Suffragists Speak Rosalie Lack Joanne Miller Sally Thomas

Overview zSuffragists Speak Web site Text marked up in SGML –Primary Sources: Correspondence, Newspaper Articles, Books, Diaries, and Speeches –Secondary Sources: Books, Journal Articles, Bibliography Multimedia –Audio (Songs and Interviews), Ephemera, Photographs, Newsreels

Problem Overview zIntegrate a variety of resources Primary and secondary sources –text –multimedia zCreate a cohesive whole zMake it easily navigable zProvide easy, accessible search of full- text/SGML documents

Goals of the System zCreate multimedia “thematic archive” Provide depth and breadth of resources Add context and factual detail for Oral Histories (content development) Enliven history through multimedia Serve a variety of users –Researchers, educators, casual users

Pilot Usability Test zGoal: Get feedback from actual users Confirm heuristic evaluation Could users find information? –Satisfied with search page? Search results? –Easy to navigate? Is site useful? –For research? –For teaching? Prefer specific types of content?

Test Procedure zParticipants: three history graduate students zDemographic questionnaire zVideotaped test: Browse site for 15 minutes Work through three scenarios Discussion and questions zPost-test survey

Changes zLayout of search results zSearch page zLabeling/Design zContent Provide more information Organization

Changes - Search Results zChange layout of search results pages Mocked up better results pages Added buttons to return to original search results/search page

Search Results - Old

Search Results - New

Changes - Search Page zClarify search page options Make search tips more obvious (?) Keyword vs. Exact phrase Examples for entering search terms

Search Page

Changes - Labeling/Design zChange the name of some of the links Bibliography Timeline zMake some features more prominent “Sort by” Browse terms Plus: zMore links between sources on the site

“Sort by” option

Changes - Content zIncrease information about source of the materials (provenance) zMore on scope of the site Selected contents International? Men? zPut lists in consistent order (and explain) zConcentrate on primary sources

Most Surprising zNo one read the search tips zOnly one user saw the “sort by” feature zPeople did not question (notice?) the buttons in Dynaweb zSecondary sources not as important as primary

UI Design Lesson zSeemingly trivial things are not trivial. Even small changes to the design can have an impact on the user’s experience Enabling users to find what they need Reducing level of frustration Specifying and restating what users are looking at