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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dougan, Kirstin, Fulton, Camilla
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ858265
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author Dougan, Kirstin
Fulton, Camilla
author_facet Dougan, Kirstin
Fulton, Camilla
Dougan, Kirstin
Fulton, Camilla
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents Side by Side: What a Comparative Usability Study Told Us about a Web Site Redesign Dougan, Kirstin Fulton, Camilla Web Sites Academic Libraries Computer Software Evaluation Computer System Design Comparative Analysis User Satisfaction (Information) Library Research Use Studies Library Development Library Automation Library Services Navigation (Information Systems) Performance Technology Library Web sites must compete against easy-to-use sites, such as Google Scholar, Google Books, and Wikipedia, for students' time and attention. Library Web sites must therefore be designed with aesthetics and user perceptions at the forefront. The Music and Performing Arts Library at Urbana-Champaign's Web site was overcrowded and in much need of a user-focused redesign. This article presents a usability study that compared participants' use of the old site versus the new site to determine if performance improved on the redesigned site. Participants were asked to complete library-related tasks on both the old Web site and on the redesigned Web site to determine if they could both complete more tasks and complete tasks more quickly on the new site. Participants showed a marked improvement on the new site, and their "think-out-loud" responses to the tasks helped further improve site design and wording. Participants were also surveyed about their perceptions of ease of use and navigation on the old and new sites, and in general, the new site was preferred by participants and seen as a great improvement. Future studies will aim to further involve students and faculty in addressing terminology and site organization. (Contains 10 figures and 5 tables.)
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_EJ858265
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2009
record_format eric
spellingShingle Side by Side: What a Comparative Usability Study Told Us about a Web Site Redesign
Dougan, Kirstin
Fulton, Camilla
Web Sites
Academic Libraries
Computer Software Evaluation
Computer System Design
Comparative Analysis
User Satisfaction (Information)
Library Research
Use Studies
Library Development
Library Automation
Library Services
Navigation (Information Systems)
Performance Technology
Side by Side: What a Comparative Usability Study Told Us about a Web Site Redesign Dougan, Kirstin Fulton, Camilla Web Sites Academic Libraries Computer Software Evaluation Computer System Design Comparative Analysis User Satisfaction (Information) Library Research Use Studies Library Development Library Automation Library Services Navigation (Information Systems) Performance Technology Library Web sites must compete against easy-to-use sites, such as Google Scholar, Google Books, and Wikipedia, for students' time and attention. Library Web sites must therefore be designed with aesthetics and user perceptions at the forefront. The Music and Performing Arts Library at Urbana-Champaign's Web site was overcrowded and in much need of a user-focused redesign. This article presents a usability study that compared participants' use of the old site versus the new site to determine if performance improved on the redesigned site. Participants were asked to complete library-related tasks on both the old Web site and on the redesigned Web site to determine if they could both complete more tasks and complete tasks more quickly on the new site. Participants showed a marked improvement on the new site, and their "think-out-loud" responses to the tasks helped further improve site design and wording. Participants were also surveyed about their perceptions of ease of use and navigation on the old and new sites, and in general, the new site was preferred by participants and seen as a great improvement. Future studies will aim to further involve students and faculty in addressing terminology and site organization. (Contains 10 figures and 5 tables.)
title Side by Side: What a Comparative Usability Study Told Us about a Web Site Redesign
topic Web Sites
Academic Libraries
Computer Software Evaluation
Computer System Design
Comparative Analysis
User Satisfaction (Information)
Library Research
Use Studies
Library Development
Library Automation
Library Services
Navigation (Information Systems)
Performance Technology
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ858265