scholarly journals What’s in a Name? Using Card Sorting to Evaluate Branding in an Academic Library’s Web Site

2008 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hepburn ◽  
Krystal M. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Web Site ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Brand Names ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Promotional Strategy ◽  
Sorting Technique ◽  
Library Users ◽  
Consistent Approach

Libraries are pressed to effectively promote use of the tools they provide users as well as their role in creating, selecting, and purchasing them. Applying “brand names” generated within the library is one promotional strategy. Usability testing at one academic library demonstrated how the card sorting technique can be used to evaluate branding efforts. The study found that library users do not recognize or comprehend library brand names in the absence of a consistent approach to branding even if they do use the services that have been branded.

scholarly journals Usability of the Academic Library Web Site: Implications for Design

2001 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise McGillis ◽  
Elaine G. Toms
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Information Architecture ◽  
Library Users ◽  
Information Problem

Today’s savvy library users are starting to equate the library Web site with the physical library. As they accomplish, virtually, many personal activities such as online shopping, banking, and news reading, they transfer those experiences to other activities in their lives. This increases their expectations about the functionality of a library Web site and how one interacts with it. The purpose of this study was twofold: to assess the usability of an academic library Web site and to better understand how faculty and students complete typical tasks using one. Thirty-three typical users successfully completed 75 percent of a set of typical tasks in about two minutes per task and were satisfied with the clarity and organization of the site. Despite their success in completing the tasks, however, they experienced difficulties in knowing where to start and with the site’s information architecture—in particular, with interpreting the categories and their labels. The authors concluded that library Web sites fail to take into account how people approach the information problem and often reflect traditional library structures.

scholarly journals Modeling a Library Web Site Redesign Process: Developing a User-Centered Web Site Through Usability Testing

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle A. Becker ◽  
Lauren Yannotta
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
User Needs ◽  
Web Usability ◽  
Web Presence ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
User Centered

<p class="p1">This article presents a model for creating a strong, user-centered web presence by pairing usability testing and the design process. Four rounds of usability testing were conducted throughout the process of building a new academic library web site. Participants were asked to perform tasks using a talk-aloud protocol. Tasks were based on guiding principles of web usability that served as a framework for the new site. Results from this study show that testing throughout the design process is an effective way to build a web site that not only reflects user needs and preferences, but can be easily changed as new resources and technologies emerge.</p><p> </p>

Usability testing of an academic library Web site: a case study

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Battleson ◽  
Austin Booth ◽  
Jane Weintrop
Keyword(s):  
Web Site ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Usability Testing

Mapping the landscape of computer-assisted language learning: an inventory of research

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 252-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antigoni Parmaxi ◽  
Panayiotis Zaphiris ◽  
Salomi Papadima-Sophocleous ◽  
Andri Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
Sorting Technique ◽  
Version 2.0

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to chart the development in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), by building a map of existing research work in the field. Based on a corpus of 163 manuscripts, published between January 2009 and September 2010 in four major journals devoted to CALL, it sets out to describe the range of topics covered under the umbrella of CALL and provide a holistic view of the field. Design/methodology/approach – The approach adopted in this research includes: development of the 2009-2010 CALL corpus; literature overview and initial coding scheme development; refinement of the initial coding scheme with the help of a focus group and construction of the CALL map version 1.0; refinement of the CALL map version 1.0 following a systematic approach of content analysis and development of the CALL map version 2.0; evaluation of the proposed structure and inclusiveness of all categories in the CALL map version 2.0 using card sorting technique; and finally development of the CALL map version 3.0. Findings – The research trends in the categories of the CALL map are discussed, as well as possible future directions in the field. Originality/value – This paper provides a holistic view of the field of CALL guiding both junior CALL researchers to place themselves in the field, and policy and decision makers who attempt to evaluate the current and future scholar activity in the field. Finally, it caters for more experienced researchers to focus on certain underinvestigated domains.

Component Based Method for Usability Testing of a Website

2013 ◽  
Vol 765-767 ◽  
pp. 1507-1511
Author(s):  
Saeeda Sharmeen Rahman ◽  
Jing Nong Weng
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Modular Forms ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Usability Testing ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Testing Method ◽  
Component Based Software Engineering ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
University Web Site ◽  
The Web

This paper presents the Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) approach for usability testing of a web-site based on ISO 9241-11 usability guidance to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it on users. A particular type of website i.e. university web site was chosen and segmented in different components in modular forms according to the purpose of that component. Then component wise tasks as per ISO 9241-11 usability guidance were prepared to carry out the usability testing for evaluating the test web-site. After analyzing the results of component based usability testing, a proto-type version of the test web-site was designed in a limited form including all the feedback of test results. Finally, the proto-type web-site was re-evaluated for establishing the effectiveness of component based web usability method with the same tasks. The proposed component based usability testing method is expected to improve the design/content issues of web-site resulting the web-site much more user friendly, effective and less time and cost consuming.

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