Usability Testing Additional Resources

-- Library Journal, 11/1/2006

Survey questions are based on the concepts developed by Judy Jeng's “Model of Usability Evaluation for Digital Libraries” as outlined in her 2005 article Usability Assessment of Academic Digital Libraries: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Satisfaction and Learnability, published in Libri vol. 55, pp 96-121.

Below are the answers from the usability survey done by Michigan eLibrary (MeL). You can also download an excel file of the questions to jump-start your own usability survey.

Subjective Satisfaction

"Over-all, I am satisfied by the performance of the MeL Web site"
86% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
70% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I would recommend MeL to other people"
95% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
83% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"MeL is one of my favorite places to find information on the Internet"
41% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
28% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Effectiveness

"I usually succeed in finding what I'm looking for on MeL"
87% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
70% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Efficiency

"It doesn't take me many clicks to find what I'm looking for in MeL"
64% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
55% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"For the most part, I find the information I'm seeking on MeL quickly"
80% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
58% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Ease of Use

"MeL is easy for me to use"
88% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
72% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"MeL is predictable – it behaves like I think it will"
73% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
53% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Organization of Information

"I know where to find what I'm looking for on MeL"
79% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
66% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Labeling

"The terminology in MeL is easy for me to understand"
90% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
75% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Visual Appeal

"I like the MeL logo"
66% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
64% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I think MeL is visually appealing"
55% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
50% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Content

"I find the books, articles and other resources that I need on MeL"
84% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
75% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"MeL contains the resources I need"
66% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
47% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Error Correction

"I am able to find my way around MeL without feeling lost"
85% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
70% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

MeL Features

"I like having a search box on the home page"
84% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
82% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"When using the search box on the home page I usually find what I'm looking for"
58% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
56% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I use MeL Advanced Search regularly"
39% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
32% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I like MeL Internet for finding Web sites"
39% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
12% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I like MeLCat for finding books"
69% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
70% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"I can easily find the databases I'm looking for in MeL"
66% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
26% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Serendipitous Information Finding

"I unexpectedly find useful information when I'm searching MeL"
55% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
43% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Intent to Re-visit

"I'll use MeL in the future"
97% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
92% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

Dissatisfaction

"I have left MeL in frustration when I couldn't find what I was looking for"
19% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
28% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public

"Sometimes I feel confused when trying to find information on the MeL site"
22% Agree or Strongly Agree – Librarians & Paraprofessionals
27% Agree or Strongly Agree – General Public