[WEB4LIB] re: Two steps forward, three steps back

[Ryan Eby]

>From the summary it looks like your students had similar problems to
the ones I'm seeing. Thanks for sharing, this kind of study was
exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again.

Ryan Eby


On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:09:52 -0800 (PST), Nina Davis-Millis
<ninadm at mit.edu> wrote:
> There have been a number of postings that alluded to using what we know
> about searching behavior to inform our design decisions -- in this case
> specifically with regard to our OPACs but presumably also in terms of all
> our searchable interfaces.
> 
> I thought many of you would be interested in a big usability test we did
> here at the MIT Libraries in 2002.  We call it, remarkably enough, The Big
> Test because it sought to find out how our users interact with our
> information environment as a whole, not just how people search each
> individual component of that environment.  We found the results of this
> test extremely useful and continue to use what we learned from it.
> 
> http://macfadden.mit.edu:9500/webgroup/usability2002/big-test/index.html
> 
> Nina Davis-Millis
> Head, Systems and Technology Services
> MIT Libraries
> 77 Mass. Ave., Room E25-131
> Cambridge, MA  02139
> 
> ninadm at mit.edu
> 617-253-5652
> 
>