Assessing Usability on a Budget
Download as PPT, PDF4 likes447 views
The document discusses various tools for conducting usability testing on a budget, including eye tracking software, mouse tracking, heat maps, and usability testing software. It provides examples of low-cost usability testing software like Silverback and free alternatives like Webinaria. The document also discusses using Google Analytics to gather insights from user behavior and observations to inform recommendations for improving a library website.
Assessing Usability on a Budget
- 1. New Tools for Metrics & Measures Debbie Herman & Edward Iglesias Central CT State University Assessing Usability on a Budget
- 2. Definition of Usability Usability means that the people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. This definition rests on four points: (1) Usability means focusing on users; (2) people use products to be productive; (3) users are busy people trying to accomplish tasks; and (4) users decide when a product is easy to use. - Janice (Ginny) Redish and Joseph Dumas, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing, 1999, p. 4
- 3. Not to be confused with UX = the sum of a series of interactions User experience (UX) represents the perception left in someone’s mind following a series of interactions between people, devices, and events or any combination thereof. “Series” is the operative word.
- 4. Technologies Available Eye Tracking Mouse Tracking Heat Maps
- 5. What to use When
- 6. Eye Tracking
- 8. Alternatives
- 9. Heat Map
- 10. Click Tracking
- 11. Usability Testing Software Silverback (Mac) - $50.00 Webinaria (Windows) – free Morae (TechSmith/Windows) - $1,120.00 education Camstudio (Windows) – Open Source
- 12. Testing Metalib with Silverback
- 13. Session Capture
- 14. Demonstration
- 15. What we changed… Submitted enhancement request for back button issue Changed “Results” to “Results List” Enlarged text navigation typeface Changed “My Research” to “My Folder”
- 16. Google Analytics
- 18. GA Observations Observation: “Find articles” pages are heavily trafficked, while the “Find” index page gets very little. Recommendation: Remove Find page link from homepage.
- 19. GA Observations Observation: Subject guides and tutorials get little use. Recommendation: More “point of need” placement. Perhaps not worth the effort to maintain?
- 20. GA Observations Observation: Second tier index pages aren’t used (Find, About, Help) Recommendation: Bring most popular destinations (catalog, databases, calendar, special collections) to the front.
- 21. Most of our users… Have high-speed internet connections Use Windows w/ IE (89% on-campus and 80% off-campus) Have a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 (roughly 45%).