Second blog: Research

I had a productive week in terms of research. I got loads of information about panic attacks online and in books. Two sites in particular helped me so much. I contacted both of them and they seemed interested in helping me in any way they can. They also gave me permission to use any of their information from the site in my project. So I am currently compiling my information.

Another thing I've been thinking a lot about is the design of the website and how the user will navigate through the site. I found this site - http://www.truthaboutsmart.co.uk/ and I think that this is the type of thing I want to produce. I like the idea of having two ways for the user to navigate through the site. The would have the option to either follow the steps or to navigate freely.

I have also been thinking about what pages the website would contain. I am thinking that there will be a:

• Home: This will give an introduction to the website. It will give information about each feature contained on the site and information about becoming a member.
  

• Test: This page will contain information about panic attacks. The user will complete a short test which will determine whether or not they have experienced a panic attack. This page will then tell the user if they are a 'panicer' or a 'non-panicer'. The navigation of the site will change at this point. If the user is a panicer the test results (ie- what symptoms they experienced) will be passed on to the 'Symptoms' pages. So basically the site will try to help them deal with their specific symptoms. If the user is a non-panicer, the site won't have any information to carry onto the next page so they user will be in charge of the navigation and will be able to access any information desired on symptoms

• See: This is the physical symptoms page. It will give videos, audio, text and images on each of the symptoms. The layout of the page will be determined by the previous test page. I have an idea of what I would like this page to look like.
  

• Feel: This is the thought process page. It will be the same as the 'See' page but contain information about the mental symptoms of panic attacks.
  

• Calm: This page will contain information on how to calm down, breathing techniques. etc. It will also contain downloadable podcasts.

• myProfile: This section will allow the user to login to the website, create a profile, upload video, audio, image and text.