User‐Centred Library Web sites. Usability Evaluation Methods

Citation

Žumer, M. (2009), "User‐Centred Library Web sites. Usability Evaluation Methods", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 65 No. 4, pp. 707-708. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410910970320

User‐centred design is very much in the focus of current software development. There are many different methods that can be used to gather user feedback before and during the development and to evaluate the finished product. This book aims to guide the developer though the usability evaluation methods “from the early stages of design to the late stages of testing a finished web site”.

The book starts with the description of user‐centred design: how it developed though time and what it means today. The end‐users' needs and requirements and principles of user‐centred design of web sites are discussed. The first chapter ends with a brief list of general guidelines for web site design.

Chapter 2, Getting started, describes the first steps of web site design: assembling the development team and defining the project requirements. All usability evaluation methods, described in detail later in the book, are briefly mentioned. Finally, there are recommendations on how to select and recruit a representative group of users to participate in usability testing.

Chapter 3 deals with user needs analysis. The author focuses on task analysis and the survey as the method of gaining information. Different types of questionnaires and interviews are described in detail including their respective advantages in disadvantages.

Participatory design means including the stakeholders in all phases of design and development and Chapter 4 describes the methods of acquiring user feedback during the process. Affinity diagramming, card sorting and prototyping are discussed.

Chapters 5 and 6 focus on usability testing: first heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough, followed by observing users using the finished product using think aloud protocols.

The final chapter gives guidance on communicating the findings in formal or informal written reports and oral presentations.

In the Appendix, there are examples of documents from different studies: request for participation, screening questionnaire, post‐test questionnaire, and reviewer's form for heuristic evaluation. There is also a Glossary and short Bibliography.

This is a valuable handbook for any practitioner involved in web site design and development. Many methods are listed and presented in context, including practical guidance and caveats. Even some less known methods such as card sorting are included; on the other hand, log file analysis, which is widely used and documented, is unfortunately missing.

The manual will be particularly useful either as an introductory reading or as a complement to other similar resources of which there are many examples. Any practitioner, when actually performing usability testing, will need additional information and guidance. For that, many more references to other manuals or reports on usability studies would be appreciated.

I am also puzzled by the fact that the title of the book refers to library web sites, yet the content does not reflect this at all: everything described is applicable to any web site, even any computer software in most cases. In addition, the few times the library context is mentioned, it is only about academic libraries. Why is there the assumption that only academic librarians would be interested in web site design? The book definitely would be useful for others and definitely not only librarians.