[WEB4LIB] (Usability testing)

[Blake Carver]

Good Timing!
I just (literally this minute, no kidding) finished this draft of a 
bibliography of library usability studies, it should be helpful.
The citations aren't exactly in any format, but they should get you 
there.  The quotes I pulled out to help show what the studies found 
specifically wrong with the sites they studied.
There have been alot of studies done now, I found the ones on this list 
most useful for our upcoming redesign here at OSU.

-Blake Carver
Web Librarian
The Ohio State University Libraries
carver.50 at osu.edu
see also: www.lisnews.com


Please do not consider this a perfect, complete or accurate list. It's more 
of a rough draft. If you can't find a source please let me know.


Discovering the user: Practical glance at usability testing
The Electric Library Oct 1999
"The users expect consistency"
"They don't know what a volume is, the don't know what a monograph is. 
These are terms that mean nothing to the average person".
"
we do a lot of things that nobody knows we do. That points up the need 
not only for usable systems but for public relations so that people know 
you have that system."

Marketing Through Usability
Computers In Libraries Sep 1999
"people don't want to learn a new hobby, they want to complete a task."
"We all provide information services, and many of these services nowadays 
are mediated through computers. Therefore, you need to make sure that the 
tools you choose to facilitate these services are as usable as possible. A 
usable service will reduce the time you spend teaching people how to use 
the service, and therefore will provide the patron with more time for 
analysis and synthesis. Consequently, it will reduce your costs as well as 
your patron's. In turn, this will improve the patron's perception of the 
library, and you will have more time to explore ways to improve other 
library services."

Usability Testing Of World Wide Web Sites
Michael D. Levi (bls.gov)
"The purpose of most web sites is to attract users and distribute 
information and products. Losing users because of poor design could be 
catastrophic for a commercial venture"

The Impact of Information Architecture on Academic Web Site Usability
The electric Library October 1999
”
people do not come to the web for an experience they come for information."
"roughly 2/3 of users are looking for specific information"
"the organization of information, the labeling of concepts and the lack of 
navigational aids clearly impacts the usability of this web site"

Web Redemption and The Promise of Usability
Online Magazine Nov-Dec 1999
"With any information-based intranet site, the homepage needs to announce 
the site, conveying its depth and breadth."
"Above all, a usable intranet home page orients the user to the rest of the 
site and clearly shows available pockets of information contained within it."
"Ideally a [homepage] design should provide users with a conceptual model 
with which they can figure out what's on the site and how the rest of it 
works."

An overview of usability for the study of users web-based information 
retrieval behavior.
Journal of Education for Library & Information Science Ruth Palmquist
"For the most of the web's initial years, web sites were largely a source 
for creative self-expression, and more often the novelty of the medium kept 
users from being critical of the content encountered"
"one can hope just as an eventual structure evolved for the printed book, 
that a standard or format for effective web design eventually will evolve"

Usability Testing and Libraries: The WSU Experience
Sharon Walnbridg
"They did have trouble with concepts-for example, what is in the catalog, 
and what differentiates the catalog from the article index"
"
the typical user does not understand serials terminology, and cannot 
locate information on current receipts. User do not understand how to limit 
searches. They do not understand the various call number schemes
 Another 
feature that escapes students understanding is cross-references: they don't 
understand what they mean or what to do next."

Usability study of the MnLINK gateway
OCLC Systems & Services, Joan Roca
"novices and advanced beginners are focused on accomplishing immediate 
tasks, and; they are not as interested in learning as in doing"
"only 1 % of the subjects indicated they would use the help button"
"
 in those instances where the gateway interface violated standard 
conventions, subject performance decreased."
"subjects frequently did not understand library research terminology. The 
majority of subjects could not distinguish between library catalogs and 
databases, or between basic and advanced searches"
"subjects did not have well-developed mental models of library research."

A case study of the usability testing of the U of South FL's virtual 
library interface design
Online Information review Maryellen Allen
""the administrators found that dew users were familiar with the term 
"interlibrary loan" request, even though they were familiar with the 
service itself"
"indeed 100% of test participants failed to negate successfully to the 
proper location in response to the request "locate the links you would 
click on to research journal or magazine articles". 
 12 out of 12 chose 
the link labeled e-journals rather than the proper "databases"
"
 the link for the online catalogue was changed from "WebLUIS" to "find a 
book"
"it became increasingly obvious that plain, straightforward language almost 
always produces better results than library jargon"

Handout given to me by someone
 From UNC Chapel Hill
"it is clear from comments that users do not make the distinctions that we 
do between "resources", services, and library information. To them its all 
library information."
"Participants didn't know what information they could expect to find under 
circulation, borrowing services, interlibrary borrowing and lending and 
borrowing from campus libraries were  confusing to them.
"they are unwilling to spend time browsing pages or reading a lot of text."
"library jargon defiantly a problem, e.g. e-journals, and library catalog 
mean little or are incorrectly interpreted.

Usability testing in a library web site redesign project
Reference services review Susan McMullen
"users do not perceive the link "online databases and indexes" as the 
resource to make when they are seeking periodical indexes"
"users are not interested in reading a research guide prior to doing research"
"participants remarked that the term database was unclear to them"
"users tend to scroll quickly through a page, to find highlighted links, 
but do not read descriptions associated with them"


Usability testing at the U of AZ Library: How to let users in on the design
Information Technology and Libraries Ruth Dickstein
"catalog, index, resources, databases, and reference are meaningless to 
many students."


Usability of the Academic Library Web Site: Implications for Design
College & Research Libraries Louise McGillis
"participants commented they had difficulties figuring out where to begin 
and deciding which option to select for the library catalog"
"some participants also did not understand the concept of a journal article"
"In particular they could not differentiate easily between internet 
resources and databases on the main page"
"The terminology was not meaningful to participants. When asked what was 
the hardest part about completing the task, participants answered " not 
knowing what heading to look under", "I wasn’t sure where to start", and 
"Figuring out what the categories meant"
"more than 90% of the participants found the site to be well organized"
"the terminology used in menus was not meaningful despite the fact it is 
standard in libraries"
"participants focused almost soly on the menu choices and not on the other 
tools for accessing information on this site"
"
the researchers found the problems with standard library terminology 
perplexing, particularly when that terminology is well established. Likely, 
however, it has never been user tested; we make too many assumptions about 
the extent of user knowledge"
"the significant issue that dominates the study's findings, however, is 
that people did not know where to start"
"When people approach a web site with a specific problem, they often cannot 
fir the problem into one of the options and do not have access to a human 
being for guidance
"
"
people have information problems and cannot extrapolate from the list 
which too / service is best suited to help with them. The web site must 
guide users in the resolution of their problems"

Chauffeured by the user: Usability in the Electric Library
Information Technology Planning Jerilyn R.Veldof
"be consistent
"
"grouping resources and assigning concrete descriptive labels help 
undergraduates to make more efficient navigation decisions"
"
 it was obvious that "The Catalog" meant nothing to many out our library 
users"

Usability Testing of an Academic Library Web Site: A Case Study
Journal of Academic Librarianship Brenda Battleson
"for the non catalog research tasks, the ideal choice was the "Online 
Resources" link, yet most students initially selected "libraries catalog". 
There was obvious confusion with terminology. As well as a clear 
misunderstanding of what the term "Online Resources" implied
"
"
they did not readily identify "Reference Resources" as a logical link to 
begin exploration of a topic"

Usability Testing a Case Story
College and research Libraries Janet Chism
"Many users were so supremely confident in their searching that when they 
do not find something, they immediately conclude that it is not owned by 
the library"
"users often do not understand concepts and are unable to interpret correctly"
"users of the webpac do not understand serials, cannot identify them in a 
browse display containing both books and serials, and cannot navigate 
through complex serial information"
"clearly libraries need to do a better job of explaining  this, and the 
OPACS must be more helpful in aiding users to find this important information"
"
better labeling is needed"
"it was unclear what the link "other library catalogs" meant"

At 01:20 PM 3/21/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>This library will be conducting Usability tests on our Web site.  I know
>most of the basics on how to conduct these tests, but I call upon the wisdom
>of the WEB4LIB... to see if anyone has tips or tricks that they've
>discovered in conducting their own tests.  Thanks in advance for your
>advice!
>
>
>Sincerely,
>Thomas McCoy
>http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl


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