1. “Come on! Give me ten!” What users really want and really do on library web sites Darlene Fichter Darlene.Fichter@usask.ca OLA Super Conference 2003

2. Overview What is usability? Usability research Why do usability testing? Is it enough to ask the staff their opinion or run a focus group? How do you know what works for web visitors ? What tests, tasks and techniques can you use? Types of usability testing

3. What is usability? Ease of use Ease of learning Fitness for purpose An effective product

4. How do you know it works? Is your site usable?

5. Before you test Usability Research www.usability.gov www.useit.com

6. Research examples Web visitors are happier, faster, and more successful when: Information is in columns, not rows Categorical rather than alphabetical Arranged in a high-to-low level of importance for each category

7. Write for the way your users read Where do people look first ? Pictures or words How do people read on the screen? Top to bottom Focus first on the micro-content Scroll to the bottom Only after failing - side menu - top menu Banner Blindness

8. Fonts & reading speed 25% slower on the screen Find Arial or Times Roman fonts at 12 pt the most legible

9. Research shows: visitors DON’T READ People who are looking for information don't READ, they scan. If they have to read instructions or help page most people will not.

10. How we fail users 2 31 4

11. What is usability testing? Involves actual users interacting with the web site Test participants are asked to perform tasks while usability evaluators observe and take note of their actions

12. Are surveys and focus groups usability tests? No. Can be useful for evaluation Very big difference between what people say and what people do High satisfaction is common even when performance is poor

13. Why conduct user tests? 1.Web development is expensive, and supporting a poorly designed system is even more expensive 2.Unhappy users will “leave” Political costs Cost to the organization Opportunity cost

14. Why … 3.Even the best designers are not representative of the web visitors of their systems so they are poor judges of what visitors want and need

15. We are not our users Medline search

16. Venn diagrams

17. One user Come on! Give me ten!

18. Lights, camera, action! When can you test? Live Site Are you meeting your goals? Test existing site Planning stages Organization and labels Existing site Paper prototype Prototype In development Low fidelity prototype B & W mockups High fidelity prototype Complete visual design and completed parts of new site

19. Common testing techniques Cognitive walkthrough Preference testing Task based testing

20. Cognitive walkthrough Development team collectively walks through the site assessing whether the visitor has the information to confidently make the next right action Describe a typical web site visitor Would the visitor see the “choice” What would the visitor choose based solely on the information available on the current page

21. Let’s try one Typical visitor 12 years old Stephen King books In the library and want to request books

23. Cognitive walkthrough - mockup

24. Preference testing Also called “cookie” testing Zero in on troubling labels Request book from another library Interlibrary Loan Request forms Books from other libraries

25. Live reference example Got a question? Get an answer online NOW! Click here Got a question? Chat with a librarian NOW! Ask me! Questions? Ask online and we'll answer! Ask me now! Don't give up! Ask us and we'll help! Click to chat Not finding what you're looking for? Ask a librarian

26. Small button

27. Task based testing Participants are given specific tasks Asked to verbalize their thoughts Observe, record, and debrief

28. Guerilla usability testing Idea popularized by Jakob Nielsen Showed that simple “low tech” testing of five to seven users could yield excellent results 5 users will typically uncover 80% of site-level usability problems

29. Measurements Time on task Number of errors Difficulty in Navigation Understanding site structure User satisfaction

30. Preparing for task based testing What do you want to know? Focus on the issues of a particular “audience” New service such as live reference Particular activity – requesting ILL or finding full text articles

31. Construct your sample How many people can you test? How many people do you need to provide a representative sample? Tradeoffs

32. Design your tasks What tasks will you ask the target audience to carry out? Design the tasks so they are clear and straightforward Consider whether “prior learning” from one task will carry over to the next? Do you want this?

33. Example tasks  Locate three recent articles on the Kyoto accord.  Find out when your books are due.  Find a consumer report article about bread makers.

34. Role of the participants Users are given specific tasks Asked to talk out loud No assistance is provided

35. Participant Task Number 12345MedianMean 160540240 280 2840506012090267.5 3600300240300380 4180300240 5 8058175170 150.6 6420 7180 Summary of results

36. Analyzing the results Time - how many seconds Errors - incorrect answers Participant can’t complete the task Participant is slowed down Participant is annoyed or irritated slightly Satisfaction

37. When can you do task based testing? Before you start a redesign Paper mockup stage Prototypes Beta

38. Test early and test often! 3 or 4 rounds of paper mockups Then task based testing Iterative

39. Finding out more Visit my web site library.usask.ca/~fichter Read some of my columns at: FindArticles.com Best site to start: www.usability.gov Darlene Fichter Data Librarian University of Saskatchewan darlene.fichter@usask.ca

41. User centered design UCD is a highly structured, comprehensive product development methodology driven by:highly structured (1) clearly specified, task-oriented business objectives, andtask-oriented business objectives (2) recognition of user needs, limitations and preferences.user needs, limitations and preferences http://www.taskz.com/definitions.php

42. Library’s business goals Efficient effective delivery of information, tools and services that meet the information and/or recreational needs of audience

43. User focused Project team recognizes that cognitive and behavior patterns of people are crucial factors in how we design the site