Why Usability Matters: a Case Study of the Cumberland County Library System Web Redesign

Why Usability Matters The Story of Change at the Cumberland County Library System October 19, 2009 Pennsylvania Library Association Conference

SETTING THE STAGE
Federal Grant to CCLS Paves the Way for a usable Web site
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc.

Web Site Redesign Needed
Problems:
Cumberland County/Library System site
Site geared to government interests
Lack of Web 2.0 technologies
Organization-focus vs. User-focus
Virtual library services without duplication of effort and content

LSTA Grant Application
Received $90,000 to:
Create virtual library branch
Develop content for core library audiences
Use new technology such as RSS feeds & e-Commerce
Provide trustee and staff Intranet resources
Develop an easily maintained site

The Results
Web analytics show growth in visits (+17%)
Top task testing show increase in task success ratio (+15)
Web scorecards show increase in best practice adoption (+24%)
Business goals working

Usability: Essential to Great Sites
Usability: “the effectiveness and efficiency of a system to meet the user’s needs, resulting in user satisfaction and productivity .”
Usability Engineering: “ tools , techniques and user centered processes applied to achieve usability.”

Scope of Usability Work…
User Interviews
Customer Profile
Task Analysis – baseline & beta
Expert Review
Scorecard
Requirements
Bench the competition
Planning assessment
Design Strategy
Information architecture
Training and Publication Guide
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. Best Practices Voice of the Customer Voice of the Stakeholder

Reviews are in…
Modern and easy to use
Exciting
It’s all at our fingertips
Something I want to look at more
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. It is more modern. It is more exciting – things are up front where you can see them. I like the aesthetics. It looks more interesting to use. (Dan) It’s up to date, modern, easy to use… This has something I want to look at more . (Michelle)

DESIGN STRATEGY
A Web design strategy has six parts and you should be able to get it down to two pages or less to do the job…

Elements of a Design Strategy
Business goals
Branding goals
Target users
General tasks
Critical success factors
Technology constraints

Business Goals of CCLS Site
Simplify and unify virtual access to our collections in service to the community.
Foster trust and loyalty through an online experience that is relevant, reliable and error-free.

Branding: Business Goals > Value > Visual
Define the problem and own the solution. The design strategy on branding focuses on reversing the weaknesses identified by the review and leading with the strengths users attribute to the CCLS.
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. Business Goals Benefits to User Visual Strategy User-Focused Relevant/task-driven Audience POV Adopt Standards Save time, be effective Consistent Simplify & Unify Accuracy Focused Error-free Satisfying Reliable service Timely Communications Awareness Web 2.0

Branding: The Tag Line
This is your chance to tie it all together with a memorable phrase.
Think of this as the flag you plant on top of the mountain after you have scaled it.
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. Cumberland County Libraries…Belong! Read. Experience. Grow. Free to the People Since 1889 The Know Place Tradition, Exploration, Innovation; Your Space for Books and More

Target Users
Initially there were four groups. This was later modified to include the homebound/disabled, and add kids to capture children who are not yet teenagers; families with children became simply “parents”

What do people come to the site to do?
Based on seven scenarios; Interviews revealed the most important activities
51% resources
31% offline actions
19% account help
Our customer profile worked to validate picks
Log analysis was inconclusive
(c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. Top Tasks

Critical Success Factors
How will your team’s success be judged and rewarded? It is up to you to frame this narrative for those who will make these decisions. If you fail to do this, others may seize this ground from you and tell the wrong story.

Technology Constraints (c) 2009. Emerald Strategies, Inc. No tool is perfect. Get with your vendor or tech team and know up front what the tool can and cannot do. The out-of-the-box solution and its limits must be understood so you can set expectations. Content Services (NextReads & Dear Reader) Online databases & services Horizon Catalogue Eventkeeper CivicPlus (Content Management Software)

NAVIGATION
Information Architecture decisions: selecting navigation, label names, page layouts

TOP TASK TESTING
Success Ratio Rises from 62% to 77% (+15)

What is Top Task Testing?
Human performance testing (takes 3 to 4 weeks)
Identify your top tasks and create scenarios
Good results possible with as few as 8 users
Testers attempt to complete 7 tasks (1 hr. max)
Remote testing possible
Software measures time, clicks and success
Compare results over time, with competition or power-users

WEB SCORECARD
Usability Score Rises from 42/100 to 66/100 (+24)

What is a Web Scorecard?
Benchmark against best practices to:
adopt usability and content standards
itemize requirements
make improvements
start over

WHAT WORKED
An action plan gets everyone on the same page…

What Worked: Strategy
Web scorecard graded the site against usability best practices
Design Strategy kept everyone on the same page
Planning Assessment Grid was a strategic roadmap
Web Governance Steps gave the strategy a framework
Publication Guidelines a desktop reference for content standards

What Worked: Usability Tools
Basecamp helped with online project space ($24/mo)
Usability Testing Environment streamlined task analysis ($2700)
GoToMeeting enabled remote online meetings ($39/month, $398/yr)
Firefox Add-ons browser tools to help you audit and evaluate sites(free)
Powermapper automatic site map creator ($149 +)
Visio Microsoft lets you build wireframes ($259.95+)
Web 2.0 Tools – Google Maps, Facebook, Blogger (free)

What Worked: Design & Content Tools
CivicPlus - site content management ($7000 annually)
Photospin - professional photos ($ 650)
WebResizer.com - edits & optimizes photos (Free)
EventKeeper - provides calendar ($400)
Dear Reader - provides content ($2350)
NextReads - provides content ($1360)
Bullzip.com - creates & optimizes PDFs (Free)

Lessons Learned
Contract with a specialist
Value of 3 rd party authority
Lead with facts, not opinion
“ Inspiration tour”
Right/wrong examples
Stage Intranet part later
Design strategy doc
Final punch-list with pre-launch review

Why Usability Works…
Get actionable results to measure progress: are you succeeding or failing?
Align with industry best practices – don’t reinvent the wheel
Lead with facts not opinions; it is a research-based orientation

Stay in Touch!
Kathy McShea Join my professional network on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathymcshea
Subscribe to my eNewsletter
http://www.emeraldstrategies.net
Follow me on Twitter @dcEmerald
CCLS: Jonelle Darr
Carolyn Blatchley Barbara Leach
http://www.cumberlandcountylibraries.org

Recommended Reading
Books
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content That Works By Janice (Ginny) Redish
Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability By Steve Krug
Research Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines Dept of Health and Human Services Online | Bookstore
Blogs and Web Resources
WebContent.gov
Read Write Web
Boxes and Arrows
UseIt, Jakob Nielsen’s Site
TechMeme
A List Apart

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Why Usability Matters: a Case Study of the Cumberland County Library System Web Redesign

by Kathy McShea on Oct 20, 2009

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Why Usability Matters: a Case Study of the Cumberland County Library System Web Redesign — Presentation Transcript