2011 Usability Test

BHL-Australia has developed a new user interface into BHL content http://bhl.ala.org.au. It is a dramatic improvement in overall design and usability, but there are key differences with specific functions/features that should be tested and compared while both are running in a production environment. The expected results of this usability test and analysis are:

a list of key differences between the user interfaces
feedback from users on their preferences about those differences
implementation plan on how to address feedback & priorities for each regional node
timeline for development

Users to test [17 total participants]

General BHL users – test main BHL tasks
Heavy PDF downloaders – concentrate on PDF generator only, Trish & Bianca to work with group by end of September
Tropicos users – test by intercepting link from protologue, ask users if they'd like to test new UI, if so, take them to AUS, then send them to survey, Chris to design the survey for this

Testing Timeline

By Fri, Sep 16: Complete notes on wiki, fully describe tasks. Announce to staff on next Staff Call, ask for volunteers to test up to 3 users each
By Fri, Sep ": Complete changes already in-progress with PDF Articlizing interface, based on heaviest users' feedback
Oct 5: Hand out package of testing materials to testers
Oct 6 - 21: Usability testing with staff (testers) & key users (testees)
Oct 24: Return results of tests for analysis
By Fri, Oct 28: Complete analysis of tests and report on way forward in switching user interfaces

Development Timeline

Programmatically: Setting up the new BHL-AU interface for BHL-US (as it is) is an estimated 4-6 weeks exercise. Will take more time to develop/add in functionality for collections, annotations, user suggestions.

Oct 31 - Nov 11: Initial discussions with Simon and Mike re: required changes to code
Nov 14-15: Life & Lit
- Day 2 review of suggested changes
Nov 16: Discuss planned changes with US staff at Worker Bees Meeting
Nov 21: F2F with Ely in St. Louis to define & kick off co-development activities
By __, implement code changes & relaunch BHL

List of Key Differences

Notes
AU = bhl.au.org
US = biodiversitylibrary.org
UI = User Interface

With the AU UI out, there is an opportunity to compare the US UI and make improvements; BHL-E UI uses different codebase and is not yet released thus cannot be factored into comparison

(Great news is that AU and US share IDs across portals!)

AU UI: Graphically oriented; Based on latest release of Open Library book viewer, incorporates taxonomic name services but not page navigation, or scroll bar

US UI: Textually oriented; Uses older release of Open Library book viewer with additional Iframes for displaying added services incl. page navigation and taxonomic names

Section	Feature/ Functionality	bhl.ala.org.au	biodiversitylibrary.org	Test?	Example Task
Book Viewer	Page navigation	Users select a given page by visually identifying the page via the thumbnail view	Users select a given page by using left navigation page information panel which details pagination information	Yes	Select a given page
Book Viewer	Taxonomic Name Finding	Users select the Ubio button from the pop-up 'page functions menu' to view a list of taxonomic names identified on a given page	Users are presented with a list of taxonomic names identified on a given page through a left navigation names information panel	Yes	List taxonomic names found on a given page
Book Viewer	Page navigation		Slider for Page Turning	Yes	How many title pages/plates are in this scanned book?
Book Viewer	Page navigation	Improved Thumbnail / View		Yes	Find an illustration of X in this book
Book Viewer	Annotations		Annotations to accommodate for Darwin’s library	Questions @end
Book Viewer	Link to a given page	Option to link to a given page available via pop-up 'page functions menu'		No
Book Viewer	Print page	Option to print page available via pop-up 'page functions menu'		No
Book Viewer	View OCR	Option to view OCR text for a given page available via pop-up 'page functions menu'	Option to view OCR text for a given page available via "View Text" link just below page navigation panel	Yes	Pull up the OCR text for page x
Book Viewer	Download content		Provides drop-down box with page-oriented functionality options	No
Book Viewer	Create-your- own-PDF	Option to begin creating your own PDF available via pop-up 'page functions menu'	Provides drop-down box with page-oriented functionality options	No
Book Viewer	Book view	Book viewer appears independent of the rest of site, no common header associating the book viewer with the rest of the site		Yes	Once the user is in the viewer ask them to search for another title
Book Viewer	Volume navigation	Volume drop-down menu available to navigate among volumes of a title	Volume drop-down menu available to navigate among volumes of a title	Yes	Go from looking at vol. X to vol. Y?
Admin links	Documentation	Improved development documentation presentation & consolidated	Documentation available via public wiki http://biodivlib.wikispaces.com	No
Admin links	User feedback	"Contact Us" link in top right-hand corner of site header	"Feedback" link in top right-hand corner of site header	No
Admin links	APIs	Available on bottom right-hand side of screen: http://bhl.ala.org.au/resources#/api	Available on top right-hand side of screen: http://biodivlib.wikispaces.com/Developer+Tools+and+API	No	Test for a different audience
Book Record view	Volume list	List of volumes more graphically oriented, takes more screen real estate; for a long list of serial volumes user must scroll down a lot, but for monograph volumes graphical display is nice	List of volumes provided as text, takes less screen real estate	No	Pull up the 18XX vol. (or the 50th vol.) of title x
Book Record view	Detailed view of bibliograpy information	"Details" view should be updated to reflect changes implemented in US "Detailed" view	"Detailed" view updated for easier readability	No
Homepage	Social Media		Social media links available as of September	Questions @end	Go to BHL’s Flickr site in 1 click
Homepage	Collections		Ability for users to access curated sub-collections of BHL content	No
Homepage	Featured books	Featured Books		Questions @end
Homepage		Maps: http://bhl.ala.org.au/browse/map	Maps: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/browse/map	Questions @end
Homepage			Stats related to BHL nos. of titles, volumes, and pages available on top left-hand	No
Homepage			Institutional drop-down menu available to filter content by contributing library	No
Names Bibliography		Link to EOL page is available but not apparent; no NameBank link available	Link to EOL is signified by the "EOL" icon; NameBank link also available	Yes
Observation/ General Opinion			Graphically oriented functionality (may seem “hidden” to users)	Questions @end
PDF Generator		Create-your-own PDF functionality more graphically oriented; user must select "+" button from pop-up 'page functions menu' to add pages to "My PDF"; Nice reviewing feature allows you to verify the pages you've added, add/subtract pages	PDF generator currently under review by top PDF downloaders and new version to be released soon	No	Ask users to generate their own PDF of an article and supply metadata
Search Results			Option to download search results implemented as a result of BHL User Survey	No
Search Results			Options to sort search results by title, author, and year implemented as a result of BHL User Survey	No	Search for x and sort results by...
Search/ Browse			Advanced search features available	Yes	Present standard citations for 1) a title 2) a volume 3) an article and have users try to find each of these
Search/ Browse		Nice timeline functionality, more flexible than US timeline, still 100 year range:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/browse/year	Timeline: http://bhl.ala.org.au/browse/year; var. date ranges pre-set	Yes	View a list of books between 1830 -- 1910 (or some range of years less than 100)

Expectations for Testers

Instructions for Observers:

Familiarize yourself with BHL Australia portal
Recruit 3 users to take the survey; Please have 1 experienced BHL user and 1 novice BHL user; 3rd user can be either
- chrisfreelandIt is important to let the user know we are testing the sites, not them. There are no wrong answers or experiences.
Resist the urge to help users accomplish survey tasks
Please use the Usability Testing packet of materials that will be provided for you (to be provided by Oct. 5) -- these materials will help you administer the test and record user feedback

Survey Methodology

Total Time: 60 min – 20 min to test BHL AU portal, 20 min to test BHL US portal, 20 min for questions and general impressions

Users will be asked to perform a set of tasks in each portal and encouraged to share their experience of accomplishing the task with the observer

Observers are to document:

Which browser is being used
Successful completion of tasks or failures
Any issues users may encounter while attempting to complete tasks
Answers to specific questions asked that compare tasks between portals
General feedback

To save time during testing, a set of basic demographics-oriented questions will be sent out ahead of time via email. In addition, email will provide some background information about BHL.

Examples of Tasks for Testing

Book Viewer
1. Page navigation via page information navigation panel or thumbnail view ⇒ Find a given page
2. Taxonomic Names on a given page ⇒ List taxonomic names found on a given page
3. Slider for Page Turning ⇒ How many title pages/plates are in this scanned book?
-

chrisfreelandProbably want to do this with two different books - one that has multiple Title Pages clearly marked in metadata (something from MOBOT, MCZ, or other) and one from IA that has multiple title pages that haven't been marked in metadata. This will compare the slider, the pages pages panel, and the thumbnail view.
4. Thumbnail View ⇒ Find an illustration of X in this book
-

chrisfreelandA recent BHL blog book "Musei Leveriani Explicatio, Anblica et Latina" has great, distinctive illustrations. Maybe ask to find the flamingo, penguin, other common animal. Not testing their biological knowledge, testing the UI.
5. Links to print this page, link to this page, add to my pdf, UBio, OCR, graphically oriented in BHL AU vs. textually oriented in BHL US ⇒ Pull up the OCR text for page x
6. Site header integration with book viewer ⇒ once the user is in the viewer ask them to search for another title
7. Volume drop-down menu ⇒ Go from looking at vol. 10 to vol. 50

Search/Browse
8. Advanced search features ⇒ Present standard citations for 1) a title 2) a volume 3) an article and have users try to find each of these

Taxonomic Names Bibliography
9. Links to EOL, NameBank in Names bibliography

BHL-AU
From page 58 of the "Annotated list of the Avery bird collection in the Alabama Musuem of Natural History" (http://bhl.ala.org.au/page/23424864), view the bibliography for the name "strix varia".
From page 58 of the "Annotated list of the Avery bird collection in the Alabama Musuem of Natural History" (http://bhl.ala.org.au/page/23424864, view the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) page for the name "strix varia".
From the bibliography for "strix varia" (http://bhl.ala.org.au/name/Strix_varia), view the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) page for that name.

BHL-US
From page 58 of the "Annotated list of the Avery bird collection in the Alabama Musuem of Natural History" (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/23424864, view the bibliography for the name "Strix varia".
From page 58 of the "Annotated list of the Avery bird collection in the Alabama Musuem of Natural History" (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/23424864, view the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) page for the name "Strix varia".
From the bibliography for "strix varia" (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/name/Strix_varia), view the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) page for that name.

Homepage
10. nice timeline by year! ⇒ View a list of books between 1830 -- 1910 (or some range of years less than 100)

Final questions
Go to the BHL US homepage: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org

Do you like having the option to link to BHL’s various social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc.?
Do you find it useful to see the statistics (number of titles, volumes and pages) about the BHL collection in the upper left-hand corner?
- - chrisfreelandlet's be sure not to ask about their preference on placement of the stats, just presence or absence

Go to the BHL AU homepage: http://bhl.ala.org.au

Do you like having the opportunity to go directly to “Featured Books”?
Select the “Maps” option from the… Do you like the option of viewing…

- chrisfreelandGeneral impressions about page navigation between both sites

What is your preferred way for viewing pages & page-level metadata and navigating between pages between the two portals? US has the Pages panel, AU has the thumbnail view and the slider. Is one approach better than the other? What about a combination of approaches?
Briefly compare the BHL AU portal homepage to the BHL US homepage. What are your gut reactions and/or general impressions?...

2011 Usability Test

Table of Contents

Report

Usability Test Report

Summary

Usability Test Notes and Survey Summary

Process

Test Link:

Final Survey Link:

Testing Documents

Testers

Purpose