Website

The Boston Public Library, established in 1848, was the first large free municipal library in the United States. It was also the first library system to establish branches to serve their community. As of today, it has 26 branches throughout the city of Boston. After 175 years of serving the public, this public library system has seen many revisions throughout its years.

The Boston Public Library’s homepage (Boston Public Library (bpl.org)) seems clear and concise. At the top of the page, there are drop downs to guide me to different areas of the library. However, looking below those banners, there are two sections labeled, “Featured” and “Featured Events”. When chosen, each featured item took me to a dedicated webpage pertaining to that feature. I noticed that the targeted webpages did not always have the same titles as they did on the homepage’s “Featured” posting. This is a violation of the heuristic of consistency and standards because it could confuse users into thinking they are looking at the incorrect information. Confusion could be avoided if the titles of the features matched exactly the title of the webpage titles.

Evaluation

The focus of this evaluation is searching for available English-speaking classes in the Boston Public Library system. My approach for this evaluation was to see if there was a straight-forward way to obtain where in the Boston area I could take English-speaking classes. I started by moving through the dropdown menus on the homepage and noticed “classes” was located under the services dropdown. However, when I clicked on it, I was taken to the “Events” main page. Although classes can be considered events, it is not clear because classes were listed under the “Services” dropdown instead of the “Events” dropdown. This violates the heuristic of flexibility and efficiency of use because inexperienced users would be confused by accessing classes from two different paths. Under the “Services” dropdown, finding classes is a direct link, while under the “Events” main page, I had to additionally choose the “Workshops & Classes” filter. Even more confusing is under the “Events” dropdown, there is no mention of classes or workshop.

Once filtered down to just workshops and classes, there is no additional search for a specific class that someone may want. There were 287 items under workshops and classes which resulted in 15 pages to search through. I then took a different approach and used the main search bar which is present on every page. I chose events in the dropdown and when I typed in “English speaking classes” the results revealed ESOL classes, which stands for English for Speakers of Other Languages. Despite the abbreviation being described below the description of each event, the audience may not know what it means at first. This also violates consistency and standards because it is showing the abbreviations that users may not know until they open the page. It would be more informative if the abbreviation and its meaning were placed closer to each other.

All ESOL classes were listed in the results in chronological order. Some of the classes gave information on whether registration was full or required, while other classes did not have any information on how to register for them. This a violation of the help and documentation heuristic. Clicking on a class that did not have any information on registration will not tell the user how they can attend the class or any other information other than the date and the time. Every class available show information on how to participate. If registration for a class would be available at a future date, it should at minimum inform the user “Registration coming soon”.

Filters, located on the left side of the events page, can be used to further narrow the particular location and audience (by age). It would be more advantageous if there was a filter for the knowledge level of those wanting to learn English. For example: beginner, intermediate, conversational, etc. This would make the website comply more with the heuristic of flexibility and efficiency of use.

I additionally put “ESOL” in the event search tool and it resulted in the same list of classes. But there was a new “Computer/Technology Classes” event type filter to choose from. These classes were for non-English speakers and focused on strengthening their technology skills, which is unrelated to learning English. This violates the consistency and standards heuristic because English speaking classes specifically use the acronym ESOL, but the search results are different. ESOL is a broader search encompassing more than just English-speaking classes.

Analysis

One main flaw that I realized when searching for English-speaking classes is that the results are given in the English language. A suggestion would be to allow users of the website to choose an alternate language, especially since they may not read or understand much English. Another suggestion would be to create a separate section for classes only and not group them in with events. This would be a direct way for any user to find what courses are offered.

The Boston Public Library has proven itself a memorable and useful library, but its website still suffers from some of the issues that other libraries have with their own websites. It appears to be more focused towards patrons who have used their libraries before instead of new members. It needs to find a correct balance between assisting new users and old users.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.