Internal staff workshop presented in November 2013 to build staff buy-in around usability and user experience.

1. Web Usability
Workshop
Kreitzberg Library
November 22, 2013

2. Agenda
• Why web usability?
• Learning from data
• Personas and primary tasks
• Writing for the web
• Next up…
Questions & thoughts
welcome anytime

3. Why web
usability is
important

4. “Don’t Make Me
Think”
Steve Krug
2nd Edition

5. Learning
from data

6. Male
74%
Female
26%
Undergraduates
2013-2014

7. Corps
65%
Civilian
19%
Comm.
16%
Undergraduates
by Lifestyle
2013-2014

8. Undergraduate
Majors
2013-2014
Most Popular
1. Criminal Justice – 396
students
2. Mechanical Engineering – 159
students
3. Nursing – 158 students
Only six majors
have over 100
students.
Smallest major is
Chinese – one
student.

9. Faculty
2012-2013
161 Full Time
166 Part Time
216 Men (66%)
111 Women (34%)
Student to Faculty
Ratio
12:1
Average Class
Size
Lower Level
18.4
Upper Level
12.2
# of Full Time Faculty
1. English (15) 2. Mathematics (12)
3. Architecture & CJ (11 each)

10. CC BY-SA

11. http://projectinfolit.org/
Sad Adjectives

12. Library is Used
24%
Use online library
resources
frequently
44%
Occasionally
LJ Study
Nearly all students
use the library
website.
ECAR Study pg. 11
Top Reasons for Using University Desktops
1. Printing 2. Laptop Sub
3. Accessing the library
ECAR Study pg. 26
88%
Use databases
for course
research
PIL

13. Now now
now!
75% want
immediate answers
to questions.
LJ Study
68% want what they
need on site.
LJ Study
Do not think
of librarians
83% use
instructors for
course research.
Only 30% use
librarians.
PIL
“…strong preference for consulting
course instructors and friends and
peers.”
ERIAL Preliminary Report pg. 8

14. Faculty Tendencies
"Faculty members are more
likely to recommend online
than onsite services and
resources to their students.“
LJ Study
“Faculty training still does not
acknowledge the fact that digital media
literacy continues its rise in importance as
a key skill in very discipline and
profession”
Horizon Report pg. 9

15. CC BY

16. Entering the Library
Website
my.norwich
63.91%

17. Visit Trends
Internet Explorer is
the most popular
browser.
Very little traffic
from mobile devices.
Less than 4%.
74.15% Windows
Nearly 96% of visitors go to
one of three pages, then
leave.

18. Our Patrons Guide
http://guides.norwich.edu/
ourpatrons

19. Personas

20. What are personas?
• Fictional characters
• Have a story
• Based on existing knowledge
& data

21. James
CC BY-NC

22. Olivia
CC BY-NC

23. Writing for
the web

24. How People Read on
the Web
Skim and scan
Read in an F pattern – top
and left sides of the page
Only about 32%
make it to the 5th
paragraph
At most read 28% of
the content, more
likely 20%

25. Style Guidelines
• Put essential messages near top of the page
• Use headers to organize and break up content
• Cut unnecessary text
• Write in a conversational style using active
voice
• Use parallel structure
• Make good use of links
• Watch out for jargon (think about what our
users call things)

26. Before

27. After

28. Tone & Voice
Voice
The distinct overall personality,
style or point of view of writing
on your website.
KL is user focused and
professional-friendly.
Tone
How you say it.
Adapted to your
audience.
How should our web copy be…

29. What is up
next

30. Upcoming Plans
• Editing pages based on
guidelines
• Usability testing
• Migration to LibGuides2
Other ideas…..?