Creating Héloïse Yoga's Website: Purpose, Planning and Probable Users

The idea for this website started with my own frustration at being able to find local information on classes and a network to tap into to discuss and learn more about yoga. There are many U.S. yoga websites that do this, but it seems to be rather lacking in the U.K.

The purpose of this website is primarily to provide information and create a central resource around which a community can grow. Like-minded individuals can use this website to find out more about types of yoga practice, the health benefits and other places to look for information, as well as engage in forum discussions and share ideas.

This website should appeal to the beginner, so it should not be too intimidating by using too much yoga jargon. All yoga jargon will be hyperlinked to direct the user to the Yoga Wiki for more information and a definition. The website should also be useful for the more experienced yoga-goer, who perhaps wants more access more information and to meet like-minded people.

As I would consider myself as part of the "user community" this website is targeted at, I feel confident that this website would meet the needs of other users, but to ensure this, I developed three different user personas and created scenarios, which I then used to test the website and re-test after each major website alteration. The three persona types are:

The beginner - Jo doesn't know much about yoga, but has heard that it can improve mental health, as well as being good physically for you. He wants to know more about yoga and perhaps find a beginners' class to try.

The novice - Rue has been practising yoga regularly for the last 3 years and takes a class once a week. She is looking for another class closer to home, as well as some ways she can practice yoga easily at home.

The yogi - Alison has been practising yoga for 12 years and has qualified to teach kundalini yoga. She is looking for a social network and website she can engage in to advertise her own classes, as well as get involved in discussions about the benefits of yoga.

Considering the users and purpose, I began planning how the website would look. I created a plan of what I wanted to include in my website and then tried to find a layout on Webnode which suited as well as adhered to my aesthetic ideal of a clean and clear website:

As I started to build this website, my plan evolved as I noticed I had missed out some crucial aspects such as a classes detail page for beginners and a booking form. It might have been advisable to have more than myself and one other person to look at the design at planning stage. That being said, I have gone on to test the usability and functionality of the actual website with a broader audience and modified the webpage to encompass the feedback.