Minutes of Web Usability Group Meetings, 2003
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Usability Meeting Minutes, 12/5/2003
Present: Blanton-Kent, Gaynor, Hunter, Johnston, Prendergast, Self
Jim announced that, effective immediately, the chairmanship of the group would be moving over to Leslie.
The group welcomed Beth Blanton-Kent as a new member. Discussion of other potential members brought up a number of possibilities. Leslie will follow up.
Jim announced that Becca would be available over intersession for work if needed. Leslie will ask Becca about coordinating the follow-up tests of Geostat with Library staff, since this was something that had been assigned to Charles.
Leslie announced that 4 of the 5 staff tests of the Digital Initiatives site are complete. The 5th has been rescheduled a couple of times; given the pretty clear trends of the 4 tests, the 5th is being written off. Becca is summarizing. Carol announced that she has two of the faculty tests scheduled for next week, but needs more faculty names. Suggestions included Ben Ray, Steve Railton, Jerry McGann, John Dobbin, and Marion Roberts.
As far as anyone knew, PerMic still had only 2 heuristic tests complete. Leslie will check in with Garry about status of that as, well as what came out of the Acquisitions site testing. She will also confirm with Garry what sites are coming up soon in the future. The Etext revision is well underway, and RMC is also underway but not as far along in the process.
Leslie reported that revision to the main Library site navigation is still under discussion. A proposal to the administration was turned down; a revised proposal is awaiting potential approval.
Jim discussed the upcoming faculty survey. One question brought up a number of issues: The question asked if a faculty member used the physical library, and a "no" response ended their participation in the survey. We now also ask if they are a remote user of the Library (LEO, phone reference, etc.), or a user of online resources. Another new question asks about preference for print or electronic journals. The survey is scheduled to go out the week of December 8, pending announcement to the deans that the survey is about to arrive. This time the survey will go out to all full-time faculty and not just to a sample of 500. The email process is challenging, because we supply anonymous individual logons for all potential survey takers, so we can track if people (without specifically tracking whom) have completed the survey or not, and send out more focused reminders.
Notes by Leslie Johnston
Usability Meeting, November 3, 2003
Present: Self, Hunter, Johnston, Prendergast, Chestnut, Barrow, Steve Stedman.
New member
Steve Stedman from Health Sciences introduced himself. He is the new web guy
for the HS Library, and is dealing a lot with the new content management system
that HS developed called (unfortunately) "Toolkit," developed on top of Cold
Fusion MX/Spectra.
Other membership changes
Jim announced that Ann Whiteside has decided to leave the group. Charles Lyons
has left UVa so he is no longer a member. Beth Camden announced that she was
leaving the group a couple of weeks ago. Jim is seeking out new members.
Periodicals and Microforms Heuristic test status
Only two heuristics have been posted. In reviewing the status, Garry reminded
us that the process started out as a request for Garry's technical assistance
in updating the site. Garry offered a usability review. Anne Benham told Garry
that she would have to take any suggestion for changes to "Reference Services"
for approval. No one is sure what group Anne means User Services Council?
Or just over her head to the Reference Services department in Alderman? At
least one more test is necessary. Ann Whiteside said that she'd do a test;
if she can't fit it in, Doug will do it. Garry wants to take results/recommendations
to Anne in January.
Leslie commented that she still sees a fundamental issue in whether this
is a central Library site or an Alderman site. Aren't the collections featured
all at Alderman? Garry pointed out that the site deals with only the physical
collections housed at Alderman, but is also a portal for all of the electronic
resources regardless of subject or branch affiliation. Mary pointed out that
all the branches do the same thing point to their local physical collections
and all of the electronic resources and they are branded for their branches.
Faculty Survey
Jim and MIS are working on the next faculty survey. One question asks which
physical library faculty consider themselves affiliated with; Jim wondered
if a category should be added for something like "Primary use of online materials,
no physical library affiliation." All agreed. Jim is also planning a question
asking about the level of use of Virgo and the Library website(s). Jim asked
about language on the Library sites "Virgo Library Catalog" vs. "Virgo Online
Catalog." Which is preferred? Leslie mentioned that as a part of launching
the Repository and testing Rooms in the next year, there will definitely be
a group to discuss "What is Virgo?" Is it just the OPAC, or is it a suite
of services including the OPAC, user services, OpenURL access to articles,
federated searches, etc.?
VRA usability
Jim assumes that this project as stopped after the initial drafting of questions,
with Ann having left the group. He will confirm.
Digital Initiatives
Leslie pointed out that with Charles having left, no one is charged with the
teaching faculty test of the site. Carol said that she would do it, and begged
for suggestions for testers. Suggested names included David Germano, Paul
Walker, and Gordon Stewart. Becca is proceeding with the staff testing. Leslie
mentioned that one item that she has seen as a trend in the staff testing
is in the Reports area of the site, and the sub-category "best practices."
She asked for people to think about how they would organize the section differently.
Garry also wondered if the question was not worded as well as possible, leading
to the failure of people to find the reports in that area of the site. A search
box for the site was also strongly suggested.
Garry has mocked up new navigation on the main Library site that includes
changes to the menus and adds a category for "Digital Initiatives." Approval
by the AULs is under way.
General
Garry is working on the RMC site, the Etext site, and the Multicultural Issues
committee sites, and a site for the next exhibition. Once Etext and RMC are
done, then the entire top-level Library web presence will be in one of two
approved designs. Leslie said that implementation of the repository is underway,
and that she would be scheduling a meeting that would involve Garry and Doug
to talk about updates to the interface from the demo for the production implementation.
Jim asked who would take on Charles' other outstanding committee assignment
the follow-up test of Geostat, post-update. Carol and Leslie both pointedly
declined. There were no takers.
Notes by Leslie Johnston
Usability Meeting, October 6, 2003
Present: Barrow, Johnston, Lyons, Prendergast, Self
Jim distributed a summary of the Acquisitions tests written up by Becca, as well as summaries for each of the user groups participating in the test (Selectors, non-selector Library staff, Acquisitions staff). The overall summary included a number of good suggestions for changes. Jim/Becca will pass along the full logs from each test to Garry, so that Garry can prepare any additional suggestions and prioritization for updates to the site.
Jim asked Garry to remind us of the process for suggesting changes and/or enforcing that changes are made. In this case, the original request for the testing came from Paul through Jim, so Garry plans to take the suggestions, after a potential review by the Usability committee, to Paul for discussion. Ultimately, it is Paul's decision about what to change on the site. Garry also mentioned that when the site was last revised two years ago, there was quite a large committee of Acquisitions staff involved in the process, which involved a group content sort that informed the reorganization of the site.
Leslie noted that she was interested in the comment(s) about the use of the term "subject librarian" versus "selector," and that the latter was more comprehensible. Jim said that there has been a lot of discussion about the terms over the years, and that he has performed a survey of other Library sites that showed no preference. Mary commented that some subject librarians are not selectors. Charles noted that they avoided the phrase subject librarian while understaffed so as not to create assumptions about subject skill levels with all of the cross-coverage.
Charles shared his proposed questions for the Digital Initiatives site. Some of the questions needed discussion. Question 4 about the repository will be reworded to not ask about a specific date. Question 12 will be reworded not to refer to a specific collection, but more generally about production projects. Question 9 may need a little rewording. Question 6 brought about the most discussion, because answering it requires moving into the Am Studies infocomm site to get the answer. Charles asked if it is OK to require users to move into another site to answer a question. Leslie replied that a major goal for the site is to serve as a portal to all of the initiatives and their sites. The Digital Initiatives test should also test the successfulness of the site as a portal. The site really has a broad functional goal, serving as a place where original content (reports, faqs, etc.) coexist with links to other initiative's sites. Charles suggested that the paragraph on the home page might need some revising to better explain the function of the site.
Charles said that, using the site for the first time he was disappointed that there were no pointers to locally created collections. Leslie and Garry replied that there would be a collections section (one was prototyped but removed, pending the creation of the repository and implementation of Rooms). The DI site will not be the only place that users can find the path to the digital collections. Jim encouraged us to include links and access to the licensed collections.
Charles will redraft the questions and distribute them. He agreed to coordinate the test with five teaching faculty (some high-end users, some not) after he is done with the Geostat test. Jim will ask Becca to coordinate the test for five Library staff (faculty and classified).
The discussion of collections and the Dig Init site led Jim to mention that he thinks that there are issues with the e-journals page in his mind, such as discrepancies between the organization for listings of physical and electronic journals. Garry thinks that this entire area of the general site needs to be reviewed. Communications has prototyped new navigation for the central Library site and is discussing the process for review and approval.
Jim reminded all who volunteered to do their heuristic test for the periodical and Microforms site. Mary commented that she was confused about the site being a central Library site, when it really only covers collections held at Alderman. Should it be re-branded as an Alderman site? Garry noted that the site has a number of issues, not the least of which is that there are multiple links to multiple pages for the same physical resources that have different content.
Jim also brought up the current wording of the metric for usability. Garry pointed out that there was a real issue with one of the assumptions behind the wording of the metric that testing and implementation of site creation/update would always happen in the same fiscal year. This has rarely been the case, and has definitely affected what we could count. Jim will write up a suggestion that changes the wording to measures testing of new sites and sites that are scheduled for revision, leaving out any mention of the same fiscal year.
Notes by Leslie Johnston
Usability Group Meeting, September 17, 2003.
Present: Garry Barrow, Leslie Johnston, Charles Lyons, Mary Prendergast, Ann Whiteside.
No one was in attendance that could answer questions about the status of the Acquisitions department testing. At the last meeting it was reported that nine out of thirteen tests have been done. None have been uploaded yet. The group collectively remembers that Becca is going to write up the summary.
Ann Whiteside distributed first draft questions for the testing of the Visual Resources Association (VRA) website. The organization plans to redo the site, and Ann insisted that testing be performed. To help people understand the questions and the need for testing, she supplied some information about the organization:
- Members: Approximately 700 members; professional who manage visual collections, mostly US and Canada but some other international; a mix of librarians and subject specialists.
- Organization: An all-volunteer organization with no paid staff; a publications committee has oversight for all print pubs and the web site; all design is performed on a volunteer basis.
- Audience for the site: VRA members, members of affiliated organizations with membership/mission overlap, and prospective members. The VRA board did fill out one of Garry's site owner questionnaire; Ann will distribute it.
- Goal for the site redesign: Improved outreach to non-members and prospective members.
Ann commented that the goal is to reorganize the site so it is not so closely tied to the structure of the organization, such as not having important reports linked only under the committee that produced them. The site should be organized by broader categories, or topics, or functions. VRA is also looking to develop a topical portal that would be of interest to members and non-members.
In looking at the questions, all agreed that they were too member oriented. Some suggestions were made and Ann will redraft. Garry also suggested starting off with a Card Sort instead, since one of the principle goals is a restructuring of the site. The membership and potential test subjects are very distributed, so Garry proposed a card sort exercise that can be performed solo by testers. All agreed on this, and Ann will work with the VRA publications committee to develop a Word document that lists all of the pages that users can sort and categorize. Off the top of his head, Garry thinks that the site will likely fall into five categories: General Information, Services, Programming, Resources, and Standards. Leslie suggested that the VRA group look at the UVa Lib Digital Initiatives site. Ann would like some Usability committee members or other UVa library staff to participate in the tests since the other principle goal for the redesign is making it more comprehensible and useful to non-members.
Leslie distributed her answer to the Digital Initiatives site owner questionnaire to the group before the meeting. Charles plans to write up test questions. It was discussed that the test be done with five Library staff (faculty and classified) and five teaching faculty, since students are not expected to be primary users.
Leslie asked Garry about planned revisions to the navigation of the main Library home page. Garry reported that a prototype has been completed that includes new categories for the left-hand navigation that break into subcategories and sub-sub-categories. After review by the AULs, there will be a review by Library directors; a review by the Usability group is under discussion. The process is still being determined, and the time frame points to early 2004. Leslie also asked about adding navigation that points to the Digital Initiatives site to the main page and on branch library home pages sooner than that; Garry will raise the possibility with Charlotte.
The new GeoStat site is live. Charles will coordinate follow-up testing, using the same set of questions for the original test, with a new mixed group (staff, students, faculty) of five testers.
Upcoming sites include Etext (in process) and Robertson Media Center (to be started soon), both scheduled for release in January.
Garry asked for volunteers to perform a heuristic test for the Periodical
and Microforms site. The site is not going to be redesigned, just reorganized.
Ann, Leslie, and Mary volunteered, since none of them regularly use the site.
Others should volunteer.
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/permic/
Notes by Leslie Johnston
Usability Group Meeting, August 13, 2003.
Present: Garry Barrow, Beth Camden, Doug Chestnut, Leslie Johnston, Charles Lyons, Mary Prendergast, Jim Self, Ann Whiteside.
Jim Self reported the Acquisitions department testing is proceeding; nine out of thirteen tests have been done.
Leslie Johnston encouraged committee members to do heuristics testing, or send comments, about the Central Repository site.
Leslie reported the license for SIRSI Rooms has gone to University procurement. It should become available during the fall semester.
Ann Whiteside expects to have questions ready soon for testers of the VRA website.
Garry Barrow reported the new GeoStat site will be live soon. The group agreed is should be tested by the group.
The Digital Initiatives site will also be tested. Leslie will fill out the ‘purpose’ form and then Charles Lyons will devise questions.
Jim again agreed to contact our Randolph-Macon colleagues, Nancy Newins and Alva Hughes, to see if we can have them come to a Library of Tomorrow program.
Notes by Jim Self
Usability Meeting, July 16, 2003
Present: Garry Barrow, Doug Chestnut, Edward Gaynor, Carol Hunter, Leslie Johnston, Charles Lyons, Mary Prendergast, Becca Vaughan, Jim Self.
Garry Barrow presented a revision of the "Goals, Audience, and Function" draft statement. The group approved the statement, and it will be added to the website.
Becca Vaughan reported the Acquisitions department has filled out the draft goals statement, and testing of their site will begin shortly.
Jim Self handed out some documents printed from the Web4Lib listserv and encouraged anyone interested to sign up.
The group discussed the planned implementation and testing of the SIRSI Rooms product. All agreed this could have a profound effect on the way the library presents information. Garry hoped it would become an integrated part of the library website and suggested we may need to develop a wizard to guide users.
Leslie Johnston reported the DL site will have a 'code freeze' as of next Friday. At that time we should prepare to do some usability testing of the site.
Edward Gaynor is coordinating usability testing of VIVA's online guides to special collections in Virginia. He will keep the group informed and will call on members as needed.
Jim will contact our Randolph-Macon colleagues, Nancy Newins and Alva Hughes, to see if we can have them come to a Library of Tomorrow program in August.
Jim Self
Usability Meeting, June 6, 2003
Present: Beth Camden, Garry Barrow, Mary Prendergast, Leslie Johnston, Charles Lyons, Ann Whiteside, Becca Vaughan, Jim Self.
The group continued discussion of the "Goals, Audience, and Function" draft statement.
There was some uncertainty as to the scope of the statement; Garry Barrow will prepare a revision and the group will continue discussion at the next meeting.
In the meantime the Acquisitions department will serve as something of a test case for the statement as they have been asked to fill out the original draft.
Leslie Johnston reported on changing terminology regarding digital activities. The term "Digital Library" will no longer be used; "Digital Initiatives" is now the preferred term. "Library of Tomorrow" will continue to be used, particularly outside the library, as it has become a very widely known brand name.
Notes by Jim Self
Usability Meeting, May 21, 2003
Present: Mary Prendergast, Leslie Johnston, Charles Lyons, Ann Whiteside, Becca Vaughan, Jim Self.
The group discussed Garry Barrow's draft of a "Goals, Audience, and Function" statement. The group had a few suggestions that Mary Prendergast will forward to Garry.
Jim Self reported on the proposed testing of the Acquisitions site. Edward Gaynor has revised the original list of test questions. Jim will take the revisions to Acquisitions and ask for feedback. In addition Acquisitions will be asked to fill out a "Goals, Audience, and Functions" statement. Becca Vaughan will coordinate the scheduling and testing of the site.
Mary and Charles Lyons reported progress on testing the RMC and E-Centers sites, respectively.
Jim will ask Scott Silet to fill out a "Goals" statement for the Alderman site, and to draft some test questions for the site.
Leslie Johnston announced the public digital library site is now populated, but not yet ready for public viewing.
Ann Whiteside asked if we would like to do testing of the Visual Resources Association site. It was agreed this would be a worthwhile project for the group. Leslie will help with the questions; Mary is eager to be a participant.
Notes by Jim Self
Usability Meeting, April 25, 2003
Present: Garry Barrow, Mary Prendergast, Leslie Johnston, Edward Gaynor, Beth Camden, Carol Hunter, Charles Lyons, Jim Self.
Jim reported on his visit to JMU on Thursday. They intend to implement a usability program and are looking to learn from our experience.
Jim and Carol reported on the presentation (at ACRL in Charlotte NC) they did with Nancy Newins and Alva Hughes of Randolph-Macon College. Leslie suggested the presentation might be given here as part of the LofT series.<.p>
There was discussion of the desirability of preparing a ‘goals and requirements’ statement before beginning work on a website. All agreed this was an idea worth pursuing, provided the outcome would be a succinct, functional, non-bureaucratic document. Garry will work on drafting a template for just such a document.
The Acquisitions department would like to test their website, and they have prepared a list of test questions. Edward will review and edit their questions. Charles and Beth are interested in being testers.
Edward reported the VIVA Special Collections committee would like to review and test their website. The group agreed we could work with them on this project. It may be possible for most of the testing to take place remotely.
Mary is working on testing the RMC website; Charles and Carol are coordinating the E-Centers effort.
Mary will schedule meetings for summer at a new time.
Notes by Jim Self
Usability Meeting, April 4, 2003
Present: Leslie Johnston, Beth Camden, Carol Hunter, Doug Chestnut, Mary Prendergast, Ann Whiteside, Jim Self.
The Clemons usability test results were discussed. Particularly noted was the fact that none of the six undergraduate participants were able to determine if the library had received the latest issue of a particular periodical. The tendency to scan the page and lock into keywords was also noted.
The group discussed the 'Usability Test Log' sheet, and agreed to give it a try.
The revised version of the E-Centers test questions was also discussed and approved. Carol, Charles, and Mary will coordinate the testing of the three centers.
Leslie asked if the library had a policy or style sheet concerning e-terminology. ("Is it e-journals, ejournals, or E-Journals?") Doug will check the policy posted on the CommPub site.
Jim and Carol discussed the presentation they are doing with Nancy Newins and Alva Hughes (Randolph-Macon) at ACRL. There was interest in repeating the presentation for the library staff.
Notes by Jim Self
Usability Meeting, March 14, 2003
Present: Barrow, Camden, Chestnut, Whiteside, Self.
The group looked over and revised the "Usability Test Procedures" document. Jim will incorporate the changes and send out the revision.
The group also examined and revised the usability test questions for the E-Center websites.
It was decided that we should do heuristic testing of the Special Collections: Lewis and Clark exhibit site, and usability testing of the Alderman site. Jim will ask Scott Silet to draft some test questions for the Alderman site.
Garry presented a chart that tallies testing (both heuristic and usability) of the websites created or revised in FY03. This chart will be used to determine if we meet our scorecard metric for FY03.
Usability meeting Friday, February 21, 2003 9 a.m.
Present: Barrow, Whiteside, Johnston, Lyons, Prendergast, Self.
Leslie reported she has been working on the usability questions for the E-Centers. She asked if anyone saw a problem if the test had fewer questions than usual; all agreed this would not be a problem.
Mary handed out the set of questions for testing the Clemons site. Jim will
now begin recruiting students to serve as testers.
The group looked over the introductory statement on the library usability
website, and suggested some minor changes in wording. Garry will make the
changes on the site.
Charles agreed to test the SEL site; that will complete heuristics testing of this site.
Mary and Edward will be the last two testers for the MIS site.
The group will do heuristics testing of the Education Library site. Edward, Carol, and Becca will be asked to do this site.
At the next meeting we will evaluate our progress on meeting the Balanced Scorecard metric for FY03. We will try to determine exactly which sites will have been created and revised in FY03, which have received heuristic testing, and which have received usability testing.
Usability meeting Friday, January 31, 2003 9 a.m.
Present: Barrow, Gaynor, Johnston, Hunter, Prendergast, Self, Whiteside.
The group discussed the heuristics testing for the BSC site, as summarized by Charles Lyons, and concluded that usability testing was not needed for this site.
Garry handed out a copy of the provisional plans for website redesigns this fiscal year. He also described a new look proposed for library home pages, with reduced graphics, more space for breaking news, and relocated navigation menus; if approved, the new look may be applied to the redesign of the Electronic Center sites.
Leslie noted that the Information Communities home page, American Studies, and Tibet (http://infocomm.lib.virginia.edu/) follows the new model.
Leslie also noted the Information Communities site is 75% complete, the outline and prototyping for the Digital Initiatives site is well underway, and the Library Lab site is being planned.
After some discussion, the group agreed we would pursue these items during the remainder of this fiscal year:
- Usability testing of the Clemons (not including RMC) website—by five undergraduates.
- Heuristic testing of the RMC, E-Text, and GeoStat sites, by three people each.
- Usability testing of RMC, E-Text, and GeoStat—by five people (a mix of undergrads, students, faculty) each.
- A paper test of proposed revisions to the library home page navigation menus.
The following people volunteered (or were elected) to do the following tasks:
- Leslie will write usability test scripts for the three E-Centers.
- Edward will do heuristics tests on all three E-Centers.
- Becca Vaughan, MIS intern, will do heuristics tests on all three E-Centers.
- Ann will do heuristics tests on all three E-Centers.
- Mary will write a usability script for the Clemons test.
- Carol, Charles, and Mary will be responsible for the usability testing of the three E-Centers.
- Jim will be responsible for the usability testing of Clemons.
Usability meeting Monday, January 13, 2003 10 a.m.
Present: Camden, Johnston, Lyons, Prendergast, Self.
Mary Prendergast described the efforts to find a good meeting time for the group. Friday morning seems the best choice at the moment.
Beth Camden reported the newest version of VIRGO is now operational. The changes are mostly cosmetic, but they coordinate the VIRGO design with the look of the library website. The “Ask VIRGO” button has been changed to “Contact Us.” Help buttons are now context-sensitive. Verbiage has been reduced on the quick search screen. Less scrolling is needed. Search results appear in a grid.
Beth and Mary will do heuristic testing of the new VIRGO; the group will then decide if usability testing by clients is called for.
Four heuristic tests of the Balanced Scorecard site have been received. Once the fifth test is received, Charles Lyons will write a summary of the tests. At the next meeting the group will decide if usability testing is indicated.
The group decided to do heuristic testing of the MIS and SEL websites. Charles Lyons volunteered to do MIS; Leslie Johnston and Jim Self the SEL site. Jim will find more volunteers for these two sites.
Leslie Johnston reported on progress with the Information Communities. Within the next two weeks the main Info Comm page, American Studies, and Tibet will complete the transition to an updated design, and almost all of the content for the "Lewis and Clark" feature site should be loaded. The new discussion forums are now live, with more interactive tools coming during spring term.
She also noted the term “Digital Initiatives” is in use, as opposed to “Digital Library.”
It was noted that we need an updated list of the planning for updating websites; Jim will ask Garry Barrow to provide such a list.
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