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 to the website of the Institute for Quality research on Electronic Media (IQEM). This website gives you information about the content and the objectives of this research. By registering you get access to research material.  QUALITY Nowadays it is no longer possible to speak of communication expressions of companies and organisations without mentioning websites. However, few models and criteria are available for developing a successful website. To what extent goals are achieved is often unknown, but is probably in most cases related to the website quality. In order to conduct a structured research on the quality of websites, a quality model has been developed at the faculty of Business Administration (Bedrijfskunde) of the University of Groningen. This model gives companies and organisations the possibility to develop websites that fulfil specific quality criteria. This means websites that match a company's operations and its target group. OBJECTIVE The objective of this research is: >> To establish and to maintain quality research on electronic media. << This research is an initiative of the faculty of Business Administration of the University of Groningen and of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Urbanisation and Environment (VROM). In October 2000 the research was initiated under the project name « Website Atelier ». Since then the quality model has been defined and tested in various studies. Since May 2003 the « Website Atelier » has become part of a foundation: the Institute for Quality research on Electronic Media (IQEM). The IQEM foundation, in collaboration with the University of Groningen, will continue and develop the research activities. In the coming period, the model and the measurement instruments will be further developed. The quality measurements will be either performed at request or at own initiative. THE RESEARCH A number of factors can be identified in order to understand why the use of Internet may miss its goal. Websites present an additional factor of complexity that is hardly relevant for traditional media: interactivity. Besides, the influence of a website is broader than the one of traditional media: Internet applications are often fully integrated in business processes. Helpdesk, various types of services, order processing and payments can be handled via Internet. Website quality does not only mean considering marketing and communication activities of an organisation but also the front office of the sales department and the financial administration for instance. The research model analyses the website quality from three different angles: - from the angle of the organisation offering the website - from the angle of the Internet user visiting the website - from the angle of the website developer's working method In the developed model the quality concept is based on various aspects. Amongst them, content, form and technique represent the essential ones. The combination of these three aspects matters to realise objectives. Besides, one can talk about a « good website » while goals are actually not achieved because of a poorly defined target. The visitor, the customer, plays a decisive role indeed. For this reason, the interaction between the system and the user will be considered from the user's point of view. TO REGISTER For more information about IQEM please register as participant. You will receive a login and a password as well as the possibility to make use of the research material, the publications and the models. We would also like to ask you to contribute to our scientific research. If you would like to share your ideas about the quality of websites and if you wish to benefit from the gathered expertise: you can register here as participant. |
