Smart art
and Visio
I used smart art as one of the tools to design the site map
to create the website. Smart art makes it very easy to create business diagrams
that display information in an easy and understanding format. I could easily
grab a box and put it in the diagram showing the user how and where the pages
linked together.
One of the disadvantages of smart art is that it can get a
bit messy and confusing. My word processed site map looked so confusing and I
think if someone else was to look at it they wouldn’t know where to start. I
could have used different colour to make it stand out and also change the font
size and box sizes. Unlike my site map on Visio which is clearly visible to
everyone and easily understandable.
Smart art has many different layouts such as charts to step
by step processes, I used the hierarchy layout because it was going to show how
each page on the website linked together. If you don’t know how to one of the layouts
there are step by step in a sequential process to provide help to the users.
The hierarchy group contains organisation charts and table hierarchies. You
don’t have to use the shape selected and can change it if you want. This is a
good advantage as I could change the layout later without losing any of my
work.
To create a smart art diagram you simply have to first open Word 2007, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007 and Outlook
2007, then click the insert tab and select smart art icon in the illustration
group. When you choice which of the following smart art graphic you wish to
use. And in this case it’s the hierarchy diagram.
I also used Visio to design my website sitemap. Visio is a
great program for making flow charts, sitemaps, websites or wireframes for
software programs. This program was very
easy to design the boxes and connecting the lines to the boxes was much easier
than on smart art. When linking the boxes makes it very easy to move the box
and also the lines as the will be connected together. It’s much faster to draw
diagrams in Visio than in word smart art.
I think if I was to draw my final site map it will be on Visio
and I might also you Visio for my wireframes.
On the other hand smart art can be better presented as you
can add nice shadowing and effects such as 3D shapes. On smart art you can also
had colour which makes it stand out and the user can tell the different between
hierarchies or the matrix site maps.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/create-a-smartart-graphic-HA001205867.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visio
