display matters: a test of visual display options in a web-based survey

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Surveys are increasingly being conducted online, and it is pertinent to establish clear guidelines for presenting self-administered survey items on a computer screen. Goals should include reducing respondent burden and measurement error. Web survey designers often need to decide how to best present long lists of information and where to place navigation buttons (i.e., next and previous). We evaluated the usability of web-based National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) questionnaire prototypes. In the first round of testing (n=8), respondents had difficulties proceeding through the survey because the ‘Next’ button was on the left side of the screen and the ‘Previous’ button was on the right. In the second round of testing (n=30), four versions of the survey were tested to assess usability of the ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons based on their placement on the screen (right or left side) and additionally, to assess the display format of a long list of occupation options (one-column versus two-columns). Dependent measures included participants’ comments from a think aloud protocol, self-reported ratings of satisfaction with the survey, responses to qualitative debriefing questions, time required to complete the job code item, and eye-tracking data focusing on which button (i.e., ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’) and which half of the job code list participants looked at first and more often. Qualitative and quantitative results revealed that participants preferred and performed quicker when the long list of occupation options was displayed in two columns rather than one and when ‘Next’ was displayed to the right of the ‘Previous’ button rather than vice versa. Our findings support usability best practice guidelines that recommend eliminating excessive scrolling on Web sites, and following reading conventions (i.e., looking to the right to move forward, as if turning a page in a book).

TRANSCRIPT

Display  Ma*ers:    A  Test  of  Visual  Display  Op6ons  in  a  

Web-­‐Based  Survey  Jennifer  C.  Romano  Bergstrom1,  Jennifer  M.  Chen1,    

Timothy  R.  Gilbert2  &  Ma*  Jans1  

1  Center  for  Survey  Measurement  2  Demographic  Surveys  Division  

U.S.  Census  Bureau  

AAPOR  66th  Annual  Conference    May  13,  2011  

Current  Survey  Environment  

•  Increasing  number  of  surveys  online  •  Design  considera6ons  – Naviga6on  methods  

– Presenta6on  of  response  op6ons  

2  

Current  Survey  Environment  

•  Increasing  number  of  surveys  online  •  Design  considera6ons  – Naviga6on  methods  

– Presenta6on  of  response  op6ons  

3  

Background  on  Next  and  Previous  

•  Next  should  be  on  the  leU  – Reduces  the  amount  of  6me  to  move  cursor  to  primary  naviga6on  bu*on  (Couper,  2008)  

– Frequency  of  use  (Dillman  et  al.,  2009;  Faulkner,  1998;  Koyani  et  al.,  2004;  Wroblewski,  2008)  

4  

Background  on  Next  and  Previous  

•  Previous  should  be  on  the  leU  – Web  applica6on  order  

– Everyday  devices  – Logical  reading  order  

5  

Background  on  Next  and  Previous  

•  Previous  should  be  on  the  leU  – Web  applica6on  order  

– Everyday  devices  – Logical  reading  order  

6  

Background  on  Next  and  Previous  

•  Previous  should  be  below  Next  – Bu*ons  can  be  closer  (Couper  et  al.,  2011;  Wroblewski,  2008)  

7  

Background  on  Long  Lists  

•  One  column  – Visually  appear  to  belong  to  one  group  – When  there  are  two  columns,  2nd  one  may  not  be  seen  (Smyth  et  al.,  1997)  

•  Two  columns:  Double  banked  – No  scrolling  – See  all  op6ons  at  once  – Appears  shorter  

8  

Measuring  “Best”  Design  

•  Typical:  In  the  Field  – Drop-­‐off  rates  – Keystrokes  – Survey  comple6on  6mes  

•  Our  Study:  In  the  Lab    – User  sa6sfac6on  – Eye-­‐tracking  data  – Usability  metrics  

9  

Usability  •  The  extent  to  which  a  product  can  be  used  by  specified  users  to  achieve  specified  goals  with  effec6veness,  efficiency,  and  sa6sfac6on.  ISO/TR  16982:2002  

10  

•  For  web-­‐based  surveys,  the  design  must  – Meet  respondents’  needs  – Facilitate  easy  comple6on  – Provide  a  sa6sfying  experience  – Reduce  respondent  burden  – Produce  high-­‐quality  data  

Na6onal  Survey  of  College  Graduates  (NSCG)  

•  Collects  educa6on  and  job  informa6on  •  Respondents  have  Bachelor’s  degree  •  Was  available  in  PAPI  and  CATI  

•  Usability  study  for  a  web-­‐based  self-­‐administered  instrument  

11  

Method    

•  Lab-­‐based  usability  study  •  TA  read  introduc6on  and  leU  le*er  on  desk  •  Separate  rooms  •  R  read  le*er  and  logged  in  to  survey  •  Think  Aloud  (Olmsted-­‐Hawala  et  al.,  2010)  •  Eye  Tracking  •  Sa6sfac6on  Ques6onnaire  •  Debriefing  

12  

Par6cipants  

Gender   N   Age   N   Educa.on   N  

Male   14   <  30   8   Bachelor’s   21  

Female   16   31-­‐45   7   Master’s   6  

46-­‐60   10   Ph.D.   3  

>  60     5  

Mean:  46  

13  

14  

Eye-­‐Tracking  Apparatus  

Ques6ons  Eye  Tracking  Can  Answer  

•  Do  respondents  look  at  Next  and  Previous?  •  What  do  they  look  at  first?  

•  Is  it  distrac6ng  when  Previous  is  located  in  a  par6cular  place  on  the  screen?  

•  How  long  does  it  take  respondents  to  see  the  Next  bu*on?  

•  Does  presenta6on  of  long  lists  affect  what  users  look  at  on  the  list?  

15  

Previous  and  Next  Bu*ons  

16  

One  Column  vs.  Two  Columns  

17  

4  Versions  

N_P1  Next  bu*on  on  leU,    1-­‐column  job  code  

N_P2  Next  bu*on  on  leU,    2-­‐column  job  code  

PN1  Previous  bu*on  on  leU,    1-­‐column  job  code  

PN2  Previous  bu*on  on  leU,    2-­‐column  job  code  

18  

Results:  Sa6sfac6on  I  

19  

*  p  <  0.0001  

Results:  Sa6sfac6on  II  

Overall  reac6on  to  the  survey:    terrible  –  wonderful.  p  <  0.05.  

Informa6on  displayed  on  the  screens:    inadequate  –  adequate.  p  =  0.07.    

Arrangement  of  informa6on  on  the  screens:  illogical  –  logical.  p  =  0.19.  

Forward  naviga6on:    impossible  –  easy.  p  =  0.13.    

20  

6  

6.5  

7  

7.5  

8  

8.5  

Mean   N_P   PN  

Mean  Sa.sfac.on

 Ra

.ng  

6  

6.5  

7  

7.5  

8  

8.5  

Mean   N_P   PN  

Mean  Sa.sfac.on

 Ra

.ng  

6  

6.5  

7  

7.5  

8  

8.5  

Mean   N_P   PN  

Mean  Sa.sfac.on

 Ra

.ng  

6  

6.5  

7  

7.5  

8  

8.5  

Mean   N_P   PN  

Mean  Sa.sfac.on

 Ra

.ng  

Eye  Tracking:  Next  /  Previous  

21  

Eye  Tracking:  Previous  /  Next  

22  

 Eye  Tracking:  N_P  vs.  PN  

•  Par6cipants  looked  at  Previous  and  Next  in  PN  condi6ons  

•  Many  par6cipants  looked  at  Previous  in  the  N_P  condi6ons  – Consistent  with  Couper  et  al.  (2011):  Previous  gets  used  more  when  it  is  on  the  right  

23  

 Eye  Tracking:  Time  to  First  Fixa6on  

Mean  6me  to  first  look  at  the  naviga6on  bu*on  

24  

4  

4.5  

5  

5.5  

6  

6.5  

7  

7.5  

8  

Next   Previous  

Second

s  

   PN  

   N_P  

 N_P  vs.  PN:  Respondent  Debriefing  

•  N_P  version  – Counterintui6ve  – Don’t  like  the  “bu*ons  being  flipped.”  – Next  on  the  leU  is  “really  irrita6ng.”  – Order  is  “opposite  of  what  most  people  would  design.”  

•  PN  version  – “Pre*y  standard,  like  what  you  typically  see.”  – The  loca6on  is  “logical.”  

25  

 1  Column  vs.  2  Column  

26  

Time  to  First  Fixa6on  

*  p  <  0.01  

27  

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

First  half  of  list   Second  half  of  list  

Second

s  

1  col  

2  col  

Total  Number  of  Fixa6ons  

28  

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

30  

35  

40  

First  half  of  list   Second  half  of  list  

Num

ber  of  Fixa.

ons  

1  col  

2  col  

Time  to  Complete  Item  

29  

0  

20  

40  

60  

80  

100  

120  

Mean   Min   Max  

Second

s  

1  col  

2  col  

 1  Col.  vs.  2  Col.:  Debriefing  

•  25  had  a  preference  – 6  preferred  one  column  

•  They  had  received  the  one-­‐column  version  

– 19  preferred  2  columns  •  7  had  received  the  one-­‐column  version  •  Prefer  not  to  scroll  • Want  to  see  and  compare  everything  at  once  •  It  is  easier  to  “look  through,”  to  scan,  to  read  •  Re  one  column,  “How  long  is  this  list  going  to  be?”  

30  

Conclusions    

•  Par6cipants  were  more  sa6sfied  when  Previous  was  on  the  leU.  

•  Par6cipants  preferred  the  long  lists  in  two  columns.  

•  Par6cipants  looked  at  the  first  half  of  the  list  sooner  than  the  second  half  when  in  one  column.  

•  Par6cipants  looked  at  the  second  half  of  the  list  more  when  it  was  in  two  columns.  

31  

Bigger  Picture:  Recap  on  Next  and  Previous  •  Next  should  be  on  the  leU  

–  Reduces  the  amount  of  6me  to  move  cursor  to  primary  naviga6on  bu*on  

–  Tab  order  –  Frequency  of  use  

•  Previous  should  be  on  the  leU  – Web  applica6on  order  –  Everyday  devices  –  Logical  reading  order  –  People  are  more  sa6sfied  –  It  takes  longer  to  first  look  at  Previous  when  on  the  right  

32  

Bigger  Picture:  Recap  on  Long  Lists  

•  One  column  –  Visually  appear  to  belong  to  one  group  

•  Two  columns:  Double  banked  – No  scrolling  –  See  all  op6ons  at  once  – Appears  shorter  –  Second  column  may  not  be  seen  –  People  look  at  the  second  half  more  –  People  look  at  the  first  half  sooner  when  it  is  in  one  column  

–  People  prefer  two  columns  

33  

Future  Direc6ons    

•  This  is  just  a  small  nugget.  •  N_P  vs.  P_N  study  in  progress  – Same  layout  

– No  skip  pa*erns  – Efficiency  measure  

•  Long  list  of  items  condi6on  – Which  items  do  people  pick?  – Alphabe6zed  vs.  random  order  

34  

Thank  you!  

For  more  informa6on,  please  contact  Jennifer  Romano  Bergstrom  

Jennifer.C.Romano@gmail.com  

Jennifer.Romano@census.gov  

Twi*er:  @romanocog  

35  

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