Usability Testing a Public ERM: Worth the Effort?
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The document discusses the importance of usability testing in library systems, emphasizing how understanding user perspectives can enhance user experience and resource accessibility. It outlines the methodology of conducting usability tests, highlights key findings from UConn's usability testing, and presents ideas for continuous improvement in library resource design. The overarching goal is to create a more user-centered approach to digital resource access in academic libraries.
![Thinking Like a User “… let’s … acknowledg[e] … the vital importance of empathy for the user . Only by understanding and caring about the perspective of the individual can we design useful, usable solutions.” - Peter Morville, Ambient Findability](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ecsuermusability2008-1220273879598787-9/85/Usability-Testing-a-Public-ERM-Worth-the-Effort-10-320.jpg)
![Library Jargon to Students “ ERIC, I think it’s some kind of journal … some kind of citation.” Reference Shelf “[It’s] very general. You don’t know what to expect as it could be anything.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ecsuermusability2008-1220273879598787-9/85/Usability-Testing-a-Public-ERM-Worth-the-Effort-18-320.jpg)
Usability Testing a Public ERM: Worth the Effort?
- 1. Usability Testing a Public ERM: Worth the Effort? Stephanie Willen Brown Electronic Resource Librarian University of Connecticut January 8, 2008
- 3. Act Like a User You need information on diabetes for a paper. Two questions What’s the first thing you see? Where can get material for your paper? Site 1 Site 2 Site 3
- 4. Community College of Philadelphia http://www.ccp.edu/vpacaff/library/
- 5. Salt Lake Community College http://libweb.slcc.edu/index/library-resources
- 6. York County (ME) Community College http://ww.yccc.edu/library/library.asp
- 7. What *is* Usability? Usability … assesses how easy user interfaces are to use . The word “usability” also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process. Jakob Nielsen, Usability 101
- 8. “ Making Things Findable” UConn Libraries “Plan 2010” Goal 2: Scholar’s Portal says: “ Provide immediate, unmediated , and comprehensive access to digitized research and scholarly collections worldwide.” Web & database usage statistics greatly outweigh individual library-user contact
- 9. Components of Usability Goals Learnability Efficiency Memorability Error recovery Satisfaction Achieved by … Thinking like a user Consistency Tweaking text
- 10. Thinking Like a User “… let’s … acknowledg[e] … the vital importance of empathy for the user . Only by understanding and caring about the perspective of the individual can we design useful, usable solutions.” - Peter Morville, Ambient Findability
- 11. Consistency Color, graphics Orientation & navigation Language
- 12. Reading Online is Like … Reading Proust People like to read long sentences online because it’s easy to keep your place, follow complex trains of thought, and flip to the next screen of dense text. or Skimming citations People skim titles & abstracts for keywords, take notes, and move to the next citation
- 13. Reading Online … Proust For a long time I used to go to bed early. Sometimes, when I had put out my candle, my eyes would close so quickly that I had not even time to say "I'm going to sleep." And half an hour later the thought that it was time to go to sleep would awaken me; I would try to put away the book which, I imagined, was still in my hands, and to blow out the light; I had been thinking all the time, while I was asleep, of what I had just been reading, but my thoughts had run into a channel of their own, until I myself seemed actually to have become the subject of my book: a church, a quartet, the rivalry between Francois I and Charles V. This impression would persist for some moments after I was awake; it did not disturb my mind, but it lay like scales upon my eyes and prevented them from registering the fact that the candle was no longer burning. Then it would begin to seem unintelligible, as the thoughts of a former existence must be to a reincarnate spirit; the subject of my book would separate itself from me, leaving me free to choose whether I would form part of it or no; and at the same time my sight would return and I would be astonished to find myself in a state of darkness, pleasant and restful enough for the eyes, and even more, perhaps, for my mind, to which it appeared incomprehensible, without a cause, a matter dark indeed. Swann’s Way / Marcel Proust
- 14. Skimming Citations Online … ERIC search: African Americans & mathematics
- 15. Which is Easiest to Understand? Type Books | Journals | Reports | Videos | Web Sites Sciences Biology | Chemistry | Microbiology | Physics | Zoology Biology Books Chemistry Journals Microbiology Physics Reports Videos Web Sites Zoology Type Books Journals Reports Videos Web Sites Sciences Biology Chemistry Microbiology Physics Zoology
- 16. Arguably … Why? Content arranged logically, with clear headings & bullets Alphabetical within groups Content goes down, as it does in traditional print Words are “chunked” into pieces easy for eye to scan in one glance Type Books Journals Reports Videos Web Sites Sciences Biology Chemistry Microbiology Physics Zoology
- 17. Jargon for Librarians On travelocity, you need the cheapest round-trip fare from Boston to London. These are your options – which is right? Flights & Prices Fares Three Best Itineraries
- 18. Library Jargon to Students “ ERIC, I think it’s some kind of journal … some kind of citation.” Reference Shelf “[It’s] very general. You don’t know what to expect as it could be anything.”
- 19. Usability Testing Define users Design questions to mimic what users would realistically do Do usability testing early & often 3-5 users highlights 85% of errors Better to test several small groups than 10-15 at once Note errors, redesign and retest
- 20. Redesigning the Research Database Locator External Literature review Find sites we liked Internal Usage & query log analysis Usability testing Design testing redesign more testing
- 21. Literature Review Cobus, Laura, Frances D. Valeda, and Anita Ondrusek. “How Twenty-Eight Users Helped Redesign an Academic Library Web Site.” Information Technology & Libraries 44.3 (2005): 232-46. Krug, Steve. Don’t Make Me Think! 2d ed, Indianapolis, Ind. : Que. 2006. Nielsen, Jakob. “Usability 101.” Alertbox: Current Issues in Web Usability. http://gslis.simmons.edu/mw/browns/Usability
- 22. Sites We Liked University of Toronto ’s “Best research resources for your topic.” Shows article databases, research guides, and encyclopedias / dictionaries / handbooks. NCSU’s “Browse Subjects” See Poultry Science e.g., and note tabs at the top for Summary, Books & More; Databases & Articles; Journals; Reference Tools. Full subject list at left, with Agriculture expanded on Poultry Science page. Purdue’s “All Databases by Subject” Select main subjects from menu to see subcategories. http://gslis.simmons.edu/mw/browns/Usability/Sites
- 23. Usage Log Analysis March - May 2006, UConn patrons … Used the subject browse 18,000 times; Performed a keyword search 15,800 times; and Clicked on Databases by Title 6,600 times.
- 24. Query Log Analysis Database searches america history and life lexus nexus infotrack Subject searches education pharmacy medicine anthropologyu Topic searches hamlet insane adopted children of same sex couples “ why doesn’t the us have a eurpean-style welfate state?” Are these successful?
- 25. Subject browse: ~ 18,000 ; Keyword search 15,800 ; and Databases by Title: 6,600 housing market
- 27. Browse by Topic Business
- 29. Usability Testing: 3 Rounds Who? 3 undergraduates, 1 grad, 1 faculty in each @ Storrs & regional campuses What? First tested old system Major redesign Tested redesign Tweaked design Tested again
- 30. Usability Tasks Find articles about diabetes for your nursing class Find a newspaper article on the day you were born Your professor said “use a database named ERIC” … plus 7 more …
- 32. Databases by Title – find ERIC
- 34. Design Goals Unmediated use of database locator Focus on how most users think *** not librarians *** Display 5 databases per subject Users can choose to see more Shortened database descriptions
- 36. Best Bets in Library Science
- 37. Side Effect: License Data
- 38. All Databases in LIS
- 39. Shortened Descriptions From this … ABI/Inform Global Full-text articles from 1800 journals covering business, finance, management and related functional areas. ABI/INFORM Global indexes a total of 2700 major publications. Subject coverage includes: business and management, including all functional areas. To this … ABI/Inform Global Articles in business, finance, management, accounting, advertising, banking, insurance, marketing, public administration, real estate, and telecommunications. 1991-current (full-text); 1971-current (index & abstracts).
- 40. Timeline … How Long?! Began Winter 2006: “database descriptions too long, fix” All agreed. But … Rewriting database descriptions wouldn’t solve all problems. “ Maybe we should do more” Ad hoc group started meeting spring 2006 & set up plan
- 41. From Ad Hoc to Rollout August 2006: first usability tests Fall 2006: redesign & discussion Possible “quick wins” tested & rejected November 2006: 2d round of usability Redesign & more discussion January 2007 (early): 3d round of usability tests January 2007 (mid): beta rollout March 2007: rollout (spring break)
- 42. Final Round of Testing
- 43. UConn’s Next Steps Continue user analysis Review query logs, usage data Solicit feedback from users, colleagues Add / tweak … User tags “ My Databases” feature Better searching? Note errors, redesign and retest
- 44. UConn Redesign Team Stephanie Willen Brown , electronic resource librarian & liaison to Communication Sciences Susanna Cowan , undergraduate education & outreach librarian Kate Fuller , reference collection maintenance coordinator and / administrative assistant Jill Livingston , reference librarian/liaison to the school of allied health Tom Wood , applications developer
- 45. Useful Usability Resources http://gslis.simmons.edu/mw/browns/Usability
- 46. “ PERM” FAQ http://gslis.simmons.edu/mw/browns/Usability/UConn-FAQ
- 47. Usability Testing: Worth the Effort! Tony Dungy Coach of the Indianapolis Colts Upon winning 2007 Superbowl
Editor's Notes
- #2: user focus usability principles what we did at UConn start with … why do we care? Graphic from Creating Passionate Users, http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/week36/index.html