Having experienced personal reactions, both positive and negative, to graphics used on websites, and excellent or abysmal web design, I have become interested in the effects of graphics and web design on large groups of people. A graphic that I find displeasing, my brother may find delightful, and my friend prefers graphics that differ entirely from those I or my brother would choose. Web design features appeal to different groups of people as well.  For this reason, I wish to better understand how to tailor a website to appeal to a target audience or to design a website that most people will find attractive.
Undertaking a subject search and completing a citation trace had proved helpful. Not only did this project provide me with additional sources, these new articles include insights that supplement the knowledge I have uncovered so far.
Subject search:
What databases did you use?
ProQuest was my database of choice for this project because of the ease of navigation (enabled by the database’s design).
What source, identified with a full APA citation, led you to a subject term to use?
Yang, X., Ahmed, Z. U., Ghingold, M., Goh, S. B., & al, e. (2003). Consumer preferences for commercial Web site design: An Asia-Pacific perspective. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20(1), 10-27. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.fhsu.edu:2048/10.1108/07363760310456928
The subject term I derived from this source is “ Web site design”.
How many new sources did you find?
The search revealed 722 results when I filtered to omit all but full-text and peer-reviewed articles.
 
Citation trace:

• What database did you use?

I continued searching with ProQuest because I generally find more articles with this database than with others.

• What source, identified with a full APA citation, did you trace? (It must be a different source than the one used in the subject search.)

Chow, A. S., McCarthy Smith, K. (2012). Youth as design partners: age-appropriate websites for middle and high school students. Educational Technology & Society. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.fhsu.edu/docview/1314327385/BADAA4A1B71E44EEPQ/1?accountid=27424

• How many sources cited it?

4 sources cited the Chow and McCarthy Smith article. Interestingly, the topics included in these sources vary greatly from the focus of the original article:

• A Bayesian network approach to juxtapose brand engagement and behaviors of substantive interest in e-services
• Helping adolescents to better support their peers with a mental health problem: A cluster-randomized crossover trial of teen Mental Health First Aid,
• Development of a teen-friendly health education program on Facebook: Lessons learned
• Development and Usability Testing of a Facebook-based Obesity Prevention Program for Korean American Adolescents
  • How many sources did it cite?

The original articles referred to 47 other articles, dating from 1996 to 2011. Two articles appear particularly interesting:

• Prioritizing Web Usability by J. Nielsen and H. Loranger,
• Building Virtual Spaces for Children in the Digital Branch by M. DuBroy.