what can usability really tell us? kirstin dougan music user services coordinator university of...

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


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


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



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


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?


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)


The mechanics


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


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


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


More findings about users


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


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

what can usability really tell us? kirstin dougan music user services coordinator university of...

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