“Usability Testing of a Library Web Site: Librarians and Anthropologists Working Together”
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Transcript of “Usability Testing of a Library Web Site: Librarians and Anthropologists Working Together”
Al l i so n Co w g i l l & Aman d a D i n sco re
Hen ry Mad d en L i b ra ry
Ca l i fo rn i a S ta te Un i vers i t y, F resn o
C a l i f o r n i a A s s o c i a t i o n o f R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s
A p r i l , 2 0 1 0
S a c r a m e n t o , C A
Usability Testing of a Library Web Site: Librarians and Anthropologists Working Together
University of Rochester Study
Ethnographic approach to studying campus libraries and their users
The Library Study at Fresno State
September, 2008 - May, 2009
Goal: “to discover information about student life that campus librarians could use to both increase library usage and improve student users’ experience of library services.”
“Draw How You Feel When You Write a Paper.”
Library Study Recommendations
Provide different search boxes for different kinds of holdings. Attempt a redesign that aims for a less institutional, more youthful and
content-rich feel. Move toward a Web 2.0 model.
Still Needed to know…
How do students use the site? What tasks can students accomplish? What assumptions are we making? What can we discover that will inform our re-design?
Web Usability Workgroup (WUW)
Decision to conduct a usability study and the formation of the Web Usability Workgroup (WUW)
Involvement of Anthropology professor, Hank Delcore, and his students in ANTH 111B (Intermediate Ethnographic Fieldwork)
“How people develop and use technological solutions (like the library's website)
is one of the most complicated and important areas of modern life, so it's a
natural anthropological attention.” Delcore, 2010
Usability Testing
Usability Testing demonstrates how users interact with the system.
Participants are asked to complete a series of pre-defined tasks and to “think aloud” while completing them.
Benefits: See what real users actually do (rather than what they say they do) Provides quantitative data rather than opinion or conjecture Participants complete common tasks (finding a book, article, etc…)
Process
Develop a plan
Purpose Determine the user group to be tested Pre-survey/Consent form Tasks to be performed (number & time) Script & Moderator Instructions—ensures consistency Test Design—how it will be conducted and how results are to be
recorded
Pre-test Recruit & test Analyze the results
Subjects: Juniors
Sample Size: 42 (plus 10 pre-tests)
Recruitment: On-site
People: 5 student moderators, 5 WUW members (Anthropology and library faculty)
Facilities: 4 small rooms for testing; welcome area
Equipment: 4 Macs
Software: Screenium
Test Documents: Pre-Survey/Consent Form Introduction Script Moderator Instructions Usability Test Activity
Cost: $636 ($520 for Starbucks gift cards; Screenium software site licenses $29 per computer)
Nuts & Bolts
Benefitted from pre-testing and multiple run-throughs with team members and moderators
Challenges with script, wording of questions, issues that we hadn’t previously considered (e.g. using Google)
Benefits of using student moderators (objective; offered valuable insight)
Talk aloud method was sometimes challenging
Testing took less time than we thought
On-site recruitment worked better than expected
The $10 Starbucks card incentive worked well
Subjects took it seriously Software (Screenium) worked
well
Reflections
Coding & Data Entry
Subject Number, time stamp, task number (1-10)
Link Label (words clicked) & URL
Notes (including quotes from subjects)
“Lostness” Codes for task completion Codes for positive & negative
comments
Codes for non-verbal behaviors such as smiling, frowning, laughing
Data Analysis (in process)
Discussion