Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/235568

Title

Usability evaluation of the IFIP web site

Author(s)

Lindgaard, Gitte;  Khan, S.;  Brown, J.;  Tran, M.;  Stojmenovic, M;  Dudek, C.;  Game, M.;  Oakley, K.;  Nagy, G.

Abstract

This document reports the findings from a usability evaluation of the current IFIP web site, conducted on behalf of IFIP TC13 by members of the Human Oriented Technology Lab (HOTLab), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, during the month of May, 2007. A heuristic evaluation was conducted first in which eight evaluators worked in pairs for approximately 1.5 hours to identify as many usability problems in the web site as possible. The outcome of this evaluation was collated; the heuristic violations were counted, and severity of each unique problem was assessed. Of a total of 184 heuristic violations, issues concerning consistency and standards, aesthetics, and user control were observed most frequently. Of the 137 unique problems identified, some 25 were perceived to be severe, with another 79 seen to be moderately serious, and 33 trivial. A set of 21 user tasks was designed specifically to expose the most severe problems. All but three of the 25 most severe problems were thus exposed. Tasks were distributed into four task packs to ensure that all tasks were attempted across the sample of 20 participants who were tested by four evaluators in individual sessions. The results confirmed that the majority of the problems identified in the heuristic evaluation were sufficiently problematic for test users to prevent more than three out of 10 who attempted a particular task from completing it successfully. In addition to recommending that all problems be considered in a redesign of the web site, it is concluded that several global problems that were not specifically tested in individual tasks, but that were noted in both parts of the usability evaluation, are sufficiently serious to warrant a complete redesign of the web site. In particular, these problems pointed to the fact that it is unclear who or what IFIP is or does on the home page, that it is unclear who the intended target audiences are or why they would visit the web site. Furthermore, the information architecture and the navigation model make it almost impossible for users to predict the correct location of information on the site or to navigate to it effortlessly. Finally, the way many screen display objects look and behave is inconsistent with user expectations and with existing standards. Specific recommendations are made in an effort to assist IFIP to improve its web site considerably.

Publication type

Report

Publication year

2007

Keyword(s)

Design;  Heuristic evaluation;  IFIP;  Information architecture;  Navigation;  Screen design;  Usability;  Usability evaluation;  Websites

Publisher

IFIP Technical Committee on Human-Computer Interaction (TC13)

Publisher URL

http://csmobile.upe.ac.za/ifip

Copyright

Copyright © 2007.