U. previews new Web page

The new site, which will become the University's default homepage, maintains much of the same content as the current site. Users will still be able to access all of the same features -- including the University directories, Penn InTouch, Arts and Culture and Campus Life -- from the Web site. One major change, though, is a more comprehensive, interactive daily calendar that will list campus-wide events. Jointly developed by the Office of Information Systems and Computing and the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, the calendar enables users to search events by category and school. Groups will have the option to submit their events and other news will be taken directly from University publications. A scrolling list of the day's events is located near the top of the screen, while headlines describing the University's top news are available on the site as well. Administrators emphasized the new site's more user-friendly design. "The Penn Web site shouldn't require you to have the fastest machine with the latest bells and whistles on it," Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing James O'Donnell said. In addition, the Web site will link to a page, http://www.upenn.edu/philly, that updates students about weekend events in Philadelphia. "Part of it is saying there's more to do at Penn than go out and get blitzed every Friday night," O'Donnell said. The new site also differs in design from the current one, with red and blue print and a white background replacing the former red print and blue background. A large blue "University of Pennsylvania" banner is located at the top of the screen, and a text-only option is available at the top left-hand corner of the screen. According to Randall Couch, the manager of communications for the ISC communications group, the site's designers worked to convey as much information as possible while creating an easily navigable, accessible Web site. "It's a design challenge that exists for every good Web site," he said. "No two users will ever find the same balance to be optimal for them." Created by the Penn Web team -- a cross-organizational group consisting of representatives from every academic and administrative unit on campus -- the University's home on the Web was redesigned once before, in the fall of 1997, after having been first put online about 3 1/2 years ago. The site can be previewed at http://www-preview.upenn.edu until it officially debuts in a few weeks. Though most Penn students have not yet seen the new design, two in particular expressed differing views about the page. College senior Joyeeta Dutta, for instance, said that while she appreciates the effort of the page's designers, she found it altogether "not visually pleasing." "I don't think they did a good job of planning the look and feel of it," she said. But College junior Sung Choi said he considered the new design more navigable and easy to use. "In terms of simplicity, I like the new one better. It's a lot simpler and it looks cleaner," Choi said.