When library staff observe ways users interact with the site, they can determine real issues with navigation, terminology, or layout. “Usability testing,” or “user testing,” allows the library to see how a user would complete or fail to complete a specific task using the website. Many problems in navigation and structure of a website can be found using this assessment technique. Paper prototyping provides an initial look at the design without having to worry about coding the page.
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From a web designer's viewpoint, getting feedback on a design is critical in making sure the navigation is understandable and that patrons can find information quickly. “Paper prototyping” uses a mock-up of a potential web page. A case study of a card-sorting exercise used by Dalhouise University helps guide readers through a real world example of using a card sort to organize information on a website. While libraries are known for being very well organized, the terminology used to categorize information may not meet users' needs. “Card sorting” helps determine the organization of the information in the website, which is crucial. Without a knowledgeable facilitator, the results may not be as useful as desired. The chapter does discuss the importance of the facilitator of the interview. The chapter outlines the five steps for a successful focus group, from setting a budget, to selecting the participants, to creating the questions, to selecting the location and times, to analyzing the results. “Focus group interviews” use small discussions with a selected group of individuals to gather perceptions and opinions of a website or a particular service. The chapter focuses on the many types of surveys, their advantages and disadvantages, and the ways to conduct a successful survey. “Surveys” are used to gather perceptions, attitudes, habits, and characteristics of users. This sets the foundation for the overall evaluation of the site. Beginning with Jakob Nielsen's heuristics, the book presents two libraries (the University of Virginia and Purdue University) that have used Nielsen's document to create their own heuristics concerning their websites. This is done by examining the interface and judging how well it complies with usability standards.
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“Heuristics” is finding usability problems in a user interface. These assessment techniques include heuristics, surveys, focus group interviews, card sorting, paper prototyping, usability testing, and web log analysis. The next eight chapters are the most valuable parts of the book, showing the primary assessment techniques used in usability.
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Learning how to interpret the results and gaining experience from what is presented will make a better site overall. Lehman and Nikkel also stress avoiding the obvious fixes that might come from a usability test. They suggest looking beyond the home page to include testing new or existing web services and to start with task-based testing to learn how patrons use the site to gather information. The authors provide some insights into how beginners should proceed when developing the usability plan for a website. They must also deal with the complexities of the online catalogs they use. Because libraries do not own the information they provide, they have little influence on the proprietary interfaces and search techniques used by vendors. Libraries are at a slight disadvantage when it comes to creating a completely usable website. The book begins by providing a basic definition of usability and provides insight into the challenges of usability in the library environment. In Making Library Web Sites Usable: A LITA Guide, Tom Lehman and Terry Nikkel have assembled a team of contributors with usability experience to write a guide offering practical guidance and case studies in helping libraries through the usability process. To do this, libraries must look at the usability of their websites. For libraries to compete, they must make their websites easy to use and navigate.
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While tradition holds that libraries are places of information in the physical world, Wikipedia and Google are seen as the information providers of the Internet.