Project 3 Cookie Cutters Kevin Huynh Sean Tsusaki Jordaniel Wolk

What are Subject Guides?  Method of help for researching and find resources  Separated by subjects  Further separated by courses in some cases  Created by librarians, and used by librarians and students

General Usability Problems  Largest concern = consistency  Some guides only have a small resemblance to one another.  Although there is a template in place, it is not actively enforced.  A few interface issues. Examples…  No communication on what the guides are on the main page  No “Help” function on the main page.

Other Problems  Some consistency issues include…  High probability of confusion in navigation when using multiple guides  Some course guides are integrated into subject guides, while others are separated.  Certain guides have separated their search functions for multiple databases.  No uniform naming convention.  A few customer concerns…  Is it apparent that the tabs are clickable?  Are the Web 2.0 functionalities being used?  Are the comments, voting, polling, etc. systems being used?  Is the tag system viable?  What do students think of subject guides? Are they using them? Do they even know about them?

Overview of Methods Interviews Semi-structured Gather user domain knowledge and familiarity with the library website For interviews accompanying usability studies, ask about general impressions, difficulties, suggested improvements Separate note taker and interviewer. Audio recorded and later transcribed. Usability Studies Guided studies – user performs specific tasks as they navigate the guides The user verbalizes their thoughts as they navigate, giving a more thorough understanding of their rationale. Separate note taker and interviewer. Sessions recorded with screen recording software.

Users Librarians Interview → Usability Study Focus: understand how they use others' subject guides in their work and make it easier to navigate Focus: find out rationale for how and why they built their guides and see if there is a better, more uniform alternative 3 sessions to be conducted. Students Usability Study → Interview Focus: assess how easy it is to navigate and find information in the study guides, and find out how they are being used. 9 studies to be conducted.

Tasks Librarians Interview to uncover general issues beforehand Navigate someone else's study guide  Given a set of links to go to that are decided upon beforehand  Rationale: gauge ability to find information Have them give a walkthrough of elements in some of their guides  Rationale: uncover their reasoning and methods for displaying information as is Students Gather background information  Determine which study should be conducted Give a set of tasks depending on the study  Rationale: determine how simple it is for them to navigate Follow-up interview to gather suggestions and get feedback

Scheduling and Management Overview

Scheduling and Management  We have broken down the tasks that we expect to be accomplished  Interdependencies of tasks are addressed (as well as concurrency)  Processes chosen based upon the time we are given to conduct research, analysis, and solution creation

Week by Week  2 scheduled meetings a week  We have shared our schedules already to learn how our project schedule fits into the larger context of each team member’s personal schedule  Times outside of the general meetings have been proposed for interview and usability testing  Work broken down into tasks for an individual to do, and work requiring the presence of the whole team is completed during general meetings.  Scheduling for outside obligations

Resources for Management and Scheduling  Google Sites, Docs, and Calendar  Communication Protocol  Gantt Chart (for scheduling and tracking progress)  Website centralizes announcements, artifacts produced, project management and schedule overview

Questions and Answers