Heuristic Analysis

Definitions

• UX: User Experience
• Figma: A design platform where we create all of our designs.
• FigJam: A digital whiteboard platform linked to Figma and our design files.
• Jira: A KanBan-like platform we use to organize our work following an agile workflow.
• Sprint: A period of work focusing on previously outlined tasks.

Introduction

Every month, we conduct at least one UX activity on the library website. With every activity, we choose a different method of UX testing or evaluation depending on what needs to be tested or reviewed. Our latest activity involved a heuristic analysis of the library website, which is a method of reviewing a website for usability improvements.

The Interaction Design Foundation defines a heuristic as "a fast and practical way to solve problems or make decisions" (Interaction Design Foundation) As UX professionals, we utilize the heuristic analysis to evaluate design problems in a digital interface, such as the library website. This latest analysis was the first time our team conducted a heuristic analysis on the redesigned library website. As such, our process is not perfect. Despite our learning curve, we were able to find areas of the website that need improvement. After this analysis was completed, we came together to reflect on how to improve the analysis for the next time we decide to review the website using heuristics. We then combined the data, organized it, and evaluated it for potential solutions.

There are ten heuristics with which we evaluate a website (listed below). These heuristics provide a guide for evaluating a digital interface for potential problems. For this heuristic analysis, we had each team member evaluate either our main website, or pages that are run on Springshare, which includes LibGuides, LibCal, and A-Z Databases. Springshare provides a flexible content management system (CMS) used by libraries and educational institutions to create, maintain, and share Guides, Events, and FAQs. The Springshare CMS also provides a chat service that can be seamlessly integrated into any library system.

1. Visibility of System Status
2. Match Between the System and the Real World
3. User Control and Freedom
4. Consistency and Standards
5. Error Prevention
6. Recognition Rather than Recall
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors
10. Help and Documentation

Process

Data Collection

Our team collected data using spreadsheets to track our findings. The data points we collected are: the page the finding was found on, the heuristic the finding applies to, and the severity of the finding. Individually, we browsed the library website and made note of any areas of the site we came across that need usability improvements. After this initial data collection period, we came together to combine and analyze the data on our FigJam whiteboard. Utilizing the whiteboard format to combine and analyze our findings allowed us to more easily find common themes.

Participants

The participants for this analysis included members of the UX team at the library as well as two members from the College of Arts and Letters that we collaborate with on other projects. It was beneficial to have perspectives from people who don’t work with the website everyday in addition to members of the UX team.

Data Analysis

The data analysis portion of the heuristic analysis took up the bulk of our time during this UX activity. We came together to organize the data using FigJam to have a more visual medium for collaborating. We combined and categorized our findings by the web page the issue was found on, and grouped together issues that had commonalities, or could potentially be solved with one solution.

Once we had our findings grouped, we took a deeper look at each grouping and came up with a one sentence summary of the need for a usability improvement. We then organized these based on what we deemed more of a priority to implement.

After prioritizing the issues, we went through them again to brainstorm potential solutions for each summary statement. We organized these again based on what would take more effort to implement, and what would have more impact if we improved the usability. We also noted items that would need input or action from other units at the library. We then came up with action items we can translate into specific tasks to work on during a future sprint. Additionally, we identified areas within Springshare where usability improvements are needed, but these are beyond our team’s control. We will be sending our recommendations for improvements along to the Springshare team.

One example on the site where a usability improvement could be made is related to the heuristic of User Control and Freedom. We found that once a user navigates to the Make@State application to submit jobs to the Hollander Makerspace, there is no clear way for the user to exit the application and return to the Makerspace pages on the library website. The improvement we are suggesting is to add a button to the Make@State application that takes the user back to the Makerspace pages. This will increase the amount of control the user has in navigating between the library website and the related applications that link to the services we offer.

Reflection

After we completed this analysis, we came together to reflect on how the process went. We noted what worked, what didn't, what could be tweaked for next time, and came up with some ideas for making this process smoother the next time we conduct this type of review of the website. We typically do this type of reflection work after our usual sprints, but this is the first time we did a retrospective meeting about a UX activity.

Next Steps

The next steps for the project include implementing the changes that we determined as high priority for the main library website. We have wireframes for some solutions that we identified during our analysis that we plan to implement on the library website over the Fall and Spring semesters. We are also planning to collaborate with both the LibApps working group and with Springshare to work on some of the improvements we identified that are specific to LibApps and Springshare.