Amstat Online's New Look and Feel
Brian Yandell, Editor
Welcome to the new look and feel of Amstat Online! We have been
rebuilding our electronic presence from the ground up in response to
feedback from ASA members and staff.
Why redesign the home page? Who did
this anyway? Why did it take so long?
We needed a new design for several reasons. The previous design was
difficult to modify without great expense, and we wished to
improve navigation, attractiveness, and integrity of our
pages. Further, we wanted to streamline maintenance, use Web safe
colors and ease future redesign efforts. We strived to reflect
the needs and wishes of members (student, long-term, new, and
potential), students and their teachers (graduate, undergraduate,
K-12), ASA staff, the general public, and the news media.
Members (notably John McKenzie) wanted to easily find Chapters,
Committees, and Sections, the chief operating units of our
association. Now those are displayed boldly across the top of the
page. Members and staff demanded clearer navigation to key areas of our
site. The links on the left side of the page, along with popup
submenus and the hierarchical "Jump to:" menu, may provide ready
access to most of your needs. Hopefully the newly designed Site Map or
expanded Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) can help with further
inquiries. If we have STILL missed something crucial,
let us know--we can now quickly improve the site.
This process took some time because it involved so many
people, with members offering helpful suggestions since I became
Editor in 1999. The redesign began in earnest during my Fall 2000 visit to
ASA, when a team of enthusiastic ASA staff emerged, including Megan
Murphy, Megan Kruse, Amy Farris, Tim Gill and Carol Edwards, advised
by myself and Mary Fleming. Initial designs, with creative assistance from
Vicente Martinez, were critiqued internally in early 2001. Later in
the Spring, the new WebMaster, Ryan Bell, recrafted these pages into
several prototypes for the present design. Notable technical
assistance from Mark Hansen (Chair of Statistical Computing Section)
improved cross-platform and cross-browser compatibility.
These prototypes endured extensive review by ASA staff and by
representatives of the ASA Board of Directors, Council of Sections,
Council of Chapters, Electronic Communications Committee, and the
Editorial Board of Amstat Online. The site was previewed at JSM 2001
in Atlanta in August.
As I write this, Ryan Bell is rebuilding the entire web site from
scratch. He is weeding out dead pages and broken links as he
incorporates the new design. Amy Farris and others are thinking hard
about navigation with our entire audience in mind. Meanwhile, others
are redesigning the education pages (Bill Duckworth, Madge Haven),
section pages (Tom Devlin, Amy Jin) and chapter pages (David Hunt,
Robin Smith, Bob Newcomb). You should already know about the new
Career Center (Tony Olsen, Megan Kruse; see September Amstat
News) and the expanded features of Committee pages (Tom Boardman,
Tim Gill).
More is on the horizon. As you know, JSM 2001 proceedings will be
electronic (as a CD), and ASA journals are coming online (watch
upcoming Amstat News for an article). Discussions are evolving
about the electronic options for Section and Chapter
newsletters. Other, more interactive, forms of member-to-member
communication are emerging. If you want to become involved in these
activities, wander around our Web pages and contact us. We'd be happy
to have you join in.
American Statistical Association
1429 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3415, USA
Phone: (703) 684-1221
Toll-free: (888) 231-3473
Fax: (703)684-2037
