Evaluation of UCI’s Library Website Project 3 Evaluation of UCI’s Library Website

Background New UCI Libraries website instituted in December 2015 Intent of the new design was to make it more user friendly Website largely a success w/ better retention from 20% to 80% Website simplification buried many features

Task More usability assessments Look at common uses for Libraries website Usability review Also look into the usability of more unknown functions of the library website

Thoughts Customers’ thoughts Team’s thoughts: Tests’ focuses: Many useful tools were buried too deeply website Team’s thoughts: Research on the standard uses for the website will likely reveal usability is fine Research for the less known features will likely show that people are unable to locate these features and are generally unaware of their existence Tests’ focuses: Learning whether or not these hidden features are desirable How hard it is for users to locate these tools Observing how people tackle standard uses for the website How people use the website and what for

Questionnaires and User Testing Learn what library website features people think are useful User Testing Evaluate the usability of the website in regards to navigation of it First-level pages People will find a given set of items Some easy Some difficult

Question samples Questionnaire (items will come with brief descriptions) How often do you used the library website (lib.uci.edu)? More than once a month, about 1-4 times a month...never How useful is the feature “Library Hours” to you? Rate 1-5 How useful is the feature “Catalogs(Antpac, Melvyl) to you? Rate 1-5 How useful is the feature “Research Guides” to you? Rate 1-5 User Tests Please navigate to “Find e-Journal” Please navigate to “Databases to get you started: All subjects” Please navigate to “Study Space Locator” Please navigate to the Ayala libraries hours Find out which library the book for Professor Rodriguez’s PH 2 class is at, and if it is checked out

Users 3 classifications of users for questionnaire Mostly Undergraduates Some Graduates A few professors Goal: 40+ survey responses 10+ per user type 3 classifications of users for user testing User 1: no experience with the Library website User 2: uses the site lightly for top-level information User 3: experienced with the website and knows about deeper features Goal: 20+ user tests 5+ per user type

Plan Send out surveys and perform user testing in the library Survey contents Scales from 1 to 5 asking if subjects would use certain library features User tests will answer how well the website promotes its own features Meet users in the Ayala and Langson libraries Two teams of three, one for each library Surveys and tests less than 5 minute each End on evaluation of the data

Schedule Task Team Members Finish By User Testing Preparation April 18 Task Formulation: Jeffrey, Joshua, Annie User Questionnaire: Phillip, Anthony, Gessica April 18 User Testing Team 1: Phillip, Annie, Jeffrey Team 2: Anthony, Gessica, Joshua May 9 Pre-Final Presentation All May 16 Final Project Presentation June 4