[WEB4LIB] Coping with Complaints about the Website: Balancing Responsiveness to an Individual User with Honoring the Results of a Usab ility Test

[Pons, Lisa (ponslm)]

I would definitely not change the page based on one person opinion. However,
you shouldn't dismiss the suggestion either. We have found that a majority
of our users don't like changes, even, we have found, if we just change
images.

You might do another round of user testing, and get some questions that
relate specifically to the observations of the one faculty member. 

I would tell the faculty member that you will be evaluating and implementing
enhancements regularly, and will take his/her suggestions seriously at that
time, but that too many changes are not good for users at large.

Lastly, I have found, you simply are not going to please everyone. So, test,
read feedback, and do the best you can.

HTH,

Lisa Pons-Haitz

Webmaster
University Libraries
University of Cincinnati
lisa.pons at uc.edu
(513)556-1431

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Jorgensen [mailto:cjorgensen at creighton.edu]
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 1:34 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] Coping with Complaints about the Website: Balancing
> Responsiveness to an Individual User with Honoring the Results of a
> Usability Test
> 
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> Our library recently redesigned its website. As part of the 
> redesign, we did
> two rounds of usability tests on subjects representative of 
> our population
> (in our case, students and faculty members). Our usability 
> tests resulted in
> a good number of minor changes, but in general, our subjects found our
> website reasonably easy to use. Our redesigned website has 
> been live since
> August 2nd.
> 
> Since the launch of the redesigned website, we have received 
> complaints from
> two faculty members that they could not find what they were 
> looking for
> easily on the website. In one case, a very minor tweak was 
> all that was
> needed to make the faculty member happy, so I just did it. In the most
> recent case, the faculty member made some suggestions that 
> would mean pretty
> major changes to the library's home page. Wanting to please 
> this faculty
> member, my initial reaction was to call a meeting of the Web 
> Team to decide
> exactly how we will alter the home page to address the 
> faculty member's
> criticism. But then I started to grow concerned about the 
> ramifications of
> making changes to the home page because of one person's 
> reaction to it, when
> our usability tests seemed to show that people generally 
> liked the home page
> and found it easy to use.
> 
> So, I guess my question to you is: how do you balance 
> responsiveness to
> individual complains about the website, while honoring what 
> you found out
> about the web site in your usability tests? Also, if we 
> change the home
> page, are we obligated to do another round of usability 
> tests? And should we
> have to be doing that only three months after launching the site? I
> definitely am for ongoing usability testing, but that just 
> seems excessive.
> And finally, if we change the home page because of this one person's
> feedback, are we doing a disservice to those people who have 
> been using the
> site for three months and have gotten used to it? (Again, I 
> know that you
> have to make changes eventually, but this seems awfully 
> quick.) So.what do
> you do in these kinds of situations?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
> 
> Chris Jorgensen
> Reference/Web Services Librarian
> Reinert/Alumni Memorial Library
> 2500 California Plaza
> Omaha, NE 68178
> voice: 402.280.1757
> fax: 402.280.2435
> email: cjorgensen at creighton.edu
> web: http://reinert.creighton.edu
> 
> 
> 
> 
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