User-Centered Design and Usability Testing of a Web Site: An Illustrative Case Study

Administrators at a large midwestern university recognized that their World Wide Web site was rapidly becoming an important factor in recruiting new students. They also expected this Web site to serve many different types of information needs for existing students, faculty, staff, and alumni. An int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational technology research and development 1997-01, Vol.45 (4), p.65-76
Main Authors: Corry, Michael D., Frick, Theodore W., Hansen, Lisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer Networks
Computer System Design
Design
Design Requirements
Development
Distance teaching
Educational sciences
Evaluation Methods
Higher Education
Home pages
Housing
Hyperlinks
Iterative Methods
Personal computers
Prototype Testing
Prototypes
Research design
School campuses
Teaching aids
Universities
Usability
User Needs (Information)
Web Sites
World Wide Web
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Summary:Administrators at a large midwestern university recognized that their World Wide Web site was rapidly becoming an important factor in recruiting new students. They also expected this Web site to serve many different types of information needs for existing students, faculty, staff, and alumni. An interdisciplinary team of faculty, graduate students, and staff was formed to evaluate the existing Web site. A group from this team first conducted a needs analysis to determine the kinds of information the target population was seeking. This analysis led to the creation of a new information structure for the Web site. Usability tests of the both the new and old designs were conducted on paper. Users were able to find answers to frequently asked questions much more rapidly and successfully with the new information structure. This structure was further refined through additional usability tests conducted on the Web itself. This descriptive case study illustrates the value of user-centered design and usability testing of World Wide Web sites.
ISSN:1042-1629
1556-6501
DOI:10.1007/BF02299683