My team members, Briona, Sandra, and I were tasked with completing a usability project for the University of Baltimore Library’s website. As a result, we met with the client to hear about their concerns and hopeful recommendations about the project.
My Role
Moderator, Note Taker, Observer (these roles rotated between the team during the entire process), recorded and edited guided tour
Problem/Challenge
Analyze the issues that students are currently experiencing and make suggestions for the approved prototype through testing.
Solution
Create a virtual guided tour for UB students to become knowledgeable of the Library's website.
Teammates
Briona Jones, Sandra Koranteng
Timeframe
8 weeks
Tools Used
Zoom, Google Forms, Loom, Prototype provided by the client
Background
They had already completed an eye-tracking heat map exercise with participants who used the website (i.e., students and staff). They were planning to create a site prototype to test since people seem to be having trouble using the site and its features.
The research's purpose was to:
•Make capabilities and resources easier for student use.
•Analyze issues students are having with the current site.
•Present suggestions for a prototype based on the analysis of findings.
Participant Screener Survey
We completed two rounds of usability testing, the first round was to see how students (current and former students and students outside of the university) engaged with the site to do research. We sent out a pre-screener questionnaire to see if participants met our criteria of being a current student of the university (or graduated within six months), what college/school (i.e., business, liberal arts, etc.) they were a part of, and what program were they enrolled in. We thought that depending on the programs that the participants were enrolled in, that their level of research and using the library’s website could play a major factor in the testing.
First Round Participants
We had three participants for the first round of testing:
•Brian, who was a recent UB full-time male student. He majored in Digital Communications and Public Relations, and his research level was proficient.
•Brie, who was a recent UB full-time female grad student. She majored in Applied Psychology, and her research level was proficient.
•Jaylen, who was a current full-time non-UB undergrad student. He majors in Supply Chain Management, and his research level was basic.
Findings
As we were going through the usability testing, my team noticed three major findings:
•The chat feature, "Ask-A-Librarian," has never been used by either of the UB students. Its purpose was unclear to the non-UB student.
•The check-out process and ebook access were difficult to complete. Labeling wasn't clear enough for those who aren't familiar with conducting academic research.
•The specificity of the library's search results was appealing when conducting academic research. However, accessing the interlibrary loan is difficult to find from the results page.
Participants' Recommendations
After the testing, we asked post-test questions to see if the participants had any recommendations for the site. These suggestions would hopefully be incorporated into the site’s prototype for the second round of testing.
One of the recommendations was to make the "databases" hyperlink near the search box more prominent since it's a hotspot on the eye-tracking heatmap and commonly used by our participants. In addition, making the font size bigger and reorganizing the row, so databases are seen first makes users find it faster.
Second Round Participants
After presenting our findings, we were able to complete the second round of usability testing with the new prototype—using different participants from the first round. For this round, we kept the participants anonymous based on our professor's recommendation.
•Participant one was a current UB part-time female grad student. She studies Integrated Design, and her research level was moderate.
•Participant two was a current UB full-time undergrad student. They study Human Services, and their research level was basic.
•Participant three was a current non-UB full-time undergrad student. He studies Accounting, and his research level was moderate.
•Participant four was a current UB full-time female undergrad student. She studies Human Services, and her research level was basic.
Final Findings
Once completed, we presented our new findings to the client so that he could proceed and make changes to the website. We hoped to make the website more engaging and easier to navigate for users to research their classes.
•Participants like the ease of finding resources within the library instead of having to weed through Google.
•The chat feature wasn't well-known and ignored from the homepage.
•The checkout process wasn't well understood and confusing.
•Finally, completing interlibrary loans was an unclear and confusing process.
Our Recommendations
We had three major recommendations that the library could change/implement to help site visitors have a better experience:
•The chat feature - Currently, the chat feature is outside of the user's primary view on the homepage, where it can easily be ignored and does not catch. Make it stand out with differentiation in color or an eye-catching icon.
•The checkout process - Currently, the process is unclear with the button labeling and which to choose, such as "find it" and "request item." Present users with a tutorial video or a guided tour to help them navigate easily through the checkout process.
•Interlibrary loan request process - Currently, completing an interlibrary loan request is confusing and unclear. Present users with a tutorial video and a clear indicator of where they can find help within the interlibrary loan process.
Below is a sample tutorial video to give the library staff an idea of how they can help the UB community navigate the website.
