Usability is Focus of New United Way Website

ICITA creates and launches a user-friendly web site for Mile High United Way.

Boulder, CO - October 29, 2003 - iCita (pronounced eye-SEE-ta) and Mile High United Way joined forces in late July to produce a comprehensive web site utilizing techniques and processes to providing a strong usability focus. iCita used current usability studies showing the effectiveness of navigation elements and content placement to form the initial site intentions. ICita then used additional research conducted by Mile High United Way to construct an effective visual design. By combining the depth of knowledge of both organizations, iCita was able to produce a quality site design.

According to ISO 9241 (Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals) usability is "The effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals." It also reduces errors, and leads to more effective and efficient user activity. Mile High United Way and iCita started by defining end-users of the new web site, what sort of technology they would be using the access the site and, most importantly, what information they would need to access. Both organizations were very happy with the end result and the new site continues to increase in usage each week since it was launched in early September.

Mile High United Way is a Denver institution raising more than $30 million dollars each year and helping countless organizations and individuals better themselves and their environments. The first United Way was founded right here in Denver, Colorado by a group of visionaries: a woman and five clergymen who believed there must be a better way to meet the needs of local people. On October 16, 1887, this group created the Charity Organizations Society, the first association set up to meet community needs by funding many charities while significantly reducing the number of appeals. It started the United Way model of using organized teams of workers to solicit employees in a variety of different businesses. The Mile High United Way web site can be found at http://www.unitedwaydenver.org.

ICita was founded in 2001 with a mission to assist in developing strategic Internet solutions for small- to mid-sized companies, helping them to increase revenue, exposure at the same time cutting costs. The company designs and builds Internet applications ranging from mid-sized business web sites to virtual document storage systems. iCita maintains a web site at http://www.icita.net where interested parties can find a range of products and services geared to managing the increasing knowledge explosion of Internet technologies.

iCita Contact: Thomas Smidt, President
303.651.7802
tom@icita.net