering the mass amount of information that it offers. Not only do I feel like their webpages are organized, but I also feel like their website does a good job incorporating visuals on all pages. To top it off, the content throughout their website accurately targets the intended audience. As a whole, I can undoubtedly conclude that Hershey Park s website is efficient and successful.

Reviewing and Evaluating your Website

Reviewing and Evaluating your Website Introduction In the following review, I will be evaluating the website that I have produced for my client. I will make sure I have made the website appropriate for