Faculty Usability Test (July 2004)

Summary Results from July 2004 Usability Testing

Who we tested: 3 UM Faculty members

How we tested: We gave the participants a list of questions and showed them an on-screen image of draft #3 of the Libraries’ home page. Participants were not able to navigate through the site (since the page was an image rather than an HTML page), but we asked them to pretend the site was live and use the cursor to point to links they would use. We asked the participants to think out loud and explain the choices they made. We also asked some questions before and after the test.

Does the library have the Journal of American History? Using this Web page, how would you find out?

1. Journal title or journal articles. [Note: it’s not clear if s/he selected Catalog or Research Port].
2. Journal titles—well, Catalog and then journal titles.
3. Journal articles (under Research Port)

A librarian named Lily Griner came to your class to talk about library research. You want to reach her again; how would you find contact information for her?

1. Site index? No. E-mail [under Ask Us!]. Faculty and Grad Students.
2. Faculty and grad students or type her name into the search box.
3. Faculty and Grad students or How do I…?

The librarian instructor for one of your classes created a guide to research materials relating to your assignments for the class. You would like to remind your students of where that guide is on the Libraries' site. How would you find it from the home page?

1. Research Port. “Because it’s research.” Or it may be DRUM. It’s not clear actually where I’d look. “I will assume it’s Research Port.”
2. Research Port first “because it’s research.” (“It’s probably not a database.”)
3. (Scanning page) “Probably on the left. On second thought, it’s probably in the middle of the page”…databases: these bullets right here.

You want to make a color photocopy of an article. How would you find out how much a color photocopy costs?

1. Search.
2. How do I…?
3. I don’t know. I guess under Research Port articles…there might be a cost. I’m assuming logically there would be a choice there that says, “Do you want to print this?” OR How do I…? This is a catchall, which I like, but I don’t know how often they work.

Does the library have the movie To Kill a Mockingbird? How would you find out?

1. Search box. Digital Collections [decides the latter is the best choice].
2. Reference Shelf…see if there are any movies there. Strike that. Catalog since it says “videos and other materials….”
3. I’d look here under catalog, videos and other materials owned by the Libraries. That’s pretty self-explanatory.

It’s 100 degrees out and you don’t want to leave your office to go to the library, but you need help from a librarian. Can you get help from a librarian without leaving office? How?

1. Ask us!
2. I would pick up the telephone. [Asked to answer using this page.] Site Index…How do I…? Faculty and Grad Students. Strike that: phone numbers.
3. [S/he scans page wondering if a Librarian is available in real time.] Ah, here’s what I’d do. I’d click on phone numbers and call them.

You want to find newspaper articles using LexisNexis. Where would you start?

1. Research Port.
2. Research Port to databases. I might search the site for LexisNexis.
3. Research Port. LexisNexis is a database.

You’re reading the Washington Post Opinion section and you see a reference to “that most fundamental of American values, pragmatism.” How would you look up the definition of “pragmatism” to make sure you know the precise definition?

1. Reference Shelf “because you’ve got electronic dictionaries there.”
2. Reference Shelf.
3. Reference Shelf.

One of your colleagues told you that UM has an Institutional Repository where faculty can publish their work online and that the Libraries are hosting the project. How would you find out about this?

1. Search. Or probably “learning about depositing your work. That makes much more sense: DRUM….”
2. DRUM. Faculty and Grad students, but DRUM would get me there faster.
3. Faculty and grad students. I’d also keep an eye on Libraries’ news.

You're doing some research and want to consult with the librarian who specializes in film studies. How would you find the right person?

1. Digital Collections. No. Staff and organization; maybe that’s where I would go.
2. Staff and organization.
3. Staff and organization. Call the library and ask for the person.

You need to stop by McKeldin Library at some point, and you want to get a cup of coffee while you’re there. How do you find out what time McKeldin’s Café opens?

1. [Person #1 did not receive this question.]
2. Hours.
3. Hours

Suggestions?

1. Make the bottom bar bigger. Catalog and Research Port: why are they separate? That would be my question. (Says that s/he assumes the catalog is specific for UM, replacing the card catalog, and that RP may have a wider universe.)
2. Wonders what the DRUM acronym stands for.
3. I’m drawn to the left side…a greater sense of importance over Catalog and Research Port. The size of the font under Catalog and Research Port should be a bit larger. (Likes the news column.)

What’s missing from the page?

2. Magazines and newspapers, but that’s impractical; too detailed for the home page.
3. Oh! (sees DRUM now and realizes that’s how he could have answered an earlier question)

What do you like best?

1. • Research is prominent [meaning the center section of the page].
   • Search. “…when all else fails you can do a search; that’s probably very easy.”
   • E-mail [Ask us!]. Make this more prominent.
2. Nothing jumps out as the most useful. Staff and organization, faculty and grad students. Reference shelf and DRUM more than UMDigital Collections (“a play station; doesn’t seem serious enough to use”).
3. Like the conciseness. Catalog, Research Port, search, How do I…?

Impressions of the search box

1. “Let’s say I’m doing research and I want to find information for a particular topic. Because that’s the way students would think. They would go and drop a question in. If they could be directed to a link or get a response that would help them maybe that would be a way of directing them and saving them a lot of time….”
2. I’d either use it when I didn’t find what I was looking for on the page or I might just type everything in that box immediately (for example a subject search: criminal law).
3. Thinks s/he would be able to use it to find it to find a journal title or book.

How do you expect your students to use the Libraries' homepage?

1. As a gateway to research.
2. Students would use the reference shelf. Certainly Research Port. “I“d like to think they’d be using books…Research Port a lot.”
3. Exactly the way Maggie teaches them to.

General comments

2. Now that I’ve spent some time with it, I like it. It looks as though this will work.
3. I like it now that I see it. No, I think it’s fine. I like it.

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