IWMW 2001: Users of our Web Services

Colin K. WorkSouthampton University Computing Services

Suits You Sir!Catering for Users of our ServicesA workshop facilitated byColin K. Work

Southampton University Computing Services

[email protected]


Target Audience Groups

Who are our intended users? A quick brainstorm suggested …

Students – potential, current, undergrad, postgrad, internationalStaff – Academic, admin., support staffVisitors – commercial, tourists, Professional organisationsPotential investors and employersStudents’ families1st and 2nd level schoolsLocal communityExternal academicsFellow web-folk

…etc., etc.


Technological Demands

What technological issues should be considered in catering for our users? Suggestions…

Hardware – what performance is required by “add-ons” (Flash etc.)

Software – browser support, O/S availabitity of plugins etc.

Disability access

Comms – line speed, connection type, cost

WAP, Web TV and whatever’s coming down the pipe …


Individual’s Needs

What user’s individual issues may need to be taken into account?

LanguageIT literacyDisabilitiesKnowledge of UK HE (or lack of!)Time zones (needs to be 24/7)

etc.


The Exercise

We took a look at a range of uk.ac. Websites, role-playing a variety of “real user scenarios”

The scenarios were based on genuine user queries received at Southampton, and the object of the exercise was to see how well various sites would handle the queries.

While hardly scientific, the results of the exercise were quite illuminating.


Scenario I

You are a student interested in postgraduate work in a science discipline. You want the best possible facilities, and fellow researchers working in a similar area. You are also on a tight budget.

1. First impressions: is research important to this organisation?

2. What research is taking place here? Is it possible to view information about researcher’s work?

3. Does the department/faculty make any effort to “recruit” you?

4. What facilities are available to you? Is there enough information to make comparisons?

5. What funding opportunities are available? Any opportunities for demonstrating or similar work?

6. How can you find out more?


Scenario 2

You are a non-UK prospective student with only fair English. You are interested in studying in the UK, but are nervous about going abroad. You are unfamiliar with the model of education in the UK and have a poor understanding of the distinction between various degrees etc.

1. First impressions: is the site welcoming (languages?), is there any “guiding”?

2. Is there any information specifically for foreign students? 3. Are there any relevant societies, support groups?4. Choose a course of study – is the curriculum explained in a manner

suitable to someone unfamiliar with UK HE?5. What about living in the UK – is enough information (or references)

provided to allow you to sensibly plan a move to the UK?


Scenario 3You are an entrepreneur looking for research projects with a market potential. You

have strong financial backing and would like to enter into partnership with groups working at the cutting edge of technology. While you can handle commercial production, you need to be assured that your partners can handle the R&D side of things and develop prototypes to time & budget.

1. Initial impressions: are you welcome here, or is this a site for academics only?2. Can you easily find details of current R&D projects – how are these

presented? Do they look “marketable”?3. You want to enter into a business relationship – is there any information on

how you might best do this? Are relevant contacts clearly sign posted? What about information on patents, royalties, copyright etc.?

4. You want to visit the site before making any decisions. Are directions clear – to the institution AND to the research unit in question? Is suitable accommodation available?

5. Does the organisation have a track record in marketing partnerships? Are there details of other projects which you could follow up.

6. How good are the people doing the research? What is their background? Have they published any papers?


Scenario 4

You are a potential undergraduate student. Unfortunately, an accident has left you wheelchair bound, partially sighted and hard of hearing. You are keen to attend University, but are concerned about you ability to cope with the physical environment, teaching materials and lectures.

1. First impressions: are there any site accessibility issues?

2. Does the institution have a policy on disabled access?

3. Can you get your wheel chair around campus?

4. What is there available in the way of assistive technology (eg. Braille printers, lecture room induction loops)

5. Are there any support groups or other forms of personal assistance available?

6. Is it necessary to be on campus? Could I pursue my studies from home? (eg. support for distance learning)


Scenario 5

You are an American planning a UK tour this summer. You have heard great things about ??? and would like to pay a visit.

1. First impressions – is the site welcoming to visitors?

2. Is there any general information about the institution (history, famous sons etc.)

3. What special features are there of interest to the casual visitor – are opening hours, admission fees etc. listed?

4. Are there any conferences, special interest courses, workshops taking place?

5. What, if any, accommodation or catering is available?

6. What else can you visit while in the neighbourhood? Is there a guide to local attractions, entertainment, and restaurants ?


Some Observations

1. Surprising amount of basic HTML errors on key pages

2. Some sites managed to crash our browsers

3. Out of date or missing pages common

4. Search engines – tend to be a jumble of too many results with no weighting or priority

5. Searching one site for “foreign students” resulted in a page of jokes topping the results page

6. in 5 sites visited, only one had any info on funding for postgrad work

7. info for foreign students – ranged from “2 clicks” from home page to over 10 (or non existent)!

…


More observations

8. Some sites attempted “country specific support” – but didn’t cater for “unlisted countries”

9. In 10 sites visited, no foreign language support

10. At least 50% of sites visited seem to assume familiarity with UK HE. Too much “University speak”

11. We counted clicks when looking for specific items – on many sites, finding the disability policy took over 10 clicks. Many other seemingly “obvious” items for visitors took well over 3 clicks.

12. About 50% of sites would have been problematic for disabled users

13. Too much PR, not enough content

14. Too hierarchical in structure


More observations

Some things we DID like –1. FAQ style questions & answers2. Use of drop down menus3. 2 page PDF with all you need to know about travel and

accommodation


Personalisation vs. Customisation

Personalisation: the SITE is in controlCustomisation: the USER is in control

For consideration

“Personalisation is much over-rated and mainly used as a poor excuse for not designing a navigable website”

Jakob NielsonAre cookies worthwhile?Which is better “Information for …” or “Information about ..”


Conclusions& Recommendations

1. Most sites assume too much local knowledge

2. Careless mistakes are still slipping through

3. Most sites do not appear to have been thoroughly tested by “real” users

4. Stale information is not being weeded.

5. No site was able to completely satisfy all our scenarios

6. We ALL need to go home and check our sites!


Conclusions& Recommendations

8. We need to turn “hit” statistics into something more meaningful – how and why are pople using our sites

9. Are high hits a good thing? Could this just be unwanted traffic or people wondering around lost?

10. Research on site usage required – at National level?

11. A web based usability testing service is required – sites can be submitted for peer review, possibly against a suite of test scenarios

12. Examples of best practice required, and/or guidance notes

13. A workshop bringing web & PR people together would be worthwhile

Education

IWMW 2001: Users of our Web Services