Library Website Usability
(for everybody!)
ELLIE DWORAK
WEB SERVICES LIBRARIAN
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

Quick Introductions
NAME
WHERE YOU WORK AND JOB TITLE
WHY YOU CHOSE THIS SESSION
WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO WITH IT
SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN

What is Website Usability???
 Usability is “the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction
with which a specified set of users can achieve a specified
set of tasks in a particular environment.”
- International Standards Organization
 Hunh?
 Usability is whether somebody can:
 Do what they need to do
 Quickly
 Without frustration
 On your website
 That’s all!

What is Usability Testing?
 Methods used to gather feedback on your website’s
usability
 In other words:
 Can people do what they came to do?
 Quickly?
 And leave happy?

Usability Testing Methods
Danger, big words ahead!

Method 1: Heuristic Evaluation
 Definition from wordnet.princeton.edu
 Noun
(n) heuristic(a commonsense rule (or set of rules)
intended to increase the probability of solving some
problem)
 Adjective
(adj) heuristic (of or relating to or using a general
formulation that serves to guide investigation)
 Or
 An evaluation checklist

Heuristic Evaluation
Guideline Grade Explanation
Do you answer your users
questions?
Is your navigation clear
and simple?
Do you provide anchor
text?
Does your design guide
the eye?
Do you start link names
with important
keywords?
Is your wording
straightforward?

Does this page answer the
user’s questions?
DEPENDS ON THE QUESTION!
•H O W D O I F I N D A B O O K ?
•H O W D O I C H E C K O U T A B O O K ?
•H O W D O I F I N D A N A R T I C L E O N M Y T O P I C ?
•W H E N I S T H E L I B R A R Y O P E N ?

Heuristic Evaluation
Guideline Grade Explanation
Do you answer your users B+ Answers many questions on the front
questions? page, and leads people to second pages
for other answers.
Consider including hours link on front
page.

Easier (less subjective) questions
 Do you have white space?
 Have you offered contact information?
 Do you have a site map?
 Does your site require unnecessary plug-ins?
 Does your logo link home?
 Do you date your content?
 Is your name and logo on every page?
 Does your content have spelling errors?

Questions
ABOUT HEURISTIC EVALUATION?
LET’S GIVE IT A TRY!

Method 2: Cognitive Walkthrough
 Reviewers complete tasks
 How many clicks does it take?
 How easy is it to find the right links?
 Considerations
 What tasks will be analyzed?
 What is the “right” answer for each task?

How long can you check a book out for?

Ideas!
 Set up a group of libraries and test each other’s pages
 Everything is easier and more fun with a group
 It’s easier to see problems with somebody else’s website
 Just test one little thing at a time
 It’s not as overwhelming
 Small improvements are way better than unfinished big
projects
 Think about who your users are while you write tasks
 Write little scenarios
 Look at web site statistics to get an idea of what users value

Questions
ABOUT COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH?
LET’S GIVE IT A TRY!

Method 3: Think Aloud Protocol
 This is “traditional” usability testing
 Observe people doing things on your website
 Ask them to talk about what they’re doing
 Ask them questions about what they’re doing

Fancy/expensive/slow Simple/cheap/fast
 Morae or other screen  Note taker captures
capturing software pertinent information
 Video subjects  Changes made after
 Eye tracking each test
software/hardware
 Formal reports and
recommendations

More Work!
1. Train testers
2. Write clear tasks
3. Recruit volunteers
4. Block out times
5. Reward volunteers
6. Fix problems
7. Do it again
8. Pshew, tired!

Why Bother?
 Information from actual users is the most reliable
kind
 Principles to remember:
 Watch what people actually do
 Do not believe what people say they will do

The good part!
 You only have to test 1-4 times to get good
information
 Test early in a design process if possible
 Fix problems before testing again
 Always keep your objectives in the forefront

Questions
ABOUT THINK ALOUD PROTOCOL?
LET’S GIVE IT A TRY!

Comments on a Few Other Types of Testing
 Card sorting
 Paper-based tests
 Statistical analysis
Not really testing methods but sometimes useful:
 Focus groups
 Questionnaires and surveys
 Interviews

Card Sorting Example

Card Sorting Results

You have a research paper topic.
Circle where you would go to find articles.

Questions
ABOUT OTHER TYPES OF USABILITY
TESTING?

Some Notes on Process
 Decision making
 Building web teams
 Hiring outsiders
 Ch-ch-ch-change

We’ll never be perfect
Because perfect is a moving target
(image from indexed.com)

And that’s OK!
ABOUT THE HANDOUTS
QUESTIONS?