Usability Feedback: Let me count the ways Toni Olshen York University Libraries OLA Super Conference January 30, 2003

Objective of web usability research To meet the users’ needs for quick access to answers by simplifying the website

3 Challenges for designers of large websites 1. labeling: whether one should use precise, technical language (jargon) or labels more appropriate to the non- technical user 2. hierarchy and context: which pieces of the navigation system should appear on every page and which should appear on only some pages 3. breadth and depth of menu systems

Ideas to share today… Users’ expanded role York’s usability testing

The Art of Listening Listen to what users want Listen to their expectations for a website Listen to the outcomes they want to achieve

Recipe for Success Listen to users’ desired outcomes Ask the right questions Add our expertise Design a responsive, improved web site

Beware of library jargon! Excellent website collating studies on website vocabulary: John Kupersmith, University of California at Berkeley

Advantages at York Web Review Committee whose mandate is to centralize web site’s core requirements and operations. - coordinate and facilitate web development - ensure consistency giving library departments and individuals controlover their own content

York advantages Content Management System, a database- driven website - easy for staff in a decentralized web environment to make quick improvements to their web pages. Open source - Here is the link to information regarding the Redhat CCM platform:

Overview of CMS CMS provides a mechanism for managing (creating, editing, publishing) content on our library website. There are a number of advantages to using CMS for web development. Using CMS, you can: Create and edit content quickly and easily (even if you aren’t “web-savvy”) Concentrate on content rather than the “look” and design of pages Publish your content to the web quickly and easily Develop web content from any computer with Internet access

CMS Basics Logging In to CMS Working in CMS: Sections, folders, articles Creating New Content Saving, Publishing, Deleting Editing Existing Content Working with Images Subject Guides

Creating New Content Sometimes, you will want to create new content in CMS, and other times, you will want to edit existing content. Here are the basic steps for creating a new “article” (content piece): Go to the relevant section, and select “Create new – Article” from the pull-down menu at the bottom of the page. Give the content a name. Click on “Body Text” (from the left menu), then click on “Edit as Text.” Use the built-in editor to create content and customize your content. Save and publish your content.

Working with the Editor CMS has a built-in WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) editor. To enter text, you can simply start typing, or cut and paste from other documents or files.

Insert a Web Link Insert a link on your page by highlighting the text and clicking on the “Insert Web Link” icon. Viewing the HTML Source If you prefer, you can work directly with the HTML code to add content to your page. Use the “Toggle HTML Source” icon to view and edit the HTML code.

Saving, Previewing, Publishing When you are finished working with your page, save your file by clicking Save at the bottom of the editor screen. Your pages are not “live” until they are published. You can return to your work at a later time to make further changes. You can preview your page to see what it will look like when it is live. The page will open in a new window.

Publishing a Page To make a page “live”, you will need to publish it. Not everyone has publishing rights in CMS, so this will depend on your how department has set up permissions. To publish a page, click on the Publishing tab. You can specify a start and end date for publishing this item. Otherwise, use the default dates. Click on Publish content item.

Unpublishing You can also unpublish content so that it is no longer “live.” If you make changes to your page, you must unpublish, then publish the page again. Editing an Existing Page To edit content that has already been created (by you or someone else), go to the appropriate section and click on the content you wish to edit.

Publishing If you wish your changes to become “live” immediately, save your work and click on the Publishing tab. If you do not wish your changes to become live immediately (i.e. you wish to publish later) save your work and click on the Unlock task link. When you next enter the Content center, this page will display under the Tasks tab – it will remain there until you have published the item and completed the workflow.

Working with Images There are two ways to add image files to your page. The first method is to use the “Insert/Modify” icon on the editor. Enter the URL of the image file, or click “Upload” to browse for the image. To add an image to your content, click on Image from the left menu. To add an image from a file, click on Upload a new image. You can also work with existing images in CMS by clicking on Select existing image.

Working with Images Click on Browse and choose the image you wish to insert. Enter a caption. The caption will appear below the image.

Additional opportunities for feedback Contact Us – Online suggestion/complaint system LibQUAL survey results – covered ease of use of web site Library staff input – actively sought; feedback re problems discovered in IL Collaborative digital reference project- Guelph and Ryerson – fresh eyes, new ideas

ISO Definition of Usability Usability establishes the “effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which a specified set of users can achieve a specified set of tasks in a particular environment.”

York’s Usability Process - Objective Objective was to involve students and faculty in testing the redesign of the home page and the redesign of the electronic resources section to see: Is the home page easy to use? Is it well organized so that users can find what they need? Is there effective access to electronic resources?

Objectives Organization: can you find what you need? Ease of navigation: when you click on something, does it take you where you expect to go? Labeling: do the words make sense? Overall appearance: do you like the look?

Target Groups Undergraduates – 8 Graduate students – 3 Faculty- 2

Process 1.Identify, watch and listen to users 2. Record user behaviour 3. Analyze the data 4. Report and act upon the results

York’s usability questions 1.How would you search for the book “Boom Bust and Echo”? 2.How would you find out what you/your professor put on reserve for your class? 3. How would you use the home page to borrow a title from a non-York library? 4. If you wanted to renew a book online, what would you do? 5. If you wanted to attend a library instruction session, where would you look for the schedule? 6. What are the hours of the Business Library? 7. If you wanted to access the Sound and Moving Image Library website, where would you find it? 8. If you wanted to find the ejournal called Canada World View, where would you look? 9. What would you do to find some online articles on jazz? 10. What is your overall impression of the website and do you have suggestions for improvements?

York Libraries Home Page

Summary Usefulness – does the website do what the user needs it to do? Effectiveness – refers to ease of use to achieve the desired task Learnability – how easy is it to learn an application and to move from novice to skilled user? User satisfaction – what is the users’ attitude about the website? Jeffrey Rubin. Handbook on Usability. Wiley 1994.

Questions? Toni Olshen