1. MAKING IT WORK FOR THE USER: A CRASH WORKSHOP INTO USABILITY TESTING FOR LIBRARY WEBSITES JUNIOR TIDAL WEB SERVICES & MULTIMEDIA LIBRARIAN NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, CUNY April 6 th, 2016

2. INTRODUCTIONS

3. WHAT’S THIS WORKSHOP ABOUT, ANYWAY? WHAT IS USABILITY? WHY USABILITY IMPORTANT? WHAT IS USER CENTERED DESIGN? THE DESIGN PROCESS USER-CENTERED DESIGN PLANNING A USABILITY TEST CONDUCTING A COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH MOBILE USABILITY

4. WHAT IS USABILITY?

5. THE EXTENT TO WHICH A SYSTEM CAN BE USED BY A CERTAIN USER TO ACHIEVE EFFECTIVELY, EFFICIENTLY, AND SATISFYINGLY CERTAIN GOALS IN A CERTAIN CONTEXT (ISO 9241)

6. “USABILITY REALLY JUST MEANS MAKING SURE THAT SOMETHING WORKS WELL: THAT A PERSON OF AVERAGE ABILITY AND EXPERIENCE CAN USE THE THING…” – STEVE KRUG, DON’T MAKE ME THINK

7. USABILITY DETERMINES IF A USER’S EXPERIENCE IS SATISFYING OR FRUSTRATING.

8. WHY IS USABILITY IMPORTANT?

9. WRITE INSTRUCTIONS DOWN FOR ASSEMBLING A PB&J YOU HAVE… – 1 PACKAGE OF A BREAD LOAF – 1 CONTAINER OF PEANUT BUTTER – 1 CONTAINER OF JELLY – 1 KNIFE EXERCISE: MAKE A PB&J SANDWICH

10. WHY IS TESTING USABILITY IMPORTANT?

11. LIKE PB&J SANDWICHES, WEBSITES DON’T COME WITH INSTRUCTIONS

12. LIBRARY WEBSITES CAN BE VERY COMPLICATED

13. IMPROVES PERFORMANCE

14. KEEPS COST DOWN

15. TESTING IDENTIFIES WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

16. IMPROVES EFFICIENCY SO DEVELOPERS CAN FOCUS ON OTHER TASKS

17. DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN DECISIONS CAN BE MADE

18. REDUCES REWORK OR BIG FIXES

19. HELPS MAKE DATA-BASED DECISIONS

20. INCORPORATES THE USER’S PERSPECTIVE AND VOICE

21. “YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT YOUR SERVICE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF SOMEONE WHO KNOWS A LOT LESS THAN YOU AND SEE WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM.” -SUMANA HARIHARESWARA

22. WHAT IS USER CENTERED DESIGN?

23. INCORPORATING THE USER INTO EACH STAGE OF THE DESIGN PROCESS IS KNOWN AS USER CENTERED DESIGN.

24. UCD FOCUSES ON GOALS, USERS, TASKS, AND WORKFLOWS

25. STAGES OF USER-CENTERED DESIGN PLANNING ANALYSIS DESIGN EVALUATION TEST AND REFINE

26. PLANNING PHASE

27. WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF YOUR WEBSITE?

28. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE WEBSITE?

29. WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

30. WHAT KIND OF CONTENT IS ON THE SITE?

31. ANALYSIS PHASE

32. USER/AUDIENCE ANALYSIS – PERSONAS – FIELD STUDIES – ANALYTICS

33. TASK LIST – DISCOVERY TOOLS – CATALOG INTERACTIONS – ONLINE CIRCULATION INTERACTIONS

34. DEVELOPING THE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE OF THE SYSTEM – CONTENT – HIERARCHIES (VISUAL, URL, BREADCRUMBS) – ORGANIZATION

35. CARD SORTING

36. CARD-SORTING IS A TYPE OF USABILITY TEST

37. IN A CARD SORT, USERS ARE GIVEN A STACK OF CARDS EACH LABELED WITH A TERM OR MENU ITEM

38. USERS ARE ASKED TO “SORT” THE CARDS INTO GROUPS THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE TO THEM

39. RESULTS CAN BE USED TO DEVELOP MENUS

41. DESIGN PHASE

42. CREATE DESIGN LAYOUTS

43. PAPER PROTOTYPING

45. WIRE FRAMING

46. PAPER PROTOTYPING

47. TEST PAPER PROTOTYPES AND WIREFRAMES TO POTENTIAL USERS

48. EVALUATION PHASE

49. COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGHS

50. TESTS THE WEBSITE, FOCUSING ON USERS INTERACTACTION WITH A GIVEN TASK

51. TASK ANALYSIS

52. EXAMINES THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF A TASK WITH USERS

53. TEST AND REFINE PHASE ITERATIVE DESIGN

54. RE/DESIGN TEST ANALYZE DATA MODIFY TEST

55. PLANNING A USABILITY TEST THINGS YOU’LL NEED: TESTING INSTRUMENT PARTICIPANTS GOALS METRICS TO RECORD NOTE TAKING LOGISTICS

56. PAPER PROTOTYPES USEFUL FOR EARLY DESIGNS AND REDESIGNS CHEAP TO DEPLOY NO CODING REQUIRED N = 5 DATA: IMMEDIATE USER FEEDBACK

57. CARD SORT USEFUL FOR ORGANIZING CONTENT MENU DESIGN HELPS TO CREATE MENUS, IA N = 20 DATA: USER’S INPUT ON SITE ORGANIZATION

58. COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH TAKES TIME TO DEPLOY GATHERS LOTS OF USER INPUT THROUGH THE TALK ALOUD PROTOCOL (TAP) QUICKLY FINDS WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T N = 5 DATA: TAP, OTHER METRICS

59. PARTICIPANTS

60. PARTICIPANTS SHOULD MIRROR YOUR USERS

61. USERS SHOULD HAVE VARIOUS LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE

62. SCREEN USERS FOR PREFERRED DEVICES

63. GOALS

64. GOALS CAN BE DERIVED FROM ANALYTICS

65. THEY CAN BE DERIVED FROM REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS

66. COMPARISON OF NEW OR UPDATED TOOLS

67. GOALS CAN BE CONVERTED INTO TASK SCENARIOS

68. GOAL: FIND A BOOK IN THE LIBRARY CATALOG For Example…

69. TASK SCENARIO: IMAGINE YOU ARE WRITING A BOOK REPORT FOR YOUR ENGLISH 101 COURSE AND YOU NEED TO FIND RESOURCES FOR THE CATCHER AND THE RYE. HOW WOULD YOU FIND THE BOOK ON THE WEBSITE?

70. TASK SCENARIOS SHOULD BE WRITTEN SO NOT TO LEAD THE USER.

71. USERS CAN ASK QUESTIONS BUT THE PROCTOR SHOULDN’T ASSIST THEM.

72. METRICS

73. SUCCESS/FAILURE RATE

74. TIME

75. NUMBER OF CLICKS OR TAPS

76. THINK ALOUD PROTOCOL

77. THINK ALOUD PROTOCOL IS WHERE THE USER “THINKS ALOUD.” THEY STATE WHAT THEY ARE FEELING, THINKING, AND THEIR OPINIONS WITH THE SITE.

78. TAKING NOTES

79. PEN AND PAPER WORKS IN A PINCH

80. DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING IS BETTER

81. DIGITAL A/V RECORDING EVEN MORE SO

82. DIGITALLY RECORDING AUDIO, VIDEO, AND SCREENCASTS IS THE BEST

83. AUDIO: PEN AND PAPER, DIGITAL RECORDERS VIDEO: WEB CAMS, DOCUMENT CAMERAS SCREENCASTING: CAMTASIA (WIN), QUICKTIME VIDEO (OS X), PHOTOBOOTH (OS X)

84. LOGISTICS

85. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL

86. SCHEDULE PARTICIPANTS

87. INCENTIVES

88. QUIET ROOM TO CONDUCT THE TEST

89. PROVIDE EQUIPMENT AND NETWORK ACCESS

90. CONDUCTING A COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH

91. INFORM THE PARTICIPANT, SIGN CONSENT FORMS BEGIN RECORDING PROCTOR EACH TASK SCENARIOS COLLECT DATA (TAP RESPONSES) WRAP-UP

92. COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH ACTIVITY FORM GROUPS ONE PERSON WILL BE A PROCTOR ONE PERSON WILL BE A TESTER OTHERS WILL BE OBSERVERS THE TESTER WILL USE THEIR INSTITUTION'S WEBSITE (OR ONE UNFAMILIAR TO THE USER) RECORD NOTES USING THE TAP METRIC

93. REPORT BACK WHAT USABILITY OBSTACLES, IF ANY, DID YOU FIND ON THE SITE? WHAT IMPROVEMENTS DID THE USER SUGGEST FOR THE SITE? WHAT DID TAP RESPONSES REVEAL?

94. MOBILE USABILITY TESTING

95. DIFFERENCES: – USERS, CONTEXT, TASKS, AND GOALS – DESKTOP WORKSTATIONS AND MOBILE DEVICES USABILITY TESTING SETUP IS DIFFERENT

96. MOBILE USERS ARE ON THE GO

97. MOBILE DEVICES CAN BE USED ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

98. CONTEXT AND ENVIRONMENT OF USING THESE DEVICES IS FLEXIBLE

99. CONSTRAINED BY CELL SIGNAL OR WIFI STRENGTH

100. FOR REALISTIC RESULTS OF A USABILITY TEST, ADMINISTER A FIELD TEST.

101. FIELD TESTS ARE CONDUCTED IN REALISTIC SITUATIONS MORE ACCURATE RESULT OF DATA

102. FOR IDENTIFYING USABILITY OBSTACLES, USE A LABORATORY TEST

103. LABORATORY TESTS ARE MORE CONTROLLED

104. IMPORTANT TO PAIR USERS WITH FAMILIAR DEVICES

105. PAIRING AN ANDROID DEVICE WITH A IPHONE USER CAN TAINT THE USABILITY OF THE TEST

106. IMPORTANT TO ENSURE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

107. MOBILE USABILITY TESTING SETUP BYOD VS LAB SUPPLYING NETWORK CONNECTIVITY DOCUMENTING THE TEST

108. WRAP UP WHAT IS USABILITY? WHY USABILITY IMPORTANT? THE DESIGN PROCESS USER-CENTERED DESIGN PLANNING A USABILITY TEST CONDUCTING A COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH MOBILE USABILITY

109. QUESTIONS?

110. THANKS!