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WHAT CAN USABILITY REALLY TELL US?
Kirstin DouganMusic User Services Coordinator
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MWMLA Annual MeetingKansas City, MO
October 24, 2008
What is usability?
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“Usability rules the Web. Simply stated, if the customer can’t find a product, then he or she will not buy
it.” (Nielsen, Designing Web Usability)
Usefulness, Effectiveness, Learnability, User Satisfaction
(Ruben, Handbook of Usability Testing)
What is usability testing?
User-centered Real users from target audience
Task-oriented Real tasks that demonstrate how site
should be used Quantitative and Qualitative Can be used in conjunction with other
methodologies such as surveys, focus groups, and field observation
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Usability testing CAN tell you… Whether your site is working for your
users Whether your site poses barriers to your
users either in organization or in terminology
Whether you’ve designed your site for library staff or for users
Whether you’ve omitted important information or included unnecessary verbiage
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Usability testing CAN’T tell you… How every user interacts with the site How each user will perform a task every
time How to design a site that all users will
find enjoyable and easy to use
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
What we started with
What we needed to do
Redesign for 21st century Convert into a content management
system (CMS) (w/ predetermined templates)
Incorporate third subject area (theatre) and balance site
Make site easier to use and more attractive
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
What we wanted to find out
Is new design easy to use? Is new design easier than the old one?
(not all web usability tests incorporate the comparison element)
Are users familiar w/ library terminology and tools?
Are there observable use patterns and do these vary among user groups represented in study?
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The human element
Institutional Review Board process—required because of human subjects
Recruiting users Fliers, notice on website, word of mouth 15 volunteers who had used ML website at
some point; no ML employees Music, theatre, dance, undergrad, grad, faculty,
other Nielsen says need no more than 5, and he’s
right Incentives ($10 coffee shop cards)
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The mechanics
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Hardware/Software Camtasia Studio—records screen activity
and clicks USB Microphone—records audio (saved in
Camtasia) Instrument design
Developing tasks for old and new site Moderator and recorder Survey (subjective element) Pretesting
What we learned about the process
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Start earlier in the design process—don’t wait until prototype is complete
Have users help determine what tasks should be (first find out where they have problems)
You really don’t need a lot of users—in future, do more tests with fewer users
Remember—you’re testing the site, not the user!
Nielsen’s Five Users
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Five users find 80-85% of problems.
Best to have 3 tests with 5 users each.
“Real goal of usability engineering is to improve the design and not just document its weaknesses.”
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html
More findings about the process
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Some things about your website will always be out of your control, especially if you are part of a larger library system and/or are using a CMS
Don’t bother to consult users if you aren’t willing to act on their input (i.e., don’t be too in love with your design)—it’s called a feedback loop for a reason
What we learned about users Users scan text more than actually read it—
makes word placement important Users generally do not know how to find journal
articles—even with headings that say “Find Articles;” don’t recognize database names and acronyms (RILM, Music Index, IIMP, &%#&*!)
Users did not know how to use ORR (metatool for online library resources; http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/)
Some users will click and click before giving up, some will give up right away if they don’t find what they want
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
More findings about users
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Users generally do not know what “class guides” or “subject guides” are
Users’ search terms are not necessarily what we use to describe resources
Users did not learn from experience—if they wanted to look for articles in catalog the first time, they would do it the 2nd time too
A good reference interview will always be needed—no matter how good your website is
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
What we ended with
Kirstin Dougan | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Thank you!
Kirstin Dougan [email protected]
Co-researcher :Camilla Fulton—Web Content and Digital
Services & Development Librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign