Test details
Timeline:
- two weeks during and after the Winter 2016 National Faculty Meeting (Jan 28-29)
Testing goals:
- awareness and understanding of the two search boxes on the standard website home page (site search and QA search)
- awareness of the page footer
- general feedback on the look, feel, and architecture of the standard website home page
Participant population:
- faculty and Product Strategy, Innovation, and Development attendees at the National Faculty Meeting and one staff member
- participants were recruited during the Faculty Open House
Test methodology:
Participants were asked to fill out a pre-test survey to capture contact information and familiarity with technology.
The test asked participants to view (but not interact with) the Office of Research and Doctoral Services home page and provide general feedback on the look, feel, and navigational structure of the page. Participants were then asked specifically about the search boxes and to identify links found in the footer.
Summary of results
Website homepage look and feel, site navigation:
- quick links (blue buttons) are the first thing most users see
- Quick Answers search box is the second thing most users see
- the overall layout is clear, clean, and modern
- the site navigation labeling is unclear
- specific to testing site; not necessarily universal
- participants liked the photo but were unclear as to what it was trying to portray/purpose
- "What's New" section is confusing and unappealing; who is the population? when were the items posted?
Site purpose and navigation:
- participants divided on site population
- site purpose is not clear
- department name in the title is not prominent
- While participants knew the primary population was students, they didn't know who else should use the site, especially regarding faculty. Participants knew the site housed general information about research, but didn't know the intended application of the information.
Search boxes:
- the Quick Answer search box was very prominent
- participants didn't notice the banner search box until asked to look for it
- most participants didn't know the different functionality of the search boxes
Footer:
- most participants didn't see the footer until asked to find a link located there
Conclusions
The general design and architecture of the home page is successful. However, the site banner is not noticed by most users. The site navigation labels must be intuitive to the uniformed user, even when the site is intended for a specific, knowledgeable population, to minimize user confusion. The site navigation labels should make clear how the site is used and the site purpose.
The multiple search boxes are confusing to users. The search box labels and text do not sufficiently clarify what the boxes search. The keywords provided by the QA search box are helpful.
Additional findings from individual participant's comments:
- Captions on photos provide relevance and context even when the event in the photo is recognizable.
- Feedback button is unclear—feedback about what?
- Two of the five participants wanted a site orientation/welcome to the site section
General takeaways:
- If the site is too complex to have an intuitive navigational structure, it may be too big.
- Personal preference is a factor in design: some people like calendars and some like event lists. You can't please everyone all the time.
- Spell out acronyms.
Areas for additional research or follow-up:
- Examine the scale of the quick links (blue buttons) to the rest of the design elements
- Investigate unintended outcomes of the quick links and QA search box being the two most prominent elements on the page
- Revisit the use of quick links as a stand-alone navigational component versus links to content in the site navigation
- Research the best way to get user feedback.
- Revisit department titles and the banner
- Research the need for site orientation/welcome when the navigation is clear and intuitive