Usability evaluation of an NHS library website
Open Access
- 15 August 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Health Information and Libraries Journal
- Vol. 20 (3), 134-142
- https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2532.2003.00450.x
Abstract
Objectives: To carry out a usability evaluation of the recently launched South London and Maudsley NHS Trust library website.Methods: A variety of standard methodologies were employed: content and design evaluation of selected comparable sites, focus groups, a questionnaire survey of library and Web development staff, heuristic evaluation, observation testing, card sorting/cluster analysis, and label intuitiveness/category membership testing. All test participants were staff of or providers of services to the trust. Demographic information was recorded for each participant.Results: Test participants’ overall responses to the site were enthusiastic and favourable, indicating the scope and content of the site to be broadly appropriate to the user group. Testers made numerous suggestions for new content. Usability problems were discovered in two main areas: in the organization of the site, and in the terminology used to refer to information services and sources. Based on test results, proposals for a revised menu structure, improved accessibility, and changes to the terminology used within the site are presented.Conclusion: Usability evaluation methods, appropriately scaled, can be advantageously applied to NHS library websites by an individual Web editor working alone.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- The haves and the have-notsAir Medical Journal, 2003
- Information for Social Work PracticePublished by Taylor & Francis ,2001
- A guide to the internet for psychotherapistsPsychiatric Bulletin, 2001
- Computers in Psychiatry TodayAcademic Psychiatry, 2000
- Psychological applications on the internet: A discipline on the threshold of a new millenniumApplied and Preventive Psychology, 1999
- The impact of information architecture on academic web site usabilityThe Electronic Library, 1999
- Chauffeured by the UserJournal of Library Administration, 1999
- Useful Websites for PsychiatristsAcademic Psychiatry, 1998
- A Typology for Ready Reference Web Sites in LibrariesFirst Monday, 1998
- Undergraduate research behavior: Using focus groups to generate theoryThe Journal of Academic Librarianship, 1993