What makes a successful e-commerce website? The CNDLS staff worked with Prof. Betsy Sigman to develop a set of indicators to measure the efficacy of e-commerce sites and built Digital Discernment, an interactive online tool for evaluating e-commerce sites.

While statistics about a website's traffic or revenue are readily captured and measured, others aspects of e-commerce sites—such as navigability, content, and design—are not. Dr. Sigman wanted her students to learn how to identify and assess these essential aspects, and in doing so, comprehend the components behind effective e-commerce sites. Using Digital Discernment, students critiqued selected e-commerce sites by rating a list of indicator questions and providing written feedback to qualitative questions. After completing an evaluation, students can compare and contrast the ratings of the same site by their classmates. Engaging in this evaluation activity helps students gauge the strengths and weaknesses of sites. By the end of the semester, they design their own e-commerce sites, incorporating the insights they have gained.

After using Digital Discernment in class for a semester, Prof. Sigman turned to CNDLS for help in measuring the effectiveness of the tool itself. With their help, Prof. Sigman designed a survey to assess students' views of Digital Discernment and to identify ways to improve its implementation.

Prof. Sigman reports a tangible improvement in her classes: "Using Digital Discernment at the beginning of the course has markedly improved my students' ability to evaluate websites throughout the semester." Ultimately, Prof. Sigman hopes to incorporate a follow-up unit in which the class watches interviews she has conducted with corporate website designers in order to help her students better understand the online site design process in various business contexts.