Website Usability Analysis

Northwestern Memorial HospitalWellness Institute

Website Usability Analysis6 November 2002

Following is a high-level usability assessment of the Northwestern Memorial Wellness

Institute's Web presence within the larger Northwestern Memorial Hospital parent website.

The Wellness Institute "subsite" is the primary area of focus. However, many of the issues

affecting the subsite go beyond it to encompass the entire nmh.org domain.

1Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wellness Institute

Overview

NorthwesternMemorial Hospital

Homenmh.org

Classes, Screenings& Support Groups

nmh.org/classes/index.html

The WellnessInstitute

nmh.org/wellness/index.html

About theWellness Institute

Smoking Cessation

Weight Management& Nutrition

Fitness &Exercise Programs

Prevention Wellness Institute"Subsite"

The Wellness Institute subsite has significant strengths in a few areas. First, it contains

seemingly comprehensive information on the Institute. Any service or program the visitor

comes looking for is likely to be found somewhere in the content. The "About" page provides

a succinct, well-written briefing on what the Wellness Institute is.

The Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute was established in 1997 to

provide services and expertise to individuals who want to adopt a

healthy lifestyle.

Our staff of experts work in partnership with each client to help set and

achieve specific healthy lifestyle goals.

All services are provided by experienced and credentialed practitioners

including board certified physicians, registered dietitians, licensed health

psychologists, exercise physiologists and smoking cessation specialists.

All services are based on scientifically proven methods that represent

the most current thinking in wellness and prevention.

Secondly, the subsite does a good job of including a call-to-action - in the form of phone

numbers - on most pages. While subtle, it encourages visitors to call for more information or

to register, without having to search further on the site for contact information.


The Wellness Institute subsite falls short in the key area of navigation. While the content is

strong, the controls and labels for finding one's way around it are confusing and

inconsistent. Consequently, users are likely to get lost or frustrated, and abandon the site

without completing their intended tasks. One of the most challenging aspects of these

shortfalls is that most of them are site-wide; the entire nmh.org website suffers from the

same issues. Therefore, some of the issues may only be truly solved by addressing the

entire site holistically.

Global Navigation

The Home page of nmh.org establishes a left-side "global"

or "persistent" navigation. This approach has become

somewhat of a standard practice on the Web. The Wellness

Institute's main page

(http://www.nmh.org/wellness/index.html) is accessed from

within the global navigation item "Classes, Screenings &

Support Groups." This general placement seems to make

sense, as visitors would likely come to the site looking for a

specific service (such as smoking cessation program or

fitness class). The average user would probably not know to

look for something called "Wellness Institute."

However, there's no way to be sure that users will find the

information there without usability testing. Recruiting a small

group of sample site users and asking them a series of

questions is an invaluable method for learning about how

real people use a website. In this case, one simple question

would go a long way - "In which of these sections would you

expect to find weight loss information?" (or smoking, stress

management, etc.)


Navigation

Global navigation

“Strong navigation not only communicatestrustworthiness, it also increasesconsumers’ perceptions that a Web site canmeet their needs, whether or not a brand iswell-known...”

eCommerce Trust StudyCheskin Research and

Studio Archetype/Sapient

Users are accustomed to using a global navigation bar as a "lifeline" of sorts; they can

always revert to this navigation to get around to the major sections of the site. However,

nmh.org defeats the purpose of this kind of navigation by not keeping it consistent. Once the

user drills a level or two down into the site, the left-side navigation changes. In fact, it seems

to change in a completely arbitrary way. Sometimes the original set of buttons is replaced by

a group of intra-section links, while at other times a single button leading to an entirely

different main section takes its place.


Inconsistent global navigation

This inconsistency in navigation extends beyond the global navigation. On the page shown

below (www.nmh.org/classes/index.html), most of the programs within the Wellness Institute

are consolidated under the "Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute Programs" header.

However, one important link, "Wellness Institute Interactive Screening Guide" gets lost down

in another section. If the composition of the first section leads users to believe that it's a

comprehensive list of the Institute's programs, they're likely to miss this omitted item.


Lost link

On the "Movement Classes" page, an entirely new type of navigation is introduced - one

that hasn't been used anywhere else in the subsite. Not only is this unexpected addition of

intra-page anchors confusing to users, it's unnecessary for the navigation of this fairly

simple page.

Another significant shortfall in the nmh.org site - and accordingly, the Wellness Institute

subsite - is in the area of navigational "context." Throughout the site, users are given no

"you are here" indications to help them understand where they are in the overall structure of

the site. The likely result is frustration, as visitors get lost in a sea of links and tire of clicking

the "Back" button repeatedly in an effort to "start over."

There are several strategies that can be employed to improve in this area. First, as alluded

to earlier, the global navigation established on the left side of the home page should remain

consistent throughout the site. That way, regardless of how deep users travel in the

hierarchy of the site, they can always count on that set of main section links to get them

back to the top level of navigation. Accordingly, the global navigation should indicate visually

which section the user is currently exploring.


Unexpected navigation change

“When usability fails, the bottom linesuffers. Design missteps erode ROIthrough:

• Lost sales• Increased costs• Terminated relationships”

Why Most B2B Sites FailForrester Report

Another navigational aid from which this site would benefit is the use of "breadcrumb"

navigation. Breadcrumbs show a simple hierarchy of links, leading from the home page

down through however many levels the user has explored. This tool not only allows users to

easily backtrack, but also provides an orientation to where the user is in the grand scheme

of the website.


Sample “breadcrumb” navigation

Home > Classes, Screenings & Support Groups > Wellness Institute Programs > Smoking Cessation

The Wellness Institute subsite does not have a true "home" page. While the Institute's main

index page (www.nmh.org/wellness/index.html) does offer a list of all the sections within it,

the page is not visually distinct. Designing the page more in the style of a website’s home

page would give users the sense that the Wellness Institute is a strong individual entity

within the larger medical center. This stylistic change could be accomplished by including

the introduction to the Institute on this page, as well as a better-designed intra-subsite

navigation scheme. Additionally, photographic imagery specific to the Wellness Institute

would add to the identity of the subsite.

A stronger home page would both allow and require branding the Wellness Institute more

distinctly. Currently, the Wellness Institute branding consists only of a small blue logo to the

right of the page. This logo seems inappropriate to the healthcare industry in general, and

the Institute specifically. Its superimposed, angled shapes suggest an almost 1950's look

and feel, such as the signage for a diner or movie theatre. Also, its small size and awkward

placement make it feel like an afterthought.

A stronger, more appropriate visual identity would go a long way to presenting the Wellness

Institute as a significant presence within Northwestern Memorial.


Identity and Branding

Existing Wellness Institute identity

In addition to the broader navigation concepts discussed above, there are several "best

practice" details that the Wellness Institute subsite would do well to follow. For example,

many text links follow a format such as:

The Wellness Institute has developed guidelines for recommended

screenings, based on age and gender. To review the guidelines, click here.

(where "here" is the linked word)

This syntax does not allow for quick identification of important link contents. The user is

forced to read all of the preceding text in order to determine whether this link is something

worth clicking on. A much more concise and user-friendly way to set it up would be:

Click to review the Wellness Institute's guidelines for recommended screenings,

based on age and gender.

This approach allows the user to evaluate and select the correct links with a quick glance.

Many of the navigational pages on the site - those with long lists of links - employ a layout in

which several links are lined up horizontally across a line. This format makes the links

difficult to distinguish from one another, and thereby easy to miss. Simply laying them out in

vertical lists - in one or more columns - would make for much easier scanning.


The Details

Difficult-to-read link lists

“...organizations that care aboutcredibility should be ever vigilant - andperhaps obsessive - to avoid small glitchesin their Web sites. These “small”glitches seem to have a large impact onWeb credibility perceptions.”

What Makes Web Sites Credible?A Report on a Large Quantitative Study

Stanford University

The Site Index on nmh.org is also poorly executed. The Index's layout - nothing more than a

long list of links - does little to help the user wade through the tremendous amount of

content. Furthermore, nearly every link begins with the words "Northwestern Memorial,"

making it exceedingly difficult to quickly scan the links for a specific item. Simply taking

those two words off each link would make it much easier to use. Additionally, the Index

should be laid out more creatively. Grouping sections of links together visually would help

users to see how the site is organized, and therefore make it easier to get around.


As indicated above, the Wellness Institute's content is comprehensive in detailing the

services offered. If the long-term purpose of the site is just that, then it has been

accomplished effectively.

However, many healthcare institutions are looking to take the next step - providing the

value-add of actual patient health information online. The term "Wellness" suggests a

holistic, life-long approach to educating oneself on the fundamentals of good health. As

more and more consumers use the Web to seek out this kind of information, it seems that

the Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute is ideally suited to becoming a leader in

providing it.


Content

Website Usability Analysis

Documents

Transcript of Website Usability Analysis