Edward Chang Melinda Yang Yu Hou

12/5/2012

Usability Test Results For

Yushan National Park Ecological Protected Area

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Website Background

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Persona and Test Subjects

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Usability Tasks

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Results of Findings and Improvements ‧

Overall Impression

Agenda

Background

http://mountain.ysnp.gov.tw/english/index.aspx

Yushan National Park has launched the online entry application system to replace the original paper application, but some parts of the interface cause usage complexity

The testing goals include how easily new users navigate the site and whether they can collect specific information Yushan National Park Entry Team is seeking improvements to provide a positive user experience and increase usage frequency

Primary user: Young adventure

The young adventurer has a regular exercise

habit; he/she exercises more than once a

week and goes hiking or camping once a

year. Most of them are still college students

or college-educated. Their personal income

is less than $20,000 a year. The young

adventurer has a moderate or advanced

degree of web saviness and is budget-

conscious. When they go hiking or camping,

they seek accessible information initiatively

instead of spending money on a travel

agency.

These advocates include students,

backpackers, family members and friends.

The adventurer will be looking for a wealth of

information and clear applied methods on

related websites, like Yushan National Park

Ecological Protected Area Online Park Entry

Application.

Test subjects

5 men, 1 woman

6 subjects were ages of 19 to 25

5 with personal income under $10,000

5 exercise at least once a week

5 went camping or mountain climbing in the past 12 months

5 saw outdoor recreation opportunities as important

Usability Tasks

Task1. Reactions to the home page

o Getting the message across effectively

Task2. Plan a visit

o Checking trail status, finding route map and lodging information

Task3. Preparation

o Realizing what document to get before entry

Task4. Apply for entry

o Completing the application process

Task5. Obtain the permit

o Inputting required information and printing out

View Recordings of Sessions

Arian audio: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmM290dkNvNS1JU1E

Arian video: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmQUNKOWRxOVJrTzg

Grace audio: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmU0tkT3hndWxvV3M

Grace video: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmVVdFN2ItYVBQUXM

Jack audio: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmYTV1Nzk0RVhsaVE

James audio: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmYWdHQ213dkJxZjA

Kevin audio: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmcDgxd2EtaVZlckU

VT video: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-We5xN7jURmeWNZWU1OUW9YcXM

Home page

Home page Impression

50% identified the site is mainly

for National park entry application

30% identified it is for environmental protection

First they noticed the board then

the primary navigation

★ Average impression is 4 stars

Like and Dislike

Like

"Visual and clear

navigation." - James

"Eye-catching color, beautiful design with adorable pheasant."

-Vinh-Thuy

Dislike 100% frustrated to use limited

mobility drop-down menu

50% preferred real national park background pictures

Confused about some labeling like" Draw Results" and " How to use the system" "No idea about what the system is for. It could be whole website usage problem and resolution." -Jack

Improvements

Site identity and mission:

o Making the site ID more visible by changing the original text color

o Adding clear tagline below the Site ID

Improvements

o Clear entry points for new users by giving a more

self-explanatory name, “First time? Go for permit

to entry,” instead of “ Why do

o Short description of Draw operation on the board

Plan a Visit

100% participants has no problem with what to expect on current status of trail. Some of them provided additional suggestions.

“I expect to see weather condition and warning.”

-----Kevin

“Trail list. If the trail open or not”

----- Jack

“Maybe current event.”

-----Grace

Expectation of Current Status of Trail

85% participants incorrectly clicked the left map first

1 participant incorrectly clicked “Cabin and Campground Availability”

Find the Route Map

Improvement

Make the link more visible

Reconfigure the content lay out

Find Locations to Stay

60% participants: camps and cabins

30% participants: visitor centers

Improvement

Redesign the icons for visitor center

Reorder the icon sequence:

Peak

Visitor Center/Service Center

Trail Head

Cabin

Camp

Original

Cabin Capacity

2 participants successfully clicked

“The Capacity of Campground”

3 participants tried to

click camp icons on the map

1 participants clicked

“Cabin and Campground

Availability”

Improvement

Make camp and cabin icon on the map link to corresponding page

Change the label “Camp and Cabin Availability” to “Camp and Cabin Reserved Status”

Change the label “The Capacity of Campground” to “Lodging Information”

What do the numbers mean?

1 out of 6 participants correctly guessed it’s about applied applicants

3 participants guessed it’s about available beds or tents

1 participants guessed it’s about how many people will show up

1 participant had no idea

Improvement

Move the description about the number to the top

Make the number on the calendar stand for the number of campground availability, as most participants have expected

Get an Entry Permit 2 out of 6 participants found out they need permit before entering the park

1 participant misunderstood the question

2 out of 6 participants went to FAQ and took a while to find out

1 participant didn’t find out until being offered with a hint

Improvement

Set a specific floating navigation bar on the website for applying for a permit

Enlarge and use another font of “Online Park Entry Application”

Apply for

Entry

Apply for Entry

50% participants clicked the correct path "Online Application“

50% participants identified the wrong link under "Permit Application Methods.“

Improvement

Labeling of "Online Application" should be more visible

Description in "Permit Application Methods" should be more obvious

Distinct with National Police Agency's Online Application

Application Process

50% users got confused with Team Leader and Team Member scenario, they chose Team Member and failed to enter the next process

None of the participants have major problem during the entire application process

Minor issues confused the participants

Minors Improvement

“I think the do not collect animals and plants should be bold because it emphasize it’s a protected area.” -Vinh-Thuy

Minors Improvement

Selection of Nationality should separate Europe and America

“I’m entering from USA, there supposed to be a USA.” -James

“I got confused at IP labeling. I guessed it will show my IP, but it’s not.” -Jack

All participants ignored the provided example to input country code in cell phone

Minors Improvement

“I don’t know what by bed first mean?”

-Jack

Description of camping condition should change to camping preference Ex: prefer bed first or will bring personal tent

Minors Improvement

“Aw… I have no idea what that Asian language means.” -Arian

Alert message boxes in Chinese should interpret into English

Ease of Performing the Application Process

30% in between, 70% easy

One participant disliked the multiple language, another liked it “The other language distracted me.”

“I like the Chinese character, they should add the Chinese name on homepage.”

Guess the Process after Application

From the overall walk through, none of the participants recalled or guessed right on “Draw”

One participant found the draw under “Permit Application Method.” Other searched through pages like: FAQ, Application Inquiry

Improvement Provide the Draw

information at the final page of application process

The information should be more visible on the site. Ex: Home page, Permit Application Method

People tend to think once you reserved, you get the permit. “In USA, you reserved, you get to go.” -Kevin

Print the Permit

None of the participants have problem on finding where to print out the permit

100% expected to see the official permit “It looks offcial.” -Grace “It got a seal!” -Vinh-Thuy

Overall Impressions

65% participants think the website is more serious than the first impression

★ Overall 3.6 stars

70% participants dropped 0.5 - 1 star

30% the same