Wirth says she learned a lot by working on Brainsurf, especially about what she'd do differently. One hard lesson was the need to update the content regularly. Brainsurf rolled out in 1997 in conjunction with Brain Awareness Week. The team planned to update the site regularly, but they didn't have the funding to keep it current. Successful Web sites engage kids, hold their attention, and bring them back again and again.
Kids get bored if they keep coming back to a site and it never changes.
For high school students, it's important to update material to keep up with the latest trends, Wirth says. I like it when the layout doesn't change very often, because I want to be efficient. But kids are not as goal-oriented as adults. They want to be entertained. That doesn't mean reinventing the wheel every time you update your site.