BetterWorldBooks.com Expert Review Prepared by: Andrew Dubois, Monique Horton, & Karen Purcell Prepared for: Eddie Porrello, Better World Books

Expert Review Overview Executive Summary Persona Heuristics Testing Methodology Testing Screen Shots Testing Summaries Major Issues Conclusions Next Step

Executive Summary Three experts review BetterWorldBooks.com Quesenbery 5Es – Efficient, Effective, Engaging, Error Tolerant, Easy to Learn Persona – Alex Parker – 20 years old, cost conscious, college student Goals – Search for books, sell a textbook, purchase eBook Findings - Search (ISBN, title, and author) and the compare price tasks are usable EBook purchase process has too many steps and required accounts Extra steps to textbook buyback No comparison of purchase and buyback prices on same page Unable to SEARCH by publication date SEARCH by other than ISBN, author, title does not provide consistent (genre, publisher, etc.) results Next Step – Use findings to develop test plan for real users

20 years old Full time college student Part time Target employee Technical Communications major (probably) Dating girlfriend for a year Middle-class up-bringing Parents are paying his tuition with the help of loans Alex Parker

3 Experts Using Quesenbery’s 5Es Heuristic Effective - Can I complete my goal? Efficient – Can I do it quickly? Engaging – Do I like it? Error Tolerant – Can I do it correctly? Easy to Learn – Can I do it correctly the first time?

Goals and Tasks for Alex Goal #1 - Purchase the textbook "Grammar Girl" for an English class * Task #1 - Search by ISBN ( /1) * Task #2 - Search by Author (Mignon Fogarty) Goal #2 - Purchase the fiction book “A Dance With Dragons" by George R. R. Martin * Task #3 - Search by genre (fantasy) * Task #4 - Find hardcover version of book to purchase Goal #3 - Search for the manga “Gantz” * Task #5 - Search by publisher (Dark Horse Manga) * Task #6 - Compare the prices between new and used copies Goal #4 - Sell the copy of the textbook “Usability Testing Essentials” * Task #7 - Go through process of selling textbook (up to confirm) * Task #8 - Locate / compare prices of purchase vs. buyback Goal #5 - Purchase eBooks * Task #9 - Purchase a book about technology for less than $10 * Task #10 - Purchase a book about graphical design with a published date of

Methodology using Quesenbery’s 5Es We individually rated each task relative to the 5Es according to the following severity scale: No Problems Low: Issues would not impact Alex's ability to complete task. Medium: Issues that would impact Alex but not keep him from completing the task. For example – requiring extra steps High: Issues that would prevent Alex from completing the task. The team discussed each member’s findings for each task and reached an agreement on the severity rating. The findings from the evaluation are highlighted in a series of slides as well as summary tables.

Easy to find SEARCH Too many choices in bar

Successful SEARCH Useless error message

Easy to SEARCH by Title or Author or ISBN Easy to find Hardcover and Paperback Easy to find prices Easy to order No fantasy category

Arrow takes you to a book page, not continuation of list Books in order by popularity or prices. Only found 3 pages of results with search. Website has many more.

Unclear message after entering ISBN Don’t enter ISBN here Enter ISBN Here Good example ISBN

Lots of extra steps such as selecting literacy partner and payment type Error message 10 minute buyback offer Clear offer and button to “Sell”

Too many steps! Does not support Nook or Kindle Clear instructions that work

Get Adobe Digital Download Book Clear summary of purchase

TaskEfficientEffectiveEngaging Error Tolerant Easy to Learn Severity 1 - Search by ISBN Book available New/used prices both visible Acceptable, but not “fun” Other search methods available Excellent instructions Low 2 - Search by author’s name, Mignon Fogarty Names not in alphabetical order Book found Misspellings and lack of sorting No errors Search tools were easy to use Medium 3 - Search by genre (fantasy) Fantasy is not a listed “Popular Category” Too many subgenres of fantasy confuses user Confuses and bores user No errors found in search Once realized it was under Science Fiction, was easy to find Medium 4 - Find hardcover version YesSimple process to complete Site offered other books that Alex may enjoy No errorsTask was easy to complete None Search Results Summary

5 - Search by publisher (Dark Horse Manga) “Dark Horse Manga”(3 pages of results) “Dark Horse Comics”(245 pages of results) and “Manga”(394 pages of results) Results sorted by popularity or price. Final page(arrow to go to next page) was not a search page Too frustrating to find a book in this manner Does not have messages about SEARCH by publisher Try a different way to find book Medium 6 - Compare the prices between new and used copies Easy to compare prices between copies Easy to compare prices Finding best deals engages the user No errorsProcess was easy to follow None TaskEfficientEffectiveEngagingError Tolerant Easy to Learn Severity Search by Publisher and New vs. Used Results Summary

TaskEfficientEffectiveEngagingError Tolerant Easy to Learn Severity Selling Textbook Results Summary 7 – Sell textbookYes Extra steps of choosing Literacy Partner and checking payment methods. 10 minutes to confirm offer. No final confirmation page presented once order is finalized Terms and conditions at top Medium 8 -Locate and compare the prices of purchasing the book and buying the book back Both prices not shown on same page Alex required to make sure comparing same book Both prices not shown on same page Medium

9- Purchase eBook about technology that is less than $10 eBook download process requires too many steps Process works Purchased more expensive book to find desired title Process requires following multi-step instructions Reminders about e- book rules No returns for e-books eBook download process requires following multi-step instructions High 10- Purchase Graphical Design eBook published date of Publication date search not available Can find book and then check publication date Takes longer than expected Publication date search not available Uses “year” entered in SEARCH as keyword for title Requires checking date for each book Medium TaskEfficientEffectiveEngagingError Tolerant Easy to Learn Severity E-book Results Summary

Major Issues High Severity eBook purchase process has too many steps and required accounts NOT efficient, engaging, error tolerant, or easy to learn. Medium Severity Extra steps to textbook buyback (literacy partners, drop downs to see different payment formats) NOT engaging, error tolerant or easy to learn. No comparison of purchase and buyback prices on same page NOT effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant, or easy to learn. Unable to SEARCH by publication date NOT effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant or easy to learn. SEARCH by other than ISBN, author, title does not provide consistent (genre, publisher, etc.) results NOT effective, efficient or engaging.

Conclusions The search (ISBN, title, and author) and the compare price tasks meet the 5Es The search by other keyword types (publisher, publication date) are not available or consistent Textbook buyback process is effective but has extra steps that impact usability The eBook purchase task has a high severity rating due to the large number of steps required, number of accounts required, limited devices (no Nook or Kindle), and “no return” policy.

The results from this review will be used to develop the usability test plan for college student users to confirm or disprove the results from this expert review. Next Step