library website usability evaluation

Sharon Harper - User Experience Specialist

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I need

vs.

we have

02/17/12Sharon Harper - User Experience

Specialist2

“Just because we build it, doesn’t mean they will come” – Sharon Harper

Kent State Library Website User Experience Evaluation

Student Type Age Gender Site Usage

Undergraduate 3 18-25 4 Women 8 Daily 1

Graduate 6 26-39 5 Men 3 Bi-Weekly 2

International Graduate

2 40-59 1 Weekly 5

60-74 1Bi-monthly. 2

Once a semester 1

TOTAL (participants)

11 11 11 11


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• Task-based

Approach

• Think-aloud

• Self-reporting

• Heuristics

Why do students visit the Library Website ?


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“Too much!!”…Weak…”I don’t like this Website – It’s hard to use!” “learning where all the tabs are”

“too many options”


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The younger the participant, the more negative

towards library site.

International students like the library site but

struggle.


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http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/ux-methods.php

UPA Biennial Review

http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/ux-methods.php

Audio & Video

Keystroke

Time on Task

Path

ClicksSelf-reporting surveys


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Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them. ~ Alan Watts


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Results


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Results


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Competitive Analysis


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Navigation

Search Functionality spelling

you mean?

relevance

“What do you like about other site?”

Personalization

Lessons

• Excited to see Google although they had not ‘seen’ it


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Alignment

Elements should

line up evenly to

create sense of

unity and cohesion,

enforce relatedness


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Interface challenges

• Annoyed at multiple logins during library web site searches

• Mini-guides? & Subject Guides? – consistent terminology is essential

• Lose credibility by including page revised date, when the dates are months or years old

• Avoided side and bottom of page - Banner Avoidance


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Avoid Complexity & Redundancy

• Complexity and Redundancy


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Summary• In general, tasks finding the Hours of a branch library, an article, and a

specific journal were successful.

• Like the physical librarian and online chat

• Specifically finding how to ‘obtain’ that article and find an E-book was very challenging.

• Identifying and finding Services was a failure.

• Finding help via a research consultation or Liaison Librarian also failed.


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Recommendation

Write for the Web Biology Links from Harvard University


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Recommendation

Terminology


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• Changing communication models, information noise, and advanced search algorithms all change what users expect

• Pressure vendors of search interface and database interfaces to improve their products. End multiple logins.

• Personalize


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This work was well received at a academic librarian conference in China

Ease of UseInformation DesignInformation Architecture


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We know what they need

But…….that’s

Not what users want

Want easy to obtain information

User Experience (UX) Elements

Ease of UseInformation DesignInformation Architecture


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Mental Models


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I visit a forest. With me are four friends: an entomologist, a logger, a civil engineer and an ethnographer.

The entomologist examines the insects hiding in the cracks of trees’ bark and under fallen leaves. He starts to tell everyone about each kind of insect he discovers.

The logger is not listening because he is mentally estimating the commercial value of the trees in front of him.

The civil engineer is calculating the elevation, slopes and the flow rate and drop of a nearby small waterfall. He wanted to estimate how many kilowatts a micro-hydro power generator could produce from the waterfall.

The ethnographer was disappointed. She could not find anything interesting in the forest so she just observed the behavior of her companions and asked them a few questions.

Author of Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning

Organization

Peter Senge says:

“The discipline of working with mental models starts with turning the mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny. It also includes the ability to carry on ‘learningful’ conversations that balance inquiry and advocacy, where people expose their own thinking effectively and make that thinking open to the influence of others.”


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Heuristic review


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Rating Comment Orientation Is the function of the main navigation clear? Navigation Navigation links behave consistently Labeling Systems Navigation options are quickly scanable Browser Human-readable URL Nielsen Heuristic Checklist If site supports multiple languages, navigation is flexible enough to support translations

Visual Design Sufficient amount of white space Interaction

Information Architecture


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the structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content (Rosenfeld

& Morville, 2002)

Information Design

ChunkingAvoid DissonanceAesthetic-Usability EffectAlignmentHierarchy


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http://www.w3.org/WAI/demos/bad/draft/2009/before/survey/

http://www.w3.org/WAI/demos/bad/draft/2009/after/survey/

Accessibility

Perceptibility

Operability

Simplicity

Forgiveness

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

http://www.w3.org/WAI/demos/bad/draft/2009/before/survey/

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

User Research

• Plan

• Identify & Prioritize Goals

• Budget

• Schedule


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Task S ucces s

Time on Task

ErrorsComparative Competitive

Analys is

Web Analytics

S urveysCard-

S orting

Complete Transaction

CompareProducts

E valuate use

of S am e

Prod uct

E valuate

Navigation

& IA

D is cove r

Proble m s

E valuate

S m all

C hange s

C om pare

Prototype s

Challenges & Opportunities

• Design for positive (user) experience

• Credibility – whether users trust or believe

• International User Interface

• Dynamic interface


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Credibility

Librarian

Authority

Classification

Users

Aesthetics

Usability


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User-Centered Design http://www.usability.gov/methods/process.html


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http://www.usability.gov/methods/process.html

I speak with the voice of the User and the Library Scientist


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UXmattershttp://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/12/conference-review-2011-upa-international-conference.php

Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/sharper98/statistical-user-experience-measurement-1

http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/12/conference-review-2011-upa-international-conference.php

http://www.slideshare.net/sharper98/statistical-user-experience-measurement-1

http://www.slideshare.net/sharper98/statistical-user-experience-measurement-1

library website usability evaluation

Documents