Individual Assignment 3

LIS 5275 – Usability Analysis

Christopher Gregor

The Wilderness Coast Library System

Main Page

The Wilderness Coast Library System website is the central access site to the Wilderness coast multiple library sites. It is used by the Franklin County, Jefferson County, and Wakulla County libraries to access their own main sites and the larger Wilderness Coast library catalog of books and assets. This site is designed to aid users in searching for information and tools related to the entire library system or to direct users to the appropriate site of the correct library.

User

The user selected for this round of testing was a 17-year-old high school student preparing to end their junior year with their final history project. They are determined to keep a high grade in their courses since next year they are applying to colleges and want to in with a high GPA. They live in a two-parent household with one younger sibling within walking distance of the school. To prepare for the history project, they are planning to do their project work with their fellow group members at one of the nearby libraries so they can be near resources and guarantee everyone has internet access and can do their part, along with communicating in person.

User Testing Method

For studying this website, I will be using the ThinkAloud method of user testing in order to be able to observe the user’s interactions and thoughts on the websites as they explore it and complete their tasks. This method will allow me a good understanding of my user’s interactions with the site, especially since the observation of the tasks will be done remotely using discord to allow me to watch my user move through the site live. This method will also allow me to record insight into the user’s plans and thinking on how to find their goals and walk through their confusion when they get stuck.

Tasks

The following three tasks were planned by the group to test the Wilderness Coast Library System’s usability and focus. For the purposes of my user, it is assumed that they are able to get to any of the libraries in the system for their tasks because their group members can drive them. The library my user will focus on will be discovered by their completion of the first task. Should they be unable to complete the task or not find a specific library, they will be instructed to select the Jefferson County Public Library.

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.

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 do not overlap with their high school schedule.

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.

User Testing

Task 1

For task 1, the user was sent the URL for the homepage and began streaming their screen to me as they read the instructions. Their first choice was to click on the Member Libraries link and select the Wakulla County Public library, seemingly at random. From there, they used the catalog link to go to the Wilderness Coast catalog and type in the upper search bar “death of Julius Caesar.” They chose the first book of “Julius Caesar/Struan Reid” and started to get confused by their options. First, they clicked the link “Place Hold” and hit a dead end when prompted to log into a library account they didn’t have. After backing up a page, they began scrolling through all the options on the left side of the page before clicking save record, which did not present them with where it was saved. The user then seemed to hesitate on “adding it to cart” but instead clicked print to try and download it, but the site didn’t provide which library it was at still. They backtracked again, and this time clicked “Add to cart,” which still didn’t provide them with the location of the book. From here, the user’s frustration began to show, and asked me to repeat the task prompt; they then returned to the catalog search page to look for more options. When they found none, they returned to the book’s link and began viewing the MARC and ISBD view links with no success. Following this, the user became very lost and frustrated before abandoning the task, declaring the library wasn’t listed on the page.

After completing all tasks, I showed the user the location of the library information, which was spelled under the book’s description as an acronym which clearly confused the user, who was unfamiliar with the libraries already to recognize an acronym. I imagine that while the catalog is designed well for library staff who know the information and acronym meanings, it is too jarring to the new user who needs some more explanation on what each link does.

Task 2

To begin task 2, since the user was unable to find the location of the book in the previous task, the user was instructed to assume the book was located at the Jefferson County Public Library. They were also told to restart from the main page with the provided URL. They began by once again clicking on the member library and now clicking on the Jefferson County public library. From there, they navigated to the menu button on the right side of the page and read through the options before leaving the menu. They then clicked home, which took them to the same page they were already on. They then selected Discover Library Services and read through its contents before going to Get books and materials. They once again read through its contents and then moved on to the COVID-19 section, which mentioned adjusted hours but did not list the actual hours of the library. At the point the user remarks on how confusing it is that the pages have texted highlighted like links but no actual links to more pages, it once again appeared to be frustrating the user. The user then found the tiny Facebook link at the bottom of the page and clicked on it to go to the library’s Facebook page. They clicked on the About link and found the hours of the library, completing the task.

It was very clear that for this task, the user became as confused as my group was with the difficulty of simply finding the hours on the site. However, they also became frustrated with how often the page mentioned the “standard hours” without mentioning what they were, and I can see how this could be very problematic as a design for users searching for very basic information.

Task 3

After exploring virtually, the entire Jefferson Public Library website for task 2, task 3 was completed very quickly by the user. They began by returning to the Discover Library Services page and scrolling through the bullet points on the list to locate the printing services policy for the library. On the same page, they were able to find information on the use of the Library’s Chromebooks for research and internet uses.

While this task was completed in the shortest number of steps, it still took my user a bit of time to review all the bullet points of the site, which they remarked felt very tedious and unhelpful for an informative website.

Design Recommendations

After completing the tasks, I asked my user to list some problems they had with the website as if they were reviewing it. Combining their opinions along with my own gathered observations, I believe that multiple small improvements to the general look and layout of the site are needed. 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 poorly. Relying on bullet point lists to close together, images with no links or explanation, 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 lots 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 my user 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 its user’s needs, not the survey.

The larger recommendation would be to combine all of the sections of the library system: the main page, each of the individual libraries, and the catalog into a single site with a uniform design. It would allow users to navigate the site more consistently as the same navigation tools and patterns would be used across the site, along with specific standards being uniform to ensure all the correct information for each library and book can be found and recognized easily by each user. While this may take some time, it would allow for a smoother experience overall instead of a bunch of extra tabs being opened by links throughout the site to navigate across the Wilderness Coast Public Library System.

September 27, 2022

Individual Assignment 2

Christopher Gregor – Libraries Group – LIS 5275

Website Chosen

For Assignment 2 I selected my local library, the St. Johns County Public Library System located at https://sjcpls.org/. This library has been an active part of St. Johns County and was first established in the county library system on September 27, 1977. However, the first library of St. Johns County was established in St. Augustine in 1874. Residents and especially students across the county have relied on these libraries to complete schoolwork, research, and access to community resources.

The website itself is the central site for all of the St. Johns County libraries and offers services ranging from virtual events, a calendar of upcoming news and events for the libraries, recommendations, and the books-by-mail service. Amongst the many services offered by modern libraries, the St. Johns County Public Library System website offers a long-distance platform to use many of its services, especially post-COVID lockdown.

https://sjcpls.org/ main page

Scenario

The user is asked to imagine they have research they need to do and are stuck at home during the lockdown, using the St. Johns County Public Library System website to find and use the Book-by-Mail service to search for and “borrow” a book on the United States Revolutionary War. Since the final part of this scenario requires an actual account and processed application the user would only be required to reach the screen prompting them to request the book and not to actually order it.

I approached the scenario viewing of this site searching for usability heuristic flaws on the website. With the scenario described my user began interacting with the drop-down menus to search for Book-by-Mail to find the requested book. They began by interacting with the eLibrary drop-down menu and selecting FL Electronic Library. This redirected them to another site, Fl Electronic Library https://www.flelibrary.com/ immediately which did not contain any information Book by Mail as it was a completely different site. After going back to the main site via the back arrow my user then tried to access the Branches tab to search for Book by Mail through one of the local library branches, they were directed to helpful information about events at the branch, its location, and contact information but no mention of Books by Mail. Finally, they proceeded to the Explore tab where they found the link for Books by Mail.

My user read over the process of Books by Mail and at this point, I instructed them to click on the link for the application to assume they were completing it; this link once again took them off the main site and to a pdf with no redirects to the main site. After using the back arrow to return I instructed them to assume they had completed the application and to access the link to the online catalog which they were able to find on the Books by Mail page and the Explore tab. Once on the catalog, they were able to easily search for the “United States Revolutionary War” and find several books requestable with the Books by Mail service, successfully completing the task.

Usability Flaws Found

The first flaw I saw while my user was completing the scenario was when they accessed the FL Electronic Library link on the St. Johns County Public Library System. The link immediately sent my user to a separate website for the FL Electronic Library with no link on the site back to the home page of the St. Johns County Public Library System, requiring them to hit the back button several times (or type in the URL again to return to the start of the scenario). This lack of link back to the main website is a violation of the Usability Heuristic number three, User Control and Freedom. With no “Emergency Exit” on the second site or link back to the home site, this design failure leaves the user inconvenienced and essentially disconnected from the main site. In addition, this link to the FL Electronic Library website gave no warning or indication that this was a link to another website. This violates Usability Heuristic number six, without having been to the FL Electronic Library site before my user would have no reason to know it existed and had no signs of warning that this link would lead them off the main page.

The second flaw involves the same failures as the first, when my user accessed the Book by Mail application the site informed the user that they would need to complete the application and submit it to the library virtually. However, once my user clicked on the link for the application it once again left the St. Johns County Public Library System main site and went to an online PDF. Not a downloadable but a whole separate page with no link to return back except for the back arrow.

Design Recommendations

Following what my user completed and got stuck on in my scenario I would propose two design changes to improve the St. Johns County Public Library System, firstly when accessing the FL Electronic Library link on the website the user should be able to see a prompt on the new website to return to where they were. Since the websites were built for similar utilities of accessing library resources virtually it should be possible for each site to link to the other. On the main site though there should be a prompt or warning for the unfamiliar user to be aware they are leaving the St. Johns County Public Library System website, which may help them to know when they are going in the wrong direction for what they want to do a little earlier. The second recommendation I would give is to make the Book by Mail pdf link a downloadable document and not a separate page. It is more convenient for the user to download it anyway to fill out the form or open it in another tab than to effectively go to a separate site to view and then download the pdf. This is especially true since the pdf contains no instructions on submitting the application which was on the page before.

September 6, 2022

Individual Assignment 1

Christopher Gregor

Website and User

Website – roll20.net

Roll20 is an online toolset allowing people to host Tabletop Role-Playing Games remotely on a virtual tabletop. People primarily use it to play games when they are far apart from each other and increased in use over the pandemic lockdown. I personally use Roll20 to manage and run multiple Dungeons and Dragons games via this online tool system with friends across Florida.

Roll20.net main page

User – Brother

My tester was my younger brother who does not play Tabletop Role-Playing Games or use any similar website to Roll20. He is a Risk Management major and while familiar with the common use of computers and websites is mostly experienced in the Microsoft programs like Excel which are used heavily for his major.

User Actions

My brother began by exploring the main page’s header links and drop-down menus. He attempted to use Play Now but it directed him to a sign-in page, after exploring other links he found the only link he could use without a sign-in was to view the community discussion threads about the site and games. Following this, I provided my brother with a temporary email to create an account and continue to explore the site.

Now logged in, he proceeded to attempt to join a game and I noted his confusion at trying to view other people’s games and what they were playing. He then explored the tools and marketplace section which he was able to navigate fairly easily with only some confusion on jargon and terminology from the Tabletop Role-Playing community found across the site.

Finally, I asked him to attempt to create a new game and delete it. Creating a game was pretty easy, he was surprised how many options there were for gaming systems, but he found it difficult to adjust the settings for a created game and locate how to delete it.

Novice vs Expert Users

Novice

The interface seemed to be useful for my user to follow along with their exploration only getting caught up on the settings for an individual game and being confused with the Jargon, names of gaming systems, and terminology indicative of the Tabletop Role Playing culture and not the interface itself.

Screenshot of some of the settings (Without an account you can’t see this page)

My user detailed that he found the site navigable and useful, the systems for the marketplace used to buy new books and assets for games were easy to search and use despite not knowing any of the names of systems or books being sold. He remarked that if he played Dungeons and Dragons or any other game on this website, he probably would understand what’s going on better.

Expert

I have used Roll20.net for 8 years and over that time it has seen many updates and changes to parts of its user interface design. With the knowledge I have on Tabletop Role-Playing games I find this site very easy to navigate and design entire campaigns for players to use with journal segments, specific sheets, and handouts. I am even able to effectively use some of its advanced features like Dynamic Lighting which allows me to design game maps with the ability to limit each player’s visibility of the map to only their token.