Practical Usability Research Tips Getting Users to Their Target

Content

Darlene Fichter

University of Saskatchewan Library

February 2, 2007

Darlene Fichter

Outline

Scent* Exercise

Type of Pages Exercise

Three indicators that a design will fail

Slides will be onmy web site &

OLA Super Conference site

* Types of Navigational Page & Designing for Scent based on research from Jared Spool from User Interface Engineering & Stuart Card, Ed Chi and Peter Pirolli at Xerox Parc and others.

The eyes only see what the mind comprehends

Confocal micrograph byLudovic Collin

Prepare ourselves

“Chance favours the prepared mind”.Louis Pasteur

Prepare ourselves

“Chance favours the prepared mind”.Louis Pasteur

How Users Navigate: Information Scent*

The options that give the clearest indication (strongest scent) is chosen

*Based on research from Jared Spool – User Interface Engineering & others

Weak Scent

Weak scent slows users down --confusion and “back” tracking

Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC)

iPod ?Books& DVDs

Clothing & Accessories

Computer & Office

Consumer Electronics

Food & Household

Home & Garden

Kids & Toys

Sports & Fitness

Tools & Automotive

Audio & TV

Books

Computing

Fashion

Furniture

Gifts & Flowers

Home & Garden

Nursery

Sports

Toys

Books on Topic X

Article on ID Theft

Information Foraging & Scent

Using mathematical formulas, they are able to look at the way people estimate their success in hunting for information based on “cues” they pick up that they are getting closer to their “lunch”

These cues are called “information scent”

Information Scent Assumptions

People expect the scent to become stronger and stronger

Expect it to progress rapidly

Photo Credit: NYCArthur

How Do People Choose Where to Click?(2)

Make decisions based on:1. What gain can I expect from the information?

2. What is the likely cost to discover and consume that information?

Usually time and effort Visitors are “ruthless, lazy, impatient and

quick”

‘Satisficing” is a fact

If visitors are ruthless, lazy, impatient and quick, what should we do?

In this world, convenience will always trump quality. It's our job as librarians to make quality convenient.

Bruce Newell, Montana ,Talking with Talis Series

Other Factors That Effect The Hunt(3)

Big rabbits aren’t

always better

Nutritious Bite Sized Snacks

Show up front that you’re “nutritious” Have excellent categories that resonate with

users Design your whole site for strong paths

Designing for Scent

Challenges For Libraries (and others)

Direct access to content is not always possible on content rich sites

Implement special types of pages: a gallery or department pages promote a logical approach to

your link hierarchy

Types of Pages(4)

1. Content Pages (Target)2. Galleries3. Departments4. Stores

5. Gallery-level Search Results6. Department-level Search Results7. Search Entry Page

5. 8. Home Page (Landing pages)

Content Pages

Most important page on your site

Library Content Pages

Chart: Percentage of Aboriginal Children That …

Description of MLA

Gallery Pages

Listing of links to content pages

Most critical “link in the chain” of pages

Example Gallery Pages

Which cell phone?

Choosing a Phone

Rogers Phones

Roger’s Phones

Where to find articles on “mirror neurons”?

Biology Article Databases

http://library.ucsc.edu/science/

http://library.ucsc.edu/science/subjects/biology/mcd/index.html

http://www.asu.edu/lib/noble/lifesciences/

Long Gallery Pages

Can work wellCan’t be too long

Departments

Too many phones/resources Need to have a Department page, which lists all

the galleries.

Users somehow understand that a list of galleries is different from a list of content pages Use it to narrow

Rogers Department

Stores

Divide up content on large sites i.e. news World News, Science ?

Store pages link to departmentsUsers rarely bounce between storesOnly works when it’s “obvious” to the

users and you can exclude a lot of content

Do Library Sites Have Stores?

Branches

Gallery-level search results

Similar to gallery pagesCreated by search engine generated

resultsNot handcrafted, not as customized

Department-level search results

Used to divide search results into departments to assist in the winnowing process

“Search within” section of a site or branch library site

Search entry page

Search page or section of page

Home Page (Landing pages)

Orienting users in the right directionLeast important due to search engines

2 Important Functions of Home Page

1. The home page delivers the content to the user that they are seeking

2. Has strong scent to pages user seeks

How the Home Page is Used(7)

According to UIE data, users’ clicks on a home page typically break down like this:

Where People Click

86.8

6.81.3 2.6

0

1020

3040

50

6070

8090

100

Category Links Search Featured Content Other Links

Predictors of Failure

Pogosticking Use of the browser’s

Back Button Use of search

Photo from seanfraga

Pogosticking Happens When

Galleries don’t have enough infoThe most, when you know the least

“We've found this extends to non-e-commerce sites as well: our studies show that users who don't pogostick find their target content 55% of the time, where as those who do pogostick end up only succeeding 11% of the time.”(6)

Order Matters

People expect the most important items to always be listed first in the gallery

Often don't even realize a list is alphabetical

First Items Can Block Scent

“Back” Button

This completion rate falls to 18% if there is a single 'Back' click in the flow of the clickstream recording a user's visit

Down to 2% if there are two uses of the 'Back' button. (8)

Button ofDoom

Library Web Sites

Design for scentCarefully craft gallery pages and

department pagesWatch for the 3 signs for failure with

“scent” Pogosticking, use of Back, use of Search

Darlene Fichter darlene.fichter@usask.ca library2.usask.ca/~fichter/

References

(1)Information Foraging – Peter Pirolli and Stuart K. Cardhttp://www2.parc.com/istl/projects/uir/pubs/items/UIR-1999-05-Pirolli-Report-InfoForaging.pdf

(2) & (3)Information Foraging: Why Google Makes People Leave Your Site Faster - Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030630.html

(4) The 8 Types of Navigation Pages - Jarod Spool http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2005/11/28/the-8-types-of-navigation-pages/

(5) &(6) Galleries – The Hardest Working Pages on Your Site - Jarod Spool http://www.uie.com/articles/galleries/

References

(7) Experiencing CHI 2006: From a Practitioner's Viewpoint: Part II - Pabini Gabriel-Petit. http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000109.php

(8) 'Back' Button and Search are Kiss of Death to Ecommerce, says Spool http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article381.asp

Other Resources

I Don’t Think I Click: A Protocol Analysis Study of Use of a Library Online Catalog in the Internet Age – Eric Novotny

http://www.ala.org/ACRLtemplate.cfm?Section=november&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&ContentFileID=34962

Jared M. Spool. The Right Trigger Words. http://www.uie.com/articles/trigger_words/