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

INTRODUCTIONS

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

WHAT IS USABILITY?

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)

“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

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

WHY IS USABILITY IMPORTANT?

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

WHY IS TESTING USABILITY IMPORTANT?

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

LIBRARY WEBSITES CAN BE VERY COMPLICATED

IMPROVES PERFORMANCE

KEEPS COST DOWN

TESTING IDENTIFIES WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

IMPROVES EFFICIENCY SO DEVELOPERS CAN FOCUS ON OTHER TASKS

DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN DECISIONS CAN BE MADE

REDUCES REWORK OR BIG FIXES

HELPS MAKE DATA-BASED DECISIONS

INCORPORATES THE USER’S PERSPECTIVE AND VOICE

“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

WHAT IS USER CENTERED DESIGN?

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

UCD FOCUSES ON GOALS, USERS, TASKS, AND WORKFLOWS

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

PLANNING PHASE

WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF YOUR WEBSITE?

WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE WEBSITE?

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

WHAT KIND OF CONTENT IS ON THE SITE?

ANALYSIS PHASE

USER/AUDIENCE ANALYSIS – PERSONAS – FIELD STUDIES – ANALYTICS

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

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

CARD SORTING

CARD-SORTING IS A TYPE OF USABILITY TEST

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

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

RESULTS CAN BE USED TO DEVELOP MENUS

DESIGN PHASE

CREATE DESIGN LAYOUTS

PAPER PROTOTYPING

WIRE FRAMING

PAPER PROTOTYPING

TEST PAPER PROTOTYPES AND WIREFRAMES TO POTENTIAL USERS

EVALUATION PHASE

COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGHS

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

TASK ANALYSIS

EXAMINES THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF A TASK WITH USERS

TEST AND REFINE PHASE ITERATIVE DESIGN

RE/DESIGN TEST ANALYZE DATA MODIFY TEST

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

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

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

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

PARTICIPANTS

PARTICIPANTS SHOULD MIRROR YOUR USERS

USERS SHOULD HAVE VARIOUS LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE

SCREEN USERS FOR PREFERRED DEVICES

GOALS

GOALS CAN BE DERIVED FROM ANALYTICS

THEY CAN BE DERIVED FROM REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS

COMPARISON OF NEW OR UPDATED TOOLS

GOALS CAN BE CONVERTED INTO TASK SCENARIOS

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

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?

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

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

METRICS

SUCCESS/FAILURE RATE

TIME

NUMBER OF CLICKS OR TAPS

THINK ALOUD PROTOCOL

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

TAKING NOTES

PEN AND PAPER WORKS IN A PINCH

DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING IS BETTER

DIGITAL A/V RECORDING EVEN MORE SO

DIGITALLY RECORDING AUDIO, VIDEO, AND SCREENCASTS IS THE BEST

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

LOGISTICS

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL

SCHEDULE PARTICIPANTS

INCENTIVES

QUIET ROOM TO CONDUCT THE TEST

PROVIDE EQUIPMENT AND NETWORK ACCESS

CONDUCTING A COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH

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

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

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?

MOBILE USABILITY TESTING

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

MOBILE USERS ARE ON THE GO

MOBILE DEVICES CAN BE USED ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

CONTEXT AND ENVIRONMENT OF USING THESE DEVICES IS FLEXIBLE

CONSTRAINED BY CELL SIGNAL OR WIFI STRENGTH

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

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

FOR IDENTIFYING USABILITY OBSTACLES, USE A LABORATORY TEST

LABORATORY TESTS ARE MORE CONTROLLED

IMPORTANT TO PAIR USERS WITH FAMILIAR DEVICES

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

IMPORTANT TO ENSURE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

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

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

QUESTIONS?

THANKS!