who is doing usability testing out there?

[Laura Hudson]

Colleagues,

I'm writing an article about usability testing and I'd like to include a 
discussion of what's going on specifically in the library world.  I know 
about many of the projects that are being discussed at conferences and in 
the literature, but I'm curious as to how prevalent usability testing is in 
libraries. If you have time to respond to a brief virtual interview, I'd 
appreciate it no end.  I will summarize to the list if you respond to me 
privately.

1.  Are you doing or planning to do usability testing for your library 
website?
2.  What techniques did you use/do you plan to use?
3.  Did you test on wire models, a preview site, or the real site?  Did you 
test on multiple versions?
4.  How did you recruit test subjects?
5.  Do you have a budget for this project?
6.  If you are done, did you make changes to your website based on the data?
7.  What problems did you run into?  Will you do it differently next time?

I won't be discussing individual libraries in depth, so if you're planning 
to publish about your project, this won't compromise that.  I'm more 
interested in patterns and overview.

If you have other thoughts or leads, that's great.  Many of you have 
already sent me your favorite usability resources, but if you know of 
library-specific resources, articles, or websites, those would be appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Laura

Laura Hudson
Electronic Systems and Services Librarian
San Diego State University
lhudson at mail.sdsu.edu
phone: 619-594-3521
fax:  619-594-8982