Usability Testing: A Case Study

Abstract

Usability testing is a technique for identifying difficulty that individuals may have using a product. Usability tests of the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries’ online public access catalog (OPAC), Article Indexes, Full Text, More, and Other Library Catalogs sections revealed problem areas. A task force used test findings to recommend solutions that led to the participation of the working group involved in designing search screens, the libraries’ User Education Department, and Innovative Interfaces Inc., the OPAC vendor. Solutions are currently being implemented.

Discovering How Students Search a Library Web Site: A Usability Case Study

“…2 The number of testers necessary is a matter of some debate: Janet K. Chisman, Karen R. Diller, and Sharon L. Walbridge recommended eight users, and Ruth Dickstein and Vicki Mills recommended eight to twelve. 3,4 Brenda Battleson, Austin Booth, and Jane Weintrop, in presenting their case study, replicated Jakob Nielsen and Thomas Landauer's "curve showing the relationship between the number of users tested and the number of problems found in a usability test." 5,6 The curve showed that with fifteen users, 100 percent of the problems should be revealed; eight users revealed approximately 90 percent of the problems and five users revealed approximately 80 percent of the problems.…”

“…7 Based on the recommendation of Chisman, Diller, and Walbridge, the authors used Jeffrey Rubin's 1994 Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, an excellent source on how to prepare for and implement a usability test. 8,9 The authors also heeded the recommendations of Dickstein and Mills, who emphasize the establishment of clear goals before undertaking the actual testing: "You can't test everything. Decide what are the most important tasks you want users to be able to perform on your site."…”

Yeah, I Found It! Performing Web Site Usability Testing to Ensure That Off-Campus Students Can Find the Information They Need

“…A number of students would pick the question up and look at it or glance down at it. Chisman et al (1999) notes that non-English speakers had difficulty understanding some of the test questions, thus supporting our decision to provide the questions in written form as it is frequently easier to understand information presented in written form than in verbal form.…”

“…Debriefing sessions for the moderator and observers were also included as time permitted. Chisman et al (1999) state that debriefing participants and test administrators after each study is essential for a quality result. Walbridge (2000) notes that debriefing offers an opportunity to provide information literacy training to the participants.…”

Improving Primo Usability and Teachability with Help from the Users

“…Librarians have tested library web sites using these methods for almost as long (Chisman et al 1999;McGillis and Toms 2001;Valentine and Nolan 2002) and continue to use them today to test Primo and other cloud-based discovery systems (Carter et al 2015).…”