Creating User-Centered Website Navigation
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The document discusses user-centered design in the context of redesigning a library's navigation system, focusing on methods like card sorting and tree testing to improve usability and findability of content. It outlines various research techniques, participant recruitment strategies, and key findings, emphasizing the importance of continuous user testing and stakeholder collaboration for effective menu design. Recommendations are provided for content management, menu item purpose articulation, and future growth considerations.
Creating User-Centered Website Navigation
- 1. Creating User-Centered Website Navigation Rebecca Blakiston, America Curl, Lara Miller University of Arizona Libraries
- 2. Introduction
- 3. User Experience Librarian UX research, usability testing, and content design Analytics & Assessment Librarian Assessment, UX research, and impact stories Global Studies Major UX Student Assistant UX research, data analysis & presentation America CurlLara MillerRebecca Blakiston
- 4. What is User-Centered Design? (UCD)? User-centered design helps design and dev teams gain an understanding of the product’s users. General phases: ● Use: who is the user, what they will use it for. ● Requirements: Identify stakeholder requirements for product success ● Solutions: Iterations of design from a rough concept to a finished design. ● Designs: Conduct usability testing with potential users of the product
- 5. Definition and purpose of IA Definition: organizing, structuring, and labeling content in an effective and sustainable way Goal: find information and complete tasks Purpose: Information architecture informs your content strategy. It should act as map around your website so that users know where they are, what they’re looking at, and how to get where they want to be
- 8. What we did and why What: redesign of the library’s main top level navigation Why: new CATalyst studio content and building in flexibility for future services
- 10. What we did
- 11. Card Sorting Technique: Asking participants to sort content cards into categories. Goal: Discover how people think about labels and groupings. Supplies: note cards and pens (or Optimal Workshop)
- 12. Open card sorting Participants sort content into categories and label the categories. category content content content
- 13. Closed card sorting Participants sort content into pre-defined categories. About Us content content content
- 14. Hybrid card sorting Participants sort content into pre-defined categories, and can add their own categories. About Us content content content Get Help content content
- 15. Card sorting #1: Recruitment: Individual passersby outside the Administration Building Method: Hybrid, moderated, online through Optimal Sort Participants: 9 students
- 16. Card sorting #2 Recruitment: Scheduled meeting with library employees on the Website Steering Group and iSpace Transition Team Method: Hybrid, unmoderated, physical cards Participants: 10 library employees, broken into teams of 2-3, with content and UX expertise
- 18. Card sorting tips ● Gather ideas and insights, but don’t expect the answer ● Try starting with open then moving to hybrid or closed ● Aim for 30-60 content cards ● Customize moderated sorts to give you further insights into content: ○ Prioritization ○ Merging ○ Deletion ○ Relabeling
- 19. Tree Testing Technique: Asking participants to navigate through labels to complete a task. Goal: Evaluate the findability of content. Supplies: Logic-based survey (e.g. Powerpoint, Qualtrics) or Treejack
- 20. Sample categories Find & access Study & create Teach & learn Research & publish About us
- 21. Sample tasks 1. Search for a book 2. See how to borrow a laptop from the library 3. Request 3D printing services 4. RSVP for upcoming workshops at CATalyst studios 5. Get help with citation formatting for a paper (e.g. MLa style) 6. Reserve a group study room 7. Get to know about ongoing construction at the libraries 8. Request and interlibrary loan 9. See how long you can borrow books 10. As an instructor, request videos for streaming in a class(e.g. documentaries) 11. Look for openly licensed educational resources 12. Search for a dissertation 13. Find out how to deal with a lost book borrowed from the library 14. Request to host an event in the library (e.g. hackathon) 15. As a PhD student, make an appointment with a research librarian
- 22. Tree testing #1 Recruitment: Roaming in Main Library, Weaver Library, and Bear Down Gym Method: Mostly unmoderated, online through Optimal Sort Participants: 28 students, staff, and faculty Tree testing #2 Recruitment: Roaming in Main Library, Slack recruitment through library and UX@UA Method: Mostly unmoderated, online through Optimal Sort Participants: 41 students, staff, and faculty
- 23. Tree testing tips ● Consider multiple access points to the same content ● Practice before giving to participants ● Be careful that your task wording isn’t leading ● If you have a lot of tasks, focus in on the harder ones
- 24. Prototype testing Technique: Creating an interactive, visual representation and asking people to complete tasks. Goal: Discover how people find things using a more realistic context and experience.
- 26. Prototype testing #1: Recruitment: Individual passersby in the Main Library Method: Moderated, online through Sketch Participants: 4 students
- 27. Prototype testing #2: Recruitment: Individual passersby in the Main Library Method: Moderated, online through Sketch Participants: 8 students
- 28. Prototyping tips ● Randomize task order ● Focus on content and navigation over design ● Make it clear if things won’t work as expected (e.g. aren’t clickable)
- 29. What we learned
- 31. Finding: Categories will overlap ● "Visit" and "Study & learn" - anything about visiting a library to study ● "Visit" and "About us" - anything about locations and hours
- 32. Finding: Titles that appear synonymous may not be
- 33. Finding: ‘Connect’ is too broad and ambiguous "A student wouldn't know what 'Create & connect' means" "'Connect' muddies it" "'Connect' didn't resonate"
- 34. Recommendation : Develop scope & content notes Purpose: Providing equipped rooms and spaces for people to get stuff done Audience: Navigators Content manager: Content strategist Content providers: Access & Information Services, technology team, CATalyst Studios team
- 35. Finding: some tasks have lots of potential navigation paths
- 37. Recommendation: Pull out that thesaurus
- 38. Finding: some tasks were really easy
- 39. Recommendation: Focus in on the hard stuff
- 40. Recommendations for creating menus ● Articulate a purpose and audience for each menu item ● Allow for future growth in offerings ● Build in content workflows and strategy ● Partner with stakeholders on menu content from the start ● Develop a communication plan early
- 41. The latest
- 42. Stepping stone
- 44. Continuing collaborative refinement ● Teaching support ● Research & publish
- 45. Continuing user testing ● Less common tasks ● First-click testing ● “Where would you go in real life…?”
- 46. Resources ● UX@UA ● Nielsen Norman Group ● UIE repository ● Usability.gov ● Optimal Workshop ● Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories by Donna Spencer ● Everyday Information Architecture by Lisa Maria Martin
- 47. Questions?