Focus on Assessment - Oct 26, 2009

Usability. It makes sense right? Being able to use something properly. It doesn't take a lot of
practice to learn how to use a fork or roll a ball or even chew a piece of gum. These objects just
work as intended. They make sense. So why are Web sites so different? Why do we spend so
many hours laboring over the smallest decisions: what to name links, where to put navigation,
what colors to use, and so forth? Because, the Web is the ultimate resource and is potentially
available to everyone in the world. In education, this means students, researchers, teachers,
parents, donors and others who need to be able to access content quickly and efficiently.
You may have also heard the term accessibility and assumed that the two are the same. Often
included together (and rightly so), they are distinctively different beasts. Accessibility involves
actually accessing Web content. This means that a vision-impaired user using assistive software
can access the same Web sites that any other person can. But say that content is coded to be
accessible but is not at all intuitive. Flip this around and imagine a site that is usable for a
specific group. We often see platform or browser proprietorship even in today's Web sites. Sure
they may work really well for a select user-base, but what about the rest of us? These concerns
have given rise to more global Web design standards.

There are lots of gray areas too, but just keep in mind that usability actually refers to the
experience not access. Web guru Jakob Nielsen defines it as "a quality attribute that assesses
how easy user interfaces are to use. The word 'usability' also refers to methods for improving
ease-of-use during the design process."
Nielson further breaks it down to five elements:

Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they
encounter the design?
Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily
can they reestablish proficiency?
Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can
they recover from the errors?
Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? (--
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html)

Information about the usability studies within the University Libraries will appear in our next
"Focus on Assessment" column.

Library Assessment and Metrics Council:
https://intranet.libraries.psu.edu/home/groups/assesscouncil.html