SpunOut.ie Blog

December, 2006

What YOU said!

Results of the independent SpunOut.ie evaluation.

Article by : SpunOut.ie

What’s this all about?

 

SpunOut.ie was independently evaluated because we wanted to know YOUR opinion of the website. We want to ensure that SpunOut.ie remains youth-led, funky, innovative and meets the needs of young people. So, we asked SpunOut.ie users to take part in a month long online evaluation of the website.

 

The Health Promotion Research Centre, NUIG and the HSE West carried out the evaluation. 

 

What were the key results of the evaluation?

 

  • 89 people completed the questionnaire: 46 male and 43 female.
  • The majority of the participants (48.2%) were aged 16-19.
  • Most of the participants were from Ireland (80.7%).
  • Over half of the participants were visiting SpunOut.ie for the first time, whilst 15.7% visit the website every day.
  • Over half of the participants said SpunOut.ie has most of the information the want to know whilst a further 40.4% said SpunOut.ie has all the info the want to know.
  • Over half of the participants agree (and 38.2% strongly agree) that SpunOut.ie provides information on a wide range of health matters and other topics of interest to young people.
  • Over 90% of participants agree that the content of the website is youth friendly.
  • Over 80% of participants agree that the content is easy to understand.
  • Over 80% of participants agree that SpunOut.ie gives them an opportunity to freely discuss topics of interest to them.
  • 68.5% agree that SpunOut.ie encourages users to participate and become involved with the website.
  • 84.2% agree that the contacts provided by the website encourage young people to seek further information, support or help if needed.
  • 69.7% agree that the website has made them more aware of health, environmental, community and social issues and has inspired them to become more involved.
  • 44.9% agree and 37.1% strongly agree that the website is well designed and laid out.
  • 76.4% agree that it is easy to find your way around the website.
  • The majority of participants found out about SpunOut.ie from school, a friend or from promotional leaflets and flyers.
  • The majority of participants access SpunOut.ie at home or in school.
  • 91% of participants said they would recommend SpunOut.ie to a friend.

 

Why you visit SpunOut.ie:

33.7% - For more information.

27.0% - For entertainment/browsing.

23.6% - To get involved.

 

How you rated SpunOut.ie:

 

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being poor and 10 being excellent, the majority of participants (24.7%) rated the website 9, whilst 15.7% rated the website as 10 and 23.6% rated the website as 8.

 

Your ideas on how to improve SpunOut.ie:

 

  • More fun and entertainment.
  • More info on topics such as transport, sport, music, personal development, fashion, local areas, relationships, normal teen matters, work, exams and studying.
  • Improve the general layout of the website.
  • Improve presentation.
  • Make the website brighter.
  • Improve the homepage of SpunOut.ie.
  • Have more competitions and student opinions.
  • Improve the navigation.
  • Have a chat room.
  • Improve the discussion forums.
  • Have music to listen to.
  • Link in with other youth websites.
  • Have more stuff from readers.

 

What WE will do following the evaluation:

                   

·         BIG DESIGN REVAMP: We will be re-designing SpunOut.ie and improving the website navigation. We will ensure that young people are involved at every stage of the design revamp.

 

·         MORE INFORMATION: New factsheets will be developed on a range of topics. Since the evaluation, many new factsheets have already went online including further information on exams, school, university and college, healthy eating, getting fit, sexuality, travel, personal development, drugs, alcohol, sexual health and mental health.

 

·         YOUTH VOICE: We will continue to publish youth contributions online and to encourage young people to have a voice as contributors, editors and discussion board users.

 

·         YOUTH LED: We have increased the number of Youth Editors to 15 young people. The Youth Editorial Board is responsible for ensuring that SpunOut.ie remains youth-led, funky, innovative and relevant to the needs of young people.

 

·         CONTINUED EVALUATION: Evaluation will be ongoing and integral to the development of SpunOut.ie including a permanent online questionnaire, online focus groups with young people, hit monitoring, feedback forms and further independent evaluations.

 

Competition winners!

 

Participants in the evaluation were automatically entered into a competition for one Samsung ‘Digimax’ digital camera and 20 prizes of €10 mobile phone credit. We will be texting the prizewinners in the coming weeks and letting you know who got lucky!

 

Want to have your say now?

 

You can still let us know what you think of SpunOut.ie by filling out the online questionnaire here.

 

Want to get more involved with SpunOut.ie?

 

Express your interest by filling in the Get Involved form.