neeshub – final recommendations

Team 02 Omid Farivar | Evan Kerrigan | Benjamin Nayer

Agenda

1.  Introducing NEEShub 2.  Methods Employed

3.  PrioriGzed Findings & RecommendaGons

4.  Summary

ABOUT NEESHUB

What is NEES? •  Network for Earthquake Engineering

SimulaGon is an NSF-‐funded research organizaGon

•  Serves as a network to coordinate and share data and research among earthquake, civil, and structural engineers and 14 different laboratories throughout the U.S.

•  Offers mulGple services including NEEShub, which is our focus

NEEShub? Project Warehouse? •  Suite of soTware and tools to store, share,

and analyze data—tailored to the needs of the NEES community

•  At its heart is the “Project Warehouse,” which serves as the repository for uploading, managing, and sharing research data

•  Also offers an array of tools for visualizing and analyzing data outside of the Project Warehouse

USER ARCHETYPES

Meet Dr. Hank Bryant

•  Professor at UCSD

•  Infrequent NEEShub & Project Warehouse user

•  More involved with researching than managing data

Meet Natalie Winkler

•  Graduate student

•  Frequent NEEShub & Project Warehouse user

•  More involved with uploading and managing data

METHODS

Methods 1.  Interviews

3 interviews (2 PhDs, 1 Prof.) resulGng in personas

2.  ComparaGve EvaluaGon 7 total sites

3.  HeurisGc EvaluaGon 3 Evaluators, 55 Total Findings

4.  Survey 30 Complete Responses

5.  Usability TesGng 5 users; 2 in-‐person tests & 3 remote tests

PRIORITIZED FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS

PrioriKzed Findings & RecommendaKons

1.  Search & Browsing FuncGonality

2.  DocumentaGon & Help

3.  Management of Files & Data

4.  Project Warehouse File Browser

Finding 01: Search & Browsing FuncKonality in the Project Warehouse

•  During interviews, users reported that searching and browsing through data in the Project Warehouse were challenging: “Other researchers have just called me to request the data…it’s easier to have a conversa5on than find it through NEES.”


•  Site-‐wide search doesn’t match user expectaGons: usability test subjects were frustrated that project and experiment data did not appear in its search results—separate “project search” box does, however…


•  There were bright spots: one usability test subject thought the automaGcally provided subject tags would be helpful in structuring queries

RecommendaKon 01: MulK-‐pronged approach

•  Return project and experiment data in site-‐wide search results or noGfy users that these data are not included

•  Improve training for users on how to navigate Project Warehouse data

•  Conduct further, deeper study on user’s behavior within the system’s file browser

Finding 02: Help DocumentaKon in the Project Warehouse

•  NEEShub has done some good work providing contextual help, parGcularly when compleGng online forms

Finding 02: Help DocumentaKon in the Project Warehouse

•  Usability test subjects and survey respondents liked that the help documentaGon was made available, but were oTen unable to find what they were seeking

•  “There should be a ‘Quick Start Guide’ or something for newbies…”

RecommendaKon 02: Design Changes & Further Analysis Required

•  Perform audits of help resource contents as well as further, deeper invesGgaGons on usage –  A/B TesGng

–  AnalyGcs

•  Make the “Quick Start Guide” more visually prominent and consider offering a virtual “guided tour” on first login

Finding 03: File & Data Management in the Project Warehouse •  User interviews revealed that the data

upload process is confusing, parGcularly regarding file types

•  HeurisGc evaluaGon supported this as well –  Inconsistent documentaGon on acceptable file types

–  Unhelpful error responses for wrong file types

–  DocumentaGon for data & file formats are not proximal

RecommendaKon 03: Prevent errors & Provide helpful documentaKon

•  Provide clear, consistent, contextual help and documentaGon for file uploads

•  Validate file formats during file upload

•  Provide clearer, more accurate error messages with clear acGons for the user to take

Finding 04: File Browser Usage in the Project Warehouse •  HeurisGc evaluaGon revealed a major issue:

some directories with 10+ GB data appear to be empty upon access—what happened? –  Is the data gone?

–  Has an error has occurred?

–  Do I have insufficient privileges?

–  Is the system sGll loading?

–  Something else?

RecommendaKon 04: Provide accurate & appropriate noKficaKon of system status

•  If the directory sizes are incorrect, provide correct labels

•  If the system needs addiGonal to load the view, provide users with a status indicator such as a spinner to inform them as such

•  Offer helpful error noGficaGons (e.g., “You do not have permission to view these data”)

Photo source: Panic – hmp://panic.com/goods/

WRAPPING UP

Summary

•  We have covered four primary areas for usability improvements –  Search funcGonality

–  Help & documentaGon resources

–  File & data management

–  File browsing

Summary

•  NEEShub development team has addressed a number of usability issues that match those from our observaGons and analyses

•  We believe that addressing the four issues outlined today will improve usability and user saGsfacGon

THANKS!