Do I Have the Best Website on the Planet or What? Rene Erlandson Director, Virtual Services University of Nebraska Omaha November 4, 2011 Concurrent Session 2:00-2:50 JW Jones Student Union Boardroom Rachel Erb Electronic Resources Management Librarian Colorado State University

IS Your Website the Best? Info quickly accessible? Understandable language? ILL, Catalog, Journal Useful? Attractive?

How to find out the reality?

What is a Website Usability Study? Measures user interactions with and perceptions of a website.

Website Usability Study UNO Usability Test (Core Task List) Survey Multiple Card Sorts

Usability Study Team Identify stakeholders within the Library. What roles will team members play Investigator(s), Study Session Administrators, card sort administrators, etc

IRB / IEC / ERB Does your campus have an IRB? Principal Investigator certification? Research parameters Children=18 or younger Obtain appropriate forms (exempt) Find out deadlines/when committee meets

Usability Test How often? How will data be collected? Video Screen capture In-person observer Session Administration Self-administered One-on-one Multiple people in a testing session Duration

Constructing a Core Task List: Considerations What do you hope to learn? Who uses the site? Include user group specific tasks? Who do you want to use the site? What do you want visitors to be able to do within the site?

Core Task List (cont) Tasks should bedo-able NO trick questions!!! Results should be measurable –Task: Does the library own a copy of The Iliad by Homer? Clearly defined answer = measurability

Core Task List (cont) Test instrument BEFORE submitting IRB application How long does it take to complete all tasks? »Expect in-experienced users to take longer (for purposes of estimating session length)

Study Participants How many? Identify user groups »Students »Faculty/Staff »Library student assistants »Library faculty/staff Minimum: User groups x 5 Call for participants

Usability Test Sessions Adult Consent form Self-administered Thank you

Core Task List Evaluation Define success UNO Ultimate goal = participant successfully completes each task in less than 4 steps with no frustration

UNO Survey Affiliation Participant perceptions Site usage Open ended questions

Session Slides Core Task List Instrument Core Task List Evaluation Forms Survey Instrument Adult Consent Form

Card Sort