Author: Jasmine P.

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Group Assignment 3a: Iterative Design

Users’ thoughts

After completing their tasks, our users gave their input on the Wilderness Coast Public Libraries (WCPL) website design, and from their comments, we gathered the following: The look of the site is jumbled and confusing, and the changes in the background from place to place make it seem like each part of the site was made by someone else. Across all the website’s pages, it is clear that the site was improved from a previous WordPress design to look more appealing with pictures and color, but the information itself is still presented in a poor fashion with large blocks of text, tight bullet point lists, and inappropriate links. There is a massive reliance on bullet point lists too close together, images with no links or explanation, a lack of basic information like hours of operation, and the jarring change of designs between each section of the public library system website. Overall, these smaller issues add up to a larger appearance that leaves the user either dreading large amounts of condensed information or confused about where to search.

Some of the pages should be broken up into separate subsections and incorporate either more graphical designs like pictures of the library or simply a more appealing and larger font. A quote from one of our users on this matter was, “Aerial is the most basic of fonts, and everything is so closely spaced.” The links used in the site should be placed in order of most use. Currently, they place the link to the individual library pages on the home screen off to the left and the survey on the library system at the center of the page even though they should prioritize the needs of the users, not the survey.

Improvement suggestions

The WCPL website is confusing and disorganized, as it is a maze of incomplete web pages for each of the different member libraries. When users enter the website, they should be able to get a basic understanding of how to navigate it. The library website would do much better if the links to the library branches were placed on the main page. This would make it easier for users to know which branch they would like to visit. If users want to find a book, the first thing they should consider is a branch of the library they are using.

WCPL site update

The Wilderness Coast Library System’s shared catalog web page allows a user to view materials offered by the libraries, but the design makes it difficult for users to find the page they want. In each of our individual user tests, our users struggled immediately with how to navigate using the main library system’s landing page, and even when we first chose this site for our project, we knew it left a lot to be desired. In fact, it appears that even the WCPL team noted how frustrating it is for users to navigate through and have thus chosen to begin the process of updating all of the websites. The difference between the two websites can be seen in the images below:

Fig 1. The original landing page for the Wilderness Coast Public Libraries System
Fig 2. The updated landing page as of 11/13/2022

As of right now, that overhaul reflects a more modern design approach, utilizing icons below the scrolling header image to provide context for orienting the viewer and assisting with quick navigation. Interestingly, the color palette has also been updated, changing from the teal blue to a green and pink/purple motif. One of the major changes is one our group has complained about from the start of this project: the inclusion of a Search Bar on the landing page (although it is not quite as optimal as we planned to propose). The other major change that they have made thus far is an updated navigation bar that includes actually useful and descriptive titles (with drop down menus for more specificity).

While the decision for the library to begin making updates in the middle of our examination of their site presents some challenges for us as we move forward in this assignment, it also provides a very exciting opportunity as well—as we go through the iterative design process and propose fixes to the site, we can also check in and see the iterative design process that this specific webpage will undergo in the next few weeks as they make their own changes. We will be able to critique not only our own design choices, but also compare them against what the actual library system chooses to do and from there make new proposals for optimizing navigation. This will enrich our experience as we create our proposed designs, and also help give us some direction/parameters as we reflect on the changes that are pushed out by the library. Not only that, but it will be a fertile opportunity to really emphasize the dialogic nature of the iterative design process, as we provide critique of the changes made and offer solutions that we feel would be more optimal, while also giving us a chance to acknowledge areas that may be updated that we hadn’t thought about or considered in our own perusal of the site.

Group redesign

With all of that said, before Wilderness Coast Public Libraries began actually publishing changes to their website, we came up with some design recommendations focusing specifically on the main landing page of the site. As I mentioned, some of the biggest concerns we flagged as a team were that: 1) the main page should immediately show a user the different libraries and pertinent information regarding each of them, 2) the main page needs an easy-to-find and easy-to-use catalog search bar, 3) the navigation bar needs to be more descriptive, and 4) the user needs to be able to access this information without having to make so many clicks to new pages.

Group proposed redesign of the WCPL home page

When users first land on the main page of the WCPL system, there is not much to look at. When doing our research up to this point, we all thought the main page could use much work. Mainly, we thought that since the Wilderness County system has multiple branches, and the branches are far apart, the best thing to do would be to have clickable links to each separate library website. Adding the contact information and address under the link would be extra helpful to users to make sure the library they select is the best one for them.

The next biggest issue for the library site is that there was no way to search on the main page. Adding a search bar would be extremely helpful and quicker for users just trying to search the website or the catalog. We added a catalog search bar to the top of the page so that it could be an immediate source of information for library users. The website also had clickable information at the top. Our group thought that adding extra links such as “log in,” “services,” and changing “Resources” to “Resources/Catalog” would be useful.

The search bar that is currently on the catalog page has options to narrow your search to the author, ISBN, subject, title, and more, which is good when searching the catalog. Having more options in regard to the search bar on the main library page would be great for patrons. The edited search bar created gives patrons the option to search the library website, the library catalog, library events, and library databases. Those options give patrons a narrow starting point that they can use to get good use out of the website.

Search function with more options
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Individual Assignment 3: Representative User Test

Selected website description

The Wilderness Coast Library System website homepage

The Wilderness Coast Public Libraries (WCPL) system offers its patrons various services through four libraries in three Florida counties. The particular library website within the system I was interested in seeing my user navigate was the Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library (JCPL).

The Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library website homepage

User characteristics

My user is a mom to three children, two in middle school and one in high school. She works as a co-teacher for special education students at an intermediate school. She says she is not the best at technology, adding her kids would be better at this test than she would, and has never accessed or used library websites.

Testing method

When my user told me she did not have experience navigating library websites, I decided to use the Retrospective Probing testing method. This method is typically combined with other methods, so while I asked her to think aloud as she was using the website, this method would give me the chance at the end to ask questions if she did anything I noted as interesting or unexpected. I did not believe just utilizing the Concurrent Think Aloud method would allow me to ask questions; unless I completely misunderstood, it appeared the only prompts I could give were to remind her to keep talking if she got quiet. 

User tasks

I did not make any changes to the scenarios or tasks. When I told my user that the persona was a high school student, she said she did not mind and wanted to try getting into that perspective.

Task 1: Using the Library system, the student will locate a relevant book for their research on the death of Julius Caesar, and which library that book is located at.

I kept this task as is because I wanted to see how my user would find and access the library’s catalog.

Task 2: Now knowing what book to look for and what library it is located, the student will look for the available hours of that library that does not overlap with their high school schedule.

I kept this task as is because I was curious what my user would do to find the hours of the library, since from the site itself, they are not located in a logical location.

Task 3: Find information on the use of computers at the local library to complete their research paper on Julius Caesar’s death. The student will also find out how to print from the library.

I kept this task as is because the use of computer information is not very clear or detailed and I wondered how my user would interpret them.

Detailed analysis

Task 1

Using the Library system, the student will locate a relevant book for their research on the death of Julius Caesar, and which library that book is located at.

I read the persona and first task to the user and pulled up the Wilderness Coast Public Libraries system homepage for her to begin. She clicked on Member Libraries and clicked on the Jefferson County picture since she is a student at a high school there. On the JCPL site, she clicked on the button labeled More under the header “Get books & materials.” She did not attempt to read the page when on it, instead scrolling down immediately. She noticed the faint words of Post Navigation at the bottom, asking what it meant.

The faint post navigation at the bottom of the page

She said she was looking for a search function so she can type what she needed and continue. She then clicked on the hamburger menu at the top right of the page, but not seeing what she needed, she closed it and started to skim over the Get books & materials page. She pondered over borrowing an eBook before deciding to click the link to do so. When the next page was a notification that the WCPL had merged with another network, she wondered if she would be able to access it since she does not live in Florida. 

On the Panhandle Library Access Network website, she eagerly exclaimed over the search bar, and began typing Julius before realizing she was not sure of the correct spelling. Remembering that she was acting as a teen, she ditched the search bar and clicked on the Teens tab on the top navigation. Again, she clicked on the search bar on this page and typed “Ceasar,” the incorrect spelling, rather than Julius this time. The auto-complete function gave her the suggestion of “Ceasar and Cleopatra,” so she clicked on it, but the resulting page claimed it could not find any matches for this title.

Incorrect spelling and resulting suggestion
No matches for the suggestion

She tried the search bar again, sounding out Julius as she typed it and found a match from the auto-suggestion. She clicked it, but there was only one book, which did not look as though it pertained to Julius Caesar, so she scrolled down and told me she would use one of the books at the bottom, under “Didn’t find what you were looking for?” She did not click on any of them, but those particular titles were all labeled “Not owned,” which I do not believe she noticed. Two were audiobooks of the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, one was an eBook of the SparkNotes for the Shakespeare play, and one was an eBook about Julius Caesar. She said she nailed this task, and I did not want to push any further and decided that could be the end. She said she could have found it faster if she had known how to spell Julius Caesar.

I asked her to go back to the Get books & materials page on the JCPL site, and once there, I asked why she had clicked on the ebooks link. She said it was the only one she had seen on the page.

Part of the Get books & materials page

Task 2

Now knowing what book to look for and what library it is at, the student will look for the available hours of that library that does not overlap with their high school schedule.

When I read this task to her, she said she would probably just call the library to ask when it is open. From the JCPL homepage, she clicked on Discover library services and immediately scrolled down. She saw the sentence that says patrons can call the library during business hours, but she wondered when the hours were. She then gave up on this task, saying she would just call the library since the phone number is at the top and it says to call them on the Discover library services page.

I asked her where she would expect to see the library hours, and she said either on the homepage, at the top navigation where the address and phone number are, or on the Discover library services page.

JCPL top navigation

Task 3

Find information on the use of computers at the local library to complete their research paper on Julius Caesar’s death. The student will also find out how to print from the library.

Starting back on the homepage, she clicked on the Get books & materials because it mentions technology. She clicked on the Tech2Go link, which directs her to the catalog, and said it didn’t look helpful, then asked what Tech2Go even meant. On the catalog for Tech2Go, the first option is a Chromebook.

She said she’s not good with technology and goes back to the Wilderness Coast Public Libraries tab. Curious, she clicked on Resources, wondering what it meant and skimmed it. She then navigated back to the JCPL website and went to Discover library services. She noted the printing information, then went to the Get books & materials page, back to Tech2Go, and said she knows she can check out a Chromebook from the library.

I took this as her suggesting she completed the task and asked why she had clicked on Tech2Go for computer information, and she explained that it sounded like technology and she was curious what was on it.

Possible design recommendations

Catalog search bar

During the first task, my user missed the link to the catalog on the Get books & materials page, which was understandable since it was in the middle of a paragraph. Because she said she had been looking for a search bar, I think a possible redesign choice would be adding a search bar for the catalog on the navigation panel of the JCPL website. Most people are accustomed to seeing a search bar on the homepage of a library’s site, so not having one violates the consistency heuristic.

There is also the option of making the link to the catalog more obvious instead of or in addition to including a catalog search bar. Having it in the middle of a paragraph like it currently is makes it easier to overlook.

Color scheme

The color scheme also proved to be somewhat of a hindrance to my user. She said she missed the link to the catalog because it blended in with the black font color and gray background. To prevent this from happening to other patrons, they could change the link color to something that stands out better against the gray background.

Library hours

My user gave up on the second task, finding the library hours, pretty quickly. While on the JCPL site, it notes where it is located and the days it is open, telling patrons to visit or call during business hours, but nowhere on the site does it list those hours. Because the phone number was visible, my user said she would just call and ask for the hours. A possible redesign here would be to include the hours in the top navigation, or, if the information would not fit there, to include them on the Discover library services page where it mentions to call the library during its open hours.

While the hours of the library can be found on the Wilderness Coast Library System website and by navigating to the catalog from the JCPL website, my user missed the link to the catalog and said this location would not be where she would expect to find the library hours. This violates the match between the real world and system heuristic.

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Group 2 Assignment: User Scenarios and Representative Tasks

Group name: Libraries

Group members: Christopher Gregor, Caitlin Hattaway, Jasmine Phillips, Erin Seaman, Colin Webb

Wilderness Coast Library System site

Our group chose The Wilderness Coast Library System website. We chose this website because it provides an opportunity to explore a shared catalog system that serves four library locations in three counties in North Florida. Additionally, as we explored the website, we were intrigued by the websites associated with each individual library (FCPL, JCPL, WCPL) in the Wilderness Coast system, as the county library web pages appear to have been created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We felt this would present an interesting opportunity to see how websites that were implemented to increase accessibility to the library’s services during the shutdowns are functioning now, and what issues might have arisen as time went on from the initial implementation.

As we explored the pages, we noticed a variety of heuristic violations, particularly with the main catalog home page, so we plan to pay particular attention to the way that the home page does (and does not) assist the user with learning the website and finding what they need quickly and easily. We are also most interested in exploring The Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library (JCPL) website more, as it was the most sparse and frustrating to navigate of the three Wilderness Coast library websites.

Jefferson County Public Library site

Persona

A student at Jefferson County High School unfamiliar with their local library and its services. They are preparing to apply to colleges and are working to keep a high GPA and an impressive set of extracurriculars. At home the family owns only one computer and they have multiple younger siblings, creating a need for somewhere quiet and available to work for longer hours on their final projects for classes. They have been assigned a research paper for their junior year history class and need to do research on a specific topic.

We chose this persona because for our tasks it made most sense for a student very focused on their upcoming assignments to need the services of the library. It also allowed us to explore more uses for the library beyond only finding an available book or two. Now in addition to that we can include the search for research tools like computers and printers.

Scenario

The high school student is trying to use their local library system to conduct research on a paper they have been assigned. The topic they are researching is the Ides of March and the death of Julius Caesar. The student will also look for activities and events that will help them become more engaged in their local library’s events to complete service hour requirements.

Tasks

Task 1

Using the Library system, the student will locate a relevant book for their research on the death of Julius Caesar, and which library that book is located at.

This particular task prompts our users to search for a specific set of books in the system, allowing us to observe the user refining their searches and exploring a couple of options much like our student persona would as they search for relevant materials. It also makes note of the availability of that book to the library near our persona’s county.

Task 2

Now knowing what book to look for and what library it is at, the student will look for the available hours of that library that does not overlap with their high school schedule.

This task forces our user to backtrack and return to the main page of the site to locate the hours of that library, not only refining their knowledge for the next task of additional services but also allowing us to observe how easy or difficult it is to backtrack on the website through its multiple links.

Task 3

Find information on the use of computers at the local library to complete their research paper on Julius Caesar’s death. The student will also find out how to print from the library. 

Finally, this task focuses on the persona’s need for extra services from the library and prompts our user to search for available tools on that library website, which in some cases isn’t in any familiar location to the user on the site and pushes them to search around a bit for this information. We as observers will be able to see if this additional search will stump any users now that they have gone across the site a bit already.

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Individual Assignment 2: Heuristic Evaluation

Website selection and description

For this heuristic evaluation, I chose the Brooks County Public Library website. The Brooks County Public Library website is what patrons in Brooks County, Georgia, can use to interact with and learn more about their library if they are physically unable to visit the building for whatever reason.

Brooks County Public Library homepage (with a removal of phone number by me)

Scenario and heuristic approach

I have volunteered at my own local public library for numerous programs and events, so I decided to make the scenario one where a representative user looking to fulfill required volunteer hours is checking the library’s website to see if the library offers any volunteer opportunities and, if they do, finding out how to sign up for a shift.

I have no knowledge of Brooks County or its public library website, mainly having chosen it because of its lacking homepage, so my approach is one of a new user looking for desired information, then taking my navigation of the site and of how easy it was to find what I was looking for and judging it against Nielsen’s heuristics.

Analysis

The first thing I do when looking for information specific to a location is read the About page, as general information is typically listed there. I did not have to go far here, as the homepage is title About Us, so I read through the page, which contains a lot of text and an image that does not load, but found nothing about volunteering.

Next, I decided to use the search bar located at the top right below the navigation panel. It says I can “Find Books & More,” and because it says “search” and not “search catalog,” I thought that it would search the whole site and I might get some results for volunteering. Upon pressing search, I received a page notifying me that the search option is not secure.

The page I get after pressing search (which is in compliance with the error prevention heuristic)

I pressed “Send anyway” instead of “Go back” because I wanted to see what my results were and was taken to this page:

The page I get after pressing “Send anyway”

Because I realized that I could not use the search option to look for volunteer opportunities, I went back to the main page and tried the Events tab, as that seemed like a place volunteering might be mentioned. Curiously, on this page there is a note about how the Brooks County Public Library is in the process of updating its website. I would expect this to be on the homepage, as that seems to be more logical—people are more likely to land on the homepage when accessing a website.

The Events page with a note about the site being updated

This page is also mainly text, but there is a picture at the bottom that does load. Still, there is no information about volunteer opportunities. I decided to try the Youth Services tab next, but I continued to have no luck in my search. Finally, I tried the Links & More tab, though wary of what they consider “& More” at this point, and saw nothing to aid my search. Having been through all the parts of the site that seem as though would house volunteer opportunities, I am resigned to the fact that if I really did live in this county and were looking to volunteer at the library, I would have to place a phone call (which, now that I think about it, would probably be more effective than what I just went through).

Heuristic violations

Match between system and the real world

This may be the case of a bad label, but the search bar saying I can use it to find “Books & More” seemed to be a violation of this heuristic. The “& More” implies that I would be able to use the search bar to find out information about things not related to books, especially since there was no mention of this only searching the catalog. In a way, I thought it was speaking my language, but it was actually vague and led me to errors.

Another violation of this heuristic would be the website update information being on the Events page rather than the homepage. This heuristic states that information should be placed logically, which I did not find this note to be. I immediately judged this library site based on the main page, as that was how I first accessed it. If this information about the website being under construction had been on the homepage, it would make more sense, giving users information from the start, and I probably would not have been so harsh about its design (or maybe I would have been, but at least I would have known they were doing something about it).

Consistency and standards

When I received the unsecure form notification and “Not Found” errors after using the search bar, I considered how they violated this heuristic. These error messages did not fit the tone from the library website, which is startling and leads to confusion, detracting from the experience users have on the website.

The Events tab may be a violation of this heuristic, specifically external consistency. When you visit the event pages on other library websites, you find a calendar with events listed, or, if not a calendar, a digital flyer or slideshow of new or recurring events. Brooks County Public Library has neither, just written text about their few events.

Aesthetic and minimalist design

The Brooks County Public Library website does not have many images and is mainly composed of text, making it visually unappealing and giving it a bad first impression. While this heuristic states that the visual design should not be overwhelming for users, containing the necessary information, this site is rather bare and boring to look at and use. While it is minimalistic, it is not aesthetic, so I believe it violates this heuristic.

Recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

The “Not Found” error page also violates this heuristic. While it did tell me that an error occurred, it did not tell me what went wrong. Here I was, thinking that I was searching the website, and suddenly I am on a different page with seemingly no connection to the library. The error message was not in a plain language for the typical user to understand: I have no idea what any of the words, besides gapines.org, on the last line of the message means. Furthermore, there was no solution offered by this page to help me correct whatever had gone wrong.

Initially, I figured the search option was just for books rather than the library site because it was not completely specific about its intended use, and this error page proved that for me. Gapines.org, which is mentioned on the last line of the error message, is the OPAC system a number of Georgia libraries use so their patrons can request materials from other libraries in the state. I knew this as a user of PINES, but if one did not know about it prior to doing a search, they may be confused about why they were taken to a separate page where the Brooks County Public Library is no longer featured, in addition to being confused about the actual error.

Design recommendations

Search bar

For the search bar, I would make sure the label clearly identifies in universal terms that it only searches the catalog, so users would not be able to use it to search the library website itself for information about the library. This would prevent those users, like me, who try to use it as a shortcut to find out general information about the library. I have seen on some other library sites where there is an option to toggle between searching the catalog or searching the library website, which could also be a redesign alternative for this.

Visual design

There is a balance when it comes to the design of websites, but a lot of the pages of the Brooks County Public Library website are plain and filled with text, so one recommendation I have is adding relevant images and a color scheme. I also suggest they make headers noticeable so users can easily see what information is grouped together, making it easier to scan since most people probably would not read through all of the text they come across.

Adding digital flyers to their events page, if not a calendar, could help elevate the bare design of the site, but I understand the decision of just having text, seeing as they do not have many events. Still, this makes a case for adding flyers, just to help users immediately notice what is going on and locate events instead of reading plain text.

Error messages

To prevent users from receiving the unsecure form notification and “Not Found” error message pages from PINES, as I do not believe they come from the library website, I would suggest the library staff checks and updates their search bar function so that it works properly, if not get rid of it completely. The “Find a Book” button on the navigation panel leads to the PINES catalog with no issues, showing there is something wrong with the search bar function itself. This would save users a lot of trouble, because I believe more are likely to type in a book they are looking for if they see a search bar rather than clicking the “Find a Book” button.

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Group Assignment 1: Group Topic Selection

Group name and members

Group name: Libraries

Group members: Christopher Gregor, Caitlin Hattaway, Jasmine Phillips, Erin Seaman, Colin Webb

Selected type of site and sample sites

We selected public libraries as the type of library site we will use for the group assignments. The following are sample public library sites:

Group Statement

Since we have all accessed and used public libraries at some point in our lives, for work, education, or leisure, we have all been exposed to and have had to learn the interface of this type of website, which is a large part of the reason we chose public libraries.

At first glance, a library can be defined as a place that houses books that individuals can access and read. However, libraries are far more capacious than that: they are resource centers that help connect the public to not only physical and digital books, are databases and research services, are a community space that offers a variety of resources and events, and are an access to check out physical objects like gardening equipment or GoPros. Not only that, but the physical spaces of a brick-and-mortar library offer a variety of social goods for people of all ages and backgrounds in the form of events, learning opportunities, and simply just being a physical space to use.

Given that public libraries serve the general population, we saw the value in exploring the usability of this type of library site. Technology has allowed public libraries to extend their resources, services, and holdings in an electronic format through their website, which gives patrons new and convenient ways of accessing information. Conversely, with all the information they display, there is also the potential of causing frustration, depending on how the library chooses to organize and label the information on its site – users may end up feeling hindered rather than supported as they conduct a search. Public library websites have the unique challenge of accommodating a broad population of users with different technological skills, so it will be interesting to see how they have responded to this.

It is important to note that, with such an ever-increasing variety of uses offered by public libraries, their websites must convey a wealth of information in a logical and easy-to-use manner. Unfortunately, due to factors such as decreased funding, many library websites are difficult to use for the average user. This is particularly dire, since the trend we are seeing is an overall decrease in utilization of public libraries by the general public, which has prompted companies such as Amazon to suggest that we replace these free, public institutions with yet more private, pay-to-play services. The ease-of-use of a public library’s website, in a world that is increasingly moving to online services, has a direct impact on whether these institutions will continue and remain funded, or if they will be deemed obsolete and phased out.

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Individual Assignment 1: Designing for Users

The Goodreads website home page

Website and User Tester Selections

The website I proclaim to be an expert with, just by virtue of having used it since I was in high school, is Goodreads, a social cataloging site for books. The first thing the user I asked to help me with this project said was, “I’m not a technology person at all.” She has a bachelor’s degree and an advanced degree in learning disabilities and currently works in the special education department at a school. If she has to use a new website or device, she says it’s typically for work, and even then, she is trained by someone. She does not use websites like Goodreads when looking for books; she prefers to go “old school” and visit brick and mortar stores like Barnes and Noble. She is also a religious individual.

Navigating the Site

I pulled up the site’s home page and asked my user to conduct a search for a book, and she immediately asked me how, as, shown in the image at the beginning of this post, there was no search bar at the top of the page like one typically finds when browsing websites. Instead, from the home page, one must scroll down to find the search bar, which my user did.

The search bar is located towards the middle of the Goodreads home page when one is not logged in

When she entered a book to search and hit enter, the results page loaded, and then a pop-up appeared, prompting the user to create an account or sign in. My user looked at it for a moment before asking me if she needed to create an account, which she did not want to do, to continue. I may have contaminated the process by pointing out that she could exit out of the pop-up.

The pop-up that appears when one conducts a search while not logged in

Back on track, she found the book she was looking for and clicked it. It was at this point she wanted to search for an author, and instead of using the search bar on the site, two of which were now visible at the top like one would typically see on a website, she clicked in the address bar and began typing in her query.

Two search bars are now clearly visible for the user, one in the typical location in a navigation panel at the top

This was another instance where I may have contaminated the results, as I told her she could use the search bar on the site. She did, and when she began typing in the topmost search bar, it showed auto-filled suggestions, which she thought was a cool feature, and she found a book by the author she was looking up. She scrolled through the book’s page and was a bit scandalized by some of the reviews and comments she skimmed over that the users of the site posted (this reaction, coupled with the knowledge that she is fairly religious, made me realize that is probably why she is “not a technology person”).

Suggestions for Design Improvements

Search bar

The search bar on the home page was an obvious initial hindrance with the site. People are accustomed to search bars being immediately visible, usually at the top of the screen in a navigation panel. I’m not sure why, when one is not logged in, the search bar is towards the middle of the home page. If one logs in, it is visible at the top, and it is also visible at the top if one searches a book and clicks on the link to Goodreads via a search engine query, despite not being logged in. I’m not sure about this design choice, besides the fact that it seems to try to induce people to create an account if they somehow come to the website by the home page. On the page, the biggest buttons suggest users create an account or continue with other login credentials to get the most out of the site. 

I purposely did not log in to my account because I wanted to see what my user would do when I asked her to search for a book from the home page. As expected, she asked me how she was supposed to, because there was no visible search bar where one expects it to be. If a casual user were looking for information about a book, they would most likely just perform a search in a search engine and access the Goodreads page directly from a link there rather than go through the process of typing in the Goodreads URL in the address bar and then searching on the website. That appeared to be what my user was doing at one point, when she wanted to look up an author and began searching in the address bar rather than the search bar on the site. That decision led me to believe that is how she typically conducts searches on sites – if she doesn’t find what she’s looking for, she will just click the address bar, which doubles as a search engine, do another search, and look through links to pick one that may be more helpful. If she had happened to come across the Goodreads home page herself and not taken the time to scroll and find the search bar, she probably would have left the site to continue conducting her search elsewhere.

Pop-up

Something else of note was her hesitation when the pop-up appeared. Typically, I will click outside of the pop-up area to dismiss them, and when that does not work, I will read it to see what I need to click on to dismiss it if there is not an X in the corner. My user missed that she could exit out of the pop-up by clicking the X, but her reaction made me wonder if this pop-up is a beneficial or even necessary addition. She came to the results page from the home page, where the biggest buttons want one to create an account or sign in through other log in credentials – she chose to do neither of those, but the site throws up a pop-up anyway in an effort to get a new user. For those who don’t have the patience for pop-ups, or do not think they can close out of them, as some sites will not allow you to continue further unless you register or sign in, they could have the opposite effect of causing people to leave rather than stick around, especially if they just went through the ordeal of searching for a search bar.