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HBLL Website Usability Study

HBLL Website Usability Study. Final Results. Methodology. Students and faculty were randomly selected from a list of randomly selected user IDs provided by University Assessment (Danny Olsen). 7 students -- one hour interviews 4 faculty members -- one hour interviews

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HBLL Website Usability Study

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  1. HBLL Website Usability Study Final Results

  2. Methodology • Students and faculty were randomly selected from a list of randomly selected user IDs provided by University Assessment (Danny Olsen). • 7 students -- one hour interviews • 4 faculty members -- one hour interviews • One focus group of 7 students • No faculty focus groups

  3. Methodology – con’t • Most usability studies show that user tests begin gathering the same information after 5 users. • Since we had a fairly focused set of questions we were asking, we likewise got many repeated answers.

  4. Demographics of participants • Faculty were from Education, Humanities, Business, and Fine Arts. • Students: • Majors: Accounting, Psychology, Industrial Design, English Education, Chemistry, English & Chinese double major, Print Journalism (Communications) & American Studies double major, MFHD, Biochemistry, Mathematics, Political Science & History double major, Nursing, Mechanical Engineering, and Geographic Information Systems. • Class status: Freshman (1), Soph (3), Junior (5), Senior (4), Masters student (1)

  5. The Questions • How often do BYU students and faculty use the HBLL website compared to popular online search engines? • What does “Browse Alphabetically” mean to BYU students? • Is there a better alternative to “Online Collections at BYU”? • Where should “Giving to the Library” go?

  6. The Questions • What is the perception of BYU students and faculty of the graphics and overall appeal of the website? • How are specific searches within the “Online Collections” area typically conducted by BYU students and faculty? • How do students and faculty like the new site compared with the old site?

  7. Results • BYU students don’t even think of the HBLL website for conducting preliminary information searches unless they know they are looking for specific journal articles or are doing work as directed by a faculty member. • BYU faculty also initially use Google unless they are doing research with materials they know will be found in the Library.

  8. Results • Lots of confusion among both faculty and students about the different search engines used on the HBLL website. • The results of “Browse Alphabetically” searches confused those surveyed • How were the groups of results grouped? • Why was the initial list alphabetical but result lists were not?

  9. Results • “Browse Alphabetically” continued… • A possible way of reducing the confusion would be the inclusion of drop down boxes to refine the search, such as by author, title, subject.* • A name change should be considered. Even though “browse” is a standard term it didn’t seem to score very well with the students or faculty. • Suggestions included “Book Titles by Name” (for book searches, etc)

  10. Selected Comments Browse Alphabetically • “…so many different possibilities…it would be a waste of time. • I would go with something that I knew where I would get my results because I don’t have time. • I want to finish my paper; I don’t want to figure out the library system.”

  11. Results • Online Collections at BYU • Label not clear -- almost everyone thought it referred to ALL digitally-available materials in the library. • Several commented that unrelated items seem to be unnaturally grouped together here. • Renaming should be considered— • Examples suggested: “Digital Library Resources”, “Digital Library”, “BYU Digital Resources”, “Art, Theses, & Other Documents in Electronic Form”

  12. Selected Comments Online Collections at BYU • “Books that are in electronic format, that are viewable, printable, searchable.” • Dissertations and Theses—that doesn’t fit with how I think of online collections. • “…might be the same thing as going through the periodicals and looking at the online resources there…” • “…I can pull up resources, the full resource online as opposed to going to library and looking up a particular book or periodical…”

  13. Results • Most felt it is nice having consistency between the Library website and the rest of the campus web pages. • Many especially liked the idea of increasing the use of graphics to provide emphasis to things. • But most of the Library sub-pages don’t follow the standard so some of the benefit is diminished…

  14. Selected CommentsGraphics on the Web page • “…I like the picture of the atrium because when I was in Seattle doing research it made me feel like I was home.” • “Increasing…use of graphics…ok as long as you do it properly.” • “As long as the … graphics are small and don’t distract me…” • “…coolest thing is What’s Happening…”

  15. Results • “Giving to the Library” is fine where it is as long as the confusion with the line segmentation is fixed. • Most of those surveyed reported they had never actually noticed the “Giving” link until it was pointed out to them).

  16. Results • Clicking on “Giving to the Library” is confusing. You go to “Friends of the Harold B. Lee Library” and not to a donor site. • There are two things that seem to be about giving– • “Friends of the Library Donors” which lists big donors • “Memorial Gifts” which asks you to print out a form and mail it in…

  17. Selected CommentsGiving to the Library • “They sure don’t make it very appealing.” • “I never noticed the link before.”

  18. Overall Impressions of the Web Site • “I don’t think I pay attention to anything else but the search box.” • “The things that I have been taught to do in classes—I use those resources but not much else.” • “It’s a matter of being acclimated to it.”

  19. Recommendations • Consideration should be given to reformatting the Library site to match the cascading style of the BYU home pages.

  20. Recommendations • Consideration should be given to adding more small captions such as those behind “Databases & Indexes” and “How to Find”.

  21. Recommendations • Consideration should be given to moving “Ask a Librarian Live” back up to the upper right hand corner.* • Find a different application for “Ask a Librarian Live” that doesn’t exclude Mac users, e.g., • 50% of Fine Arts & Communications • 75% of School of Ed faculty

  22. Recommendations • Investigate programming requirement to add functionality in “My Account” to record “My Favorite Library Sites”. • Suggestion comes from both a student and a faculty member who would like to add a bookmark via the “My Account” so that it would be computer independent—they could add to it while on a Library computer or at home and they will still have it.

  23. Recommendations • “Online Collections” search results : • Can it be formatted to show the entire PDF and not each page of the PDF? • Giving to the Library: • Several students and faculty suggested alternatives to the words, such as a logo in the lower left hand corner. Perhaps this could be tied in with marketing literature (branding the Library giving campaign).

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