Usability analysis for redesign of a Caribbean academic library web site: a case study

摘要

Purpose - This paper seeks to present a usability evaluation of the web site of the Main Library of thernSt Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to get users and site visitors to identifyrnthe major strengths and weaknesses of the site and to incorporate the results and participant feedbackrninto a redesign that reflects users' intuitions rather than those of the site developers and librarians.rnDesign/methodology/approach - A combination of experimental and respondent researchrnstrategies was used to evaluate usability. These included survey questionnaires, focus groups,rnformal usability testing and card sort. In addition, both usability heuristics and ISO guidelines werernused to assess effectiveness, learnability, usefulness and user satisfaction. Respondent strategies usedrna sample size of 529 participants for the self-completion questionnaires and 16 participants in the focusrngroup sessions. Experimental strategies combined observation of 21 individual participants and threerngroups of participants in the usability tests. In the card sort protocol nine individual participants andrnthree groups of participants were observed.rnFindings - The findings identified challenges in the site's information architecture (labelling andrnorganisation) and in the interface design.rnResearch limitations/implications - More ethnographic approaches are needed to elicitrndistinctive Caribbean user behaviours.rnPractical implications - The study concludes that similar usability evaluations should bernundertaken at the other UWI campus library web sites and that usability training should bernincorporated into the culture of the library organisation. Critical next steps for the web designer arernalso suggested.rnOriginality/value - The paper presents issues of organisational change and the impact ofrntechnology on the relationship between systems and user services librarians.