1. Usability Testing of Community Data & Mapping Systems Denice Warren, Information Systems Designer Joy Bonaguro, Data and Web Production Specialist

2. www.gnocdc.org/usability/

3. In this presentation… 1.Why usability is important 2.Developing usability tests 3.Conducting usability testing in the field 4.Analyzing the results to improve site design

4. Usability is the effective, efficient, and satisfying completion of tasks by users.

5. What makes for poor usability? Slow downloads Hard-to-navigate site structure Jargon (aggregate, GIS, etc) Overwhelming amt of content Unpredictable links and behaviors Unconventional design Nonstandard functionality

6. Why is usability especially important in online PPGIS? 1. The specialized functionality that supports online GIS increases the complexity of a conventional browser experience. 2. GIS and data have inherent complexity in the amount of content available and the skills required to interpret that content.

7. #1 reason to care about usability www.webcredibility.org If your site is hard to use, it will decrease the credibility of your data.

8. Usability testing is a formal method of watching users interact with a system to complete a task. Data about the interaction is gathered and analyzed to inform design improvements.

9. Formulating a task for usability testing

10. We think indicator definitions are an important step in using the data in our web site.

14. Clue to usability problem: At best, less than 1 in 10 visitors views the technical definitions.

15. Make link more VISIBLE?

16. DEFINITIONS AND SOURCE LINKS!!!!

17. Research question: Is the ‘Definitions’ link sufficiently visible?

18. User task: You’re working with a Community Development Corporation in the 7th Ward neighborhood. For planning purposes, you want to know how many blighted houses there are in this neighborhood. Find that number. (Please think aloud as you work.)

19. How is “vacant” defined? Is “vacant” the same as “blighted”? Hmm… I wish there were some definitions for me to read…

20. The set-up for field usability testing

21. Notetaker User Interviewer

28. Field testing is messy, but you learn more about how people use your site in the real world.

29. User task: You’re working with a Community Development Corporation in the 7th Ward neighborhood. For planning purposes, you want to know how many blighted houses there are in this neighborhood. Find that number. (Please think aloud as you work.)

30. User task, Prompt: The Census reports only “vacant” houses, but doesn’t call them “blighted.” Use this web site to figure out if blighted houses are included in the count of “vacant” houses. Explain.

31. Analyzing findings

32. Time of day Time spent on previous page URL of page clicked on

37. target page!

38. 4 clicks to target 1 2 3 4

39. Research question: Is the ‘Definitions’ link sufficiently visible? Answer: Yes. It is placed where people expect to see it, and the text of the link matches users’ mental search terms.

40. Why aren’t definitions viewed more? Questions about definitions may not spontaneously arise Little external motivation to use definitions Aversion to reading dense technical writing

41. “Oh Lord. I need some glasses for this.” “I wouldn’t use this… perhaps if I were a little more like a researcher…” “I gotta read all this?”

42. Design changes resulting from usability findings

43. Pop-up window displays one definition at a time

44. Repeat important content in the main pages for “just in time” learning

45. DEFINITIONS AND SOURCE LINKS!!!! No need to make link more visible!

46. There are no stupid users, only stupid designers.

47. www.gnocdc.org/usability/