Abstract

A Case Study
•. Summary.of.the.second.focus.group.discussion:.The overall perception of
the Web site was extremely positive: one participant said, “I’m speechless,
the site is just great! I have never seen anything like this before.” Participants
felt that the site was very informative and extensive.
Several participants asked about the marketing strategy for the Web site. We
then distributed a few copies of the full-color postcard we designed to announce
the Web site. We explained that our goal was to distribute 4,000 copies of the
postcard to Somali community organizations, restaurants, and shops.
Participants offered several suggestions for improving the content of the Web
site. First, several of them indicated that they would like to see more images
in several of the content areas. For instance, on the page about education, an
image of a student in a graduation gown would be helpful. This addition would
enhance a viewer’s understanding of the content, as would a photo gallery
featuring various Somali festivals or events. Second, one subject suggested
that the color of the Somali and English text differ from each other to further
distinguish the two languages. Third, two participants suggested placing more
links to other international Web sites targeted at the Somali population.
Accuracy of translation seems to be a major problem. Most participants indicated
that more editing needed to be done. It is important to note that translation
from English to Somali is very time-consuming: it takes 3 to 4 hours to
translate a single page of words of English into Somali.
Web.Site.Marketing
The Somali Resource was officially launched with the initial distribution of 4,000
printed postcards to the Somali community in the Twin Cities (see Figure 5). The
Figure 5. The two-sided postcard to announce the Web site
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