Well that about sums up all the work that i did for the User Testing of the Exeter University websites. showing my preliminary mockups to my volunteers actually led to some really positive feedback! they felt that the new design made it much easier to grab the data they wanted, and removed some of the 'clutter' from the old design.
A concise record of all this will be available in the next few days in the form of a detailed report!
Oliver
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
New Design Specifications - Whats Available
New 'Whats Available' design! although i wrote a load of twaddle on the contents section of this whats happening bit, you can see how it can be laid out. by clicking on the buttons, you can select what subjects you want to compare.
Monday, 25 May 2009
New Design Mockup - Search Bar
Just a quick mockup to show how i see a predictive suggestion search toolbar working for the Exeter website.
Edit - I know that the main menu is the original style one, but im only trying to show the new search bar approach.
New Design Mockup - Main Menu
The new proposed Main Menu layout. Note that the menu in the actual website would be smaller font and in a similar theme to the ones used through out the site.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Whats next and what did i surmise from testing
Right well thats it for tonight. what i am planning on doing though is some basic photoshop mockups to show how the website would look with my proposed changes.
Overall, the testing went really well! each of my users ran into some kind of problem at some point, and that tells you that there is some serious Usability issues with the website. the key problems that were identified were:
Hopefully my suggestions, if implemented, would improve several of these problems. i should have the sites mock up interfaces done in the next couple of days!
Overall, the testing went really well! each of my users ran into some kind of problem at some point, and that tells you that there is some serious Usability issues with the website. the key problems that were identified were:
- Ineffective search engine
- Broken Links
- Non linked academic departments to the subjects/courses in question
- Misleading sections titles (such as Money Matters)
Hopefully my suggestions, if implemented, would improve several of these problems. i should have the sites mock up interfaces done in the next couple of days!
New Design Specifications - Student Life
After the trouble my usability testers suffered in trying to find the various acccomodation, and sports activites available to studens, it seemed the best way to solve this would be to amalgamate all these sections under one roof, student life.
Student Life now will have a 'Whats Available' section, looking at what facilities and activities are available at the different campuses, and showing them side by side so you can easily compare each site. the design i have produced allows you to look at individual sections of the student life side by side, or select multiple areas by clicking on the tabs on the left.
Student Life now will have a 'Whats Available' section, looking at what facilities and activities are available at the different campuses, and showing them side by side so you can easily compare each site. the design i have produced allows you to look at individual sections of the student life side by side, or select multiple areas by clicking on the tabs on the left.
Friday, 22 May 2009
New Design Specifications - Search Bar
The other main area that caused problems was the low effectiveness of the current websites search bar. my proposed change is to incorporate a new search technology, using predictive input to offer suggestions to the users as they type in their search criteria.
for example, beginning to type 'English', would begin to bring up search suggestions such as 'English Entry Requirements, English Language, English Literature, English Department'.
It allows users to once more, quickly navigate to where they need to get to, and prehaps clarify what it is they are looking for.
for example, beginning to type 'English', would begin to bring up search suggestions such as 'English Entry Requirements, English Language, English Literature, English Department'.
It allows users to once more, quickly navigate to where they need to get to, and prehaps clarify what it is they are looking for.
New Design Specifications - Main Screen
Here is what i came up with for the new main screen menu layout:
At the top you have a rough sketch of each of the buttons. now the current design requires that you press each button, going into a sub-menu, and then having to go back to the main site if that button doesnt get you where you want. i propose to use Tabbed Sub-Menus, that drop down from a new, more concise main menu. this way you can quickly guide yourself to where you need to be. this new layout is more aimed at users looking towards studying at the university, but yet still immediatley shows where u need to be going if your looking towards the more research,commercial, or career side of Exeters facilities.
At the top you have a rough sketch of each of the buttons. now the current design requires that you press each button, going into a sub-menu, and then having to go back to the main site if that button doesnt get you where you want. i propose to use Tabbed Sub-Menus, that drop down from a new, more concise main menu. this way you can quickly guide yourself to where you need to be. this new layout is more aimed at users looking towards studying at the university, but yet still immediatley shows where u need to be going if your looking towards the more research,commercial, or career side of Exeters facilities.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 3
The final user brought a slightly different approach to the Exeter website testing. Following all the tasks to detail, they would try and navigate through menus if they appeared clearly obvious, and when not obvious, moved straight to the search bar. the search keywords they used actually would appear to have found the right pages containing the relevant data, but then this ran into serious errors. the pages had been re-located within the website, but the links to the new locations would just send the user back to the Studying main page. all this does is confuse and deter webpage users!
now ive gone over all the the user tests, i can start producing some new design specifications for areas of the website that could do with improving!
now ive gone over all the the user tests, i can start producing some new design specifications for areas of the website that could do with improving!
User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 2
My second volunteer was what must be said was the most successful of my three participants in their ability to achieve the tasks set out.
Taking more time than the other two candidates, their general approach was more thorough in the way that they fully explored the page in order to find the connecting links required to get to the information they needed. That being said, tuition fees seem to be a hard thing to locate, and even when looking through all menus, could not link together fees and costings with the 'Money Matters' section of the page.
Their side commentary was also very concise, with a great deal of explanation into their thought processes, making their contribution highly valuble!
Taking more time than the other two candidates, their general approach was more thorough in the way that they fully explored the page in order to find the connecting links required to get to the information they needed. That being said, tuition fees seem to be a hard thing to locate, and even when looking through all menus, could not link together fees and costings with the 'Money Matters' section of the page.
Their side commentary was also very concise, with a great deal of explanation into their thought processes, making their contribution highly valuble!
User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 1
Volunteer 1 was the first of my 3 volunteers who participated in the testing of the exeter website.
most of their navigation of the website was done using the menu buttons and selections made avaiable to users, with the exception of trying to find the Uni rugby team. finding course fees was quite rapid, but the user was unable to fully complete the other task. During their test, they also left the university website accidentally for a short period of time, getting misled by the 'The Students View' button when trying to find more information on student life.
i would also like to note that in finding relevant information, most of the links that were needed were always 3 clicks away from the main page. it seems silly to put this critical information so far out of reach of the main portal into the website.
most of their navigation of the website was done using the menu buttons and selections made avaiable to users, with the exception of trying to find the Uni rugby team. finding course fees was quite rapid, but the user was unable to fully complete the other task. During their test, they also left the university website accidentally for a short period of time, getting misled by the 'The Students View' button when trying to find more information on student life.
i would also like to note that in finding relevant information, most of the links that were needed were always 3 clicks away from the main page. it seems silly to put this critical information so far out of reach of the main portal into the website.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Usability Test Complete
Well, alll in all, the usability test went really well. there were no hiccups to speak of, aside from a minor problem with the page view, which was accidentally 'zoomed out' when one of my test participants caught the zoom slider on the side of the wireless keyboard. at this point i came back into the test and reset the view to normal, and continued on with the testing.
The image below can show you the part of the keyboard that caused me problems during the test, although in reality this minor error did not affect the outcome of my usability testing.
The image below can show you the part of the keyboard that caused me problems during the test, although in reality this minor error did not affect the outcome of my usability testing.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Ready For Testing Tomorrow
Ok, everything is ready. i have contacted my three participants, and hopefully i should be able to run the Usability Testing between 5-9pm tomorrow evening. All the questions i will pose to my test group will be the same as the ones we practiced this week, the only exception being that i have slightly altered my original script in order to make it more concise and informative for my volunteers.
Amended Moderators Script
Amended Moderators Script
Getting Ready For My User Test Group
with the practice done, i can see how i need to be undertaking my own user testing actions. hopefully in the next couple of days i should begin testing all my voluntary participants on the Exeter Website.
now we are so close to the test, its worth giving you a bit of an idea on who my volunteers are:
Participant 1 is a seventeen year old male with an interest in further eductation
Participant 2 is a mother of several children, some of which have already gone to university
Participant 3 is a currently studying overseas student.
Luck has it that i was able to find what must be said are the three primary stakeholders in a website of this kind! anyway, the software has been installed, and the workspace is ready for use. i should have some pictures of the test enviroment to accompany in the next few days.
now we are so close to the test, its worth giving you a bit of an idea on who my volunteers are:
Participant 1 is a seventeen year old male with an interest in further eductation
Participant 2 is a mother of several children, some of which have already gone to university
Participant 3 is a currently studying overseas student.
Luck has it that i was able to find what must be said are the three primary stakeholders in a website of this kind! anyway, the software has been installed, and the workspace is ready for use. i should have some pictures of the test enviroment to accompany in the next few days.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Practice Usability Test. - Video Uploads
Hey there, just saying ive now got the video and audio from our practice usability test. because they are some pretty large files (300mb and 1.4gb) ill have to re-encode them for the web, but should have them uploaded and attached to this thread sometime tonight.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Lectures - Completed Practice Usability Test
well, yesterday we completed our practice usability test. overall i would have to say that the practice test went very well. our volunteer listened to our points, and attempted to complete the tasks set in a competent manner. overall, including introduction, testing, and de-briefing time, the whole usability testing processs took just under an hour.
The interesting thing i learnt from this usablity test trial was that no matter how sure you are on the way that the user will undertake a task, they will most likely prove you wrong, and take a completely different approach!
The interesting thing i learnt from this usablity test trial was that no matter how sure you are on the way that the user will undertake a task, they will most likely prove you wrong, and take a completely different approach!
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Practice Usability Test.
well its been arranged that hopefully in a weeks time we will be taking a practice run at performing a usability test.
Operated like any real usability test, we will need four pieces of documentation:
Moderators Script
Task List
Consent Form
De-Brief Questionnaire
each one of us in class will be tasked with creating one of these. i have been tasked at creating the Moderators Script.
The moderators script has to have, pretty much to the letter, the exact words that the test moderator will say to the voluntary participant before, and after they have completed the tasks set out for them. it needs to inform them of the basic task, explain the purposes of testing, indicate that refreshments are available, and that if they ever feel uncomfortable, that they can end the test at any time.
Ideally, the Moderators script should answer any questions the participants have prior to taking the test.
Operated like any real usability test, we will need four pieces of documentation:
Moderators Script
Task List
Consent Form
De-Brief Questionnaire
each one of us in class will be tasked with creating one of these. i have been tasked at creating the Moderators Script.
The moderators script has to have, pretty much to the letter, the exact words that the test moderator will say to the voluntary participant before, and after they have completed the tasks set out for them. it needs to inform them of the basic task, explain the purposes of testing, indicate that refreshments are available, and that if they ever feel uncomfortable, that they can end the test at any time.
Ideally, the Moderators script should answer any questions the participants have prior to taking the test.
Friday, 8 May 2009
Usability Professionals Association
another website i found during the course of my website is the one run by the UPA, who specialise in all things based around usability.
their website gives you tips and ideas on how to start usability testing, as well as also offering corporate services and job opportunities. a handy site. oh and it had this neat little diagram for how user centered design works, which i thought was pretty cool!
Oh and the website is:
http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html
their website gives you tips and ideas on how to start usability testing, as well as also offering corporate services and job opportunities. a handy site. oh and it had this neat little diagram for how user centered design works, which i thought was pretty cool!
Oh and the website is:
http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html
Monday, 4 May 2009
Useit.com
Just trawling around the web, i found Jacob Nielsens website. it addresses, well, pretty much EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about usability. its worth a look!
It may look bland, but its easy to use, navigate, and pull information from. it does what it should do, and does it well. the KEY to usability
http://www.useit.com/
It may look bland, but its easy to use, navigate, and pull information from. it does what it should do, and does it well. the KEY to usability
http://www.useit.com/
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