Website Redesign: User Testing and Web 2.0

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Website Redesign User Testing and Web 2.0
Session C104 Inspiration for Your Library
Redesign

• Bennett Claire Ponsford - Digital Services
  Librarian
• Christina H. Gola - Coordinator of Undergraduate
  Instruction and Outreach
• Internet Librarian
• October 29, 2007

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Why are We Redesigning?
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Background

• Main library and 6 branches, 3 catalogs, 900
  databases, all usual library services but not
  well integrated
• Discontent expressed with current default search
• Branch libraries need for their own homepages to
  meet special needs

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Questions to Ask Users

• How do users want to search?
• What type of items are users searching for?
• How do they discover new resources?
• What to do with subject and class guides?
• Audience and function questions
• Format, location, and terminology
• What Web 2.0 features do users want?

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Methodology Phases

1. Initial surveys
2. Discussion forums
3. Focus groups
4. Individual interviews
5. Create functional specifications
6. Task based testing of prototypes
7. Modify prototypes and re-test, etc.

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Methodology Recruiting

• Traditional
• Blanket campus emails
• Advertising in student newspaper
• Announcements in classes
• New tools
• Facebook group
• Blog
• Discussion forum

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Results First Survey

• Undergraduates vs. Grad. Students/Faculty
• Both primarily looking for our stuff
• Searching differences
• Need for information about the library
• Interaction with the libraries' website
• Web 2.0 issues
• Limited interest in tagging
• Limited faculty interest in user-generated
  content
• Traditional preferences for communicating with
  the libraries

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Results Second Survey

• Confirmed summers results on use of the website
• Default search
• Want books or everything, but last searched for
  articles
• What to keep on home page
• Emphasis on simplifying the home page
• No consensus on what that means

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Results Bulletin Board

• Intense hatred of our pop-up windows
• Frustration
• Want to search, click on fulltext
• Not interested in all the options we give them
• Confusion
• Often cant even describe where they got lost

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Results Focus Groups

• Google Scholar
• Integrate Systems (catalogs, edocs, etc)
• Discovery of databases
• Subject and Class Guides
• Audience different than previously assumed
• Interdisciplinary issues
• Not a library jargon issue -- location format
  issues

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Results Focus Groups

• Need more ways to allow self-discovery and shared
  knowledge
• Visual sexy is good
• Use of Web 2.0 tools
• Undergrads and Humanities mentioned potential
  uses for Wikis
• Use of RSS glass half full or half empty?
• Personalization features

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Did 2.0 Work for Recruiting?

• Email was best method
• Web 2.0 tools (Facebook, blog, discussion forum)
  did not help much
• Why?

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Web 2.0 in Academic Libraries

• How far should we go?
• Academic standard vs. Web 2.0
• How much education do we provide?

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Recommendations

• Help them find our stuff and then get out of the
  way
• Reaffirmed tradition design rules
• Let the user control the interface
• Integrate our systems
• Better personalization options
• Determine user groups needs before using Web 2.0
  tools on website

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Next Steps

• Undergraduate focus groups
• One-on-one interviews with faculty
• Revisiting information architecture
• Prototype testing
• Article to come

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Questions?

• Bennett Ponsford bennett.ponsford_at_tamu.edu
• Christina H. Gola chgola_at_tamu.edu
• Thank you!