Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources
Depending what you need there are a number of resources out there http://www.userzoom.com/ is a great tool if you don't have the ability to do everything in house. http://52weeksofux.com/ That is the tip of the iceberg - if you search for blog posts there are hundreds of 'best of' lists out there. On Mar 25, 2014, at 9:50 AM, Sean Hannan wrote: OptimalWorkshop.com -Sean From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Coral Sheldon-Hess [co...@sheldon-hess.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 9:48 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources Here is one Sumana mentioned: UserTesting.com What else is out there? - Coral -- -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources
Yes, Andromeda is right; I meant reasonable size tests (3 users), done often (the gold standard is monthly, as I understand it), but giving the whole library the chance to view them in real time, remotely, then to discuss solutions--and I was saying that isn't something I was convinced would work for my library. I apologize for being unclear. While I'm writing to the list anyway... *Erin White took really good notes on today's UX break-out session discussion*: http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/2014_Breakout_II_(Wednesday)#UX And here are the notes from yesterday, mostly about the UX problems libraries are having, also by Erin: http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/2014_Breakout_I_(Tuesday)#User_Experience -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi
[CODE4LIB] Usability resources
Here is one Sumana mentioned: UserTesting.com What else is out there? - Coral -- -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources
OptimalWorkshop.com -Sean From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Coral Sheldon-Hess [co...@sheldon-hess.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 9:48 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources Here is one Sumana mentioned: UserTesting.com What else is out there? - Coral -- -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources
Some things that came up in the UX discussion (well, the third of it I was in) at the breakout session, about how to get your library to be more open to UX: Several libraries (Duke is one) use Steve Krug http://www.sensible.com's approach to getting buy-in on usability. They get a bunch of their coworkers into a room (donut bribes are effective) and have them watch actual students using their actual digital services--website or whatever. It's very effective! For more information, read Don't Make Me Thinkhttp://www.sensible.com/dmmt.htmland Rocket Surgery Made Easy http://www.sensible.com/rsme.html. It didn't come up in session, but here's a pretty engaging talkhttp://matthew.reidsrow.com/articles/16, by Matthew Reidsma, about UX and this approach. I apologize for the self promotion, but not all libraries' cultures allow for the big public test approach. Mine ... might, now, but probably wouldn't have, a couple of years ago. So this process went (is going) a slightly different way in my library. I used a number of approaches to gain trust and political capital, but eventually I totally overwhelmed my coworkers with citations in what, when they can't hear me, I call a gentle manifesto--internally, we call it the Web Plan. Slides outlining the tools/approaches/thought process I used and the Web Plan/Manifesto are both available on ALA Connect http://connect.ala.org/node/213994. One thing our approaches have in common: Steve Krug. Seriously, if you haven't read *Don't Make Me Think*, please do! Whether you design websites or not! There's a new edition! It takes less time than a cross-country plane ride to read--how convenient for those of you at conference! ;) And there were several other good tools, but I can't brain anymore. Please, send 'em along! -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 9:50 AM, Sean Hannan shan...@jhu.edu wrote: OptimalWorkshop.com -Sean From: Code for Libraries [CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU] on behalf of Coral Sheldon-Hess [co...@sheldon-hess.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 9:48 AM To: CODE4LIB@LISTSERV.ND.EDU Subject: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources Here is one Sumana mentioned: UserTesting.com What else is out there? - Coral -- -- Coral Sheldon-Hess http://sheldon-hess.org/coral @web_kunoichi
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability resources
On Mar 25, 2014, at 4:07 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess wrote: Some things that came up in the UX discussion (well, the third of it I was in) at the breakout session, about how to get your library to be more open to UX: [trimmed, although, I agree on the Steve Krug books] I apologize for the self promotion, but not all libraries' cultures allow for the big public test approach. Mine ... might, now, but probably wouldn't have, a couple of years ago. There's been a recommendation for years that big public tests are a waste of people's time ... you don't do that until it's effectively a release candidate. Here are the problems: (1) there's going to be one or two problems that are the majority of the problem reports. (2) once everyone's tested out the buggy version, they're tainted so can't be a clean slate when testing the next version. Most recommendations that I've seen call for 3-5 testers for each iteration, with 2-3 being preferred if you're doing fast cycles. [1] Yes, you can run into the one tester with completely unreasonable demands about how things should be done, but if your programmers don't see how stupid the ideas are, they should be shown to be horrible in the next test cycle. If you run too large of tests, you've got to leave some long time window for people to test, someone has to correlate all of the comments ... it's just a drag. Small test groups mean you can run a day of testing once a week and keep moving forward. -Joe [1] I'll probably out myself as an old fogey here, but : http://www.useit.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
