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IST110 Web Page Usability Assignment |
Kirk Fuller |
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Section 2—Group 7 |
Melissa Harrill |
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February 24, 2000 |
Sara Hassinger |
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Natalie Pappas |
Upon receiving the assignment we were a little unsure as to what web pages to look at and compare. Some pages were dedicated to providing technical information about your computer, while still others were only search engines designed for you to find a particular topic or subject you were looking for. Eventually we thought that a more politically related web page would provide our group with the necessary components to make an informed judgement on those sites usability. Political web pages have become a larger part of any persons campaign for an office of government, in our case the Presidency of the United States. With a constantly growing number of citizens using the internet to obtain their news and information about society, it would be as good as not running if you were to forego developing a web page outlining your position on certain issues facing the nation.
For our comparison we chose the web sites of George W. Bush, the Republican candidate for president, and Al Gore, the Democratic candidate for president. Each of these sites contained information relevant, not only to the person running for the presidency, but for those in this country that wish to make an informed decision on Election Day. Providing up-to-date information on each candidate's views on different aspects of governmental policy, as well as getting that information to the voter in a quick and easy to understand manner should be the main goal of each web site.
We decided to focus at the different aspects of each site that made it more appealing to the voters who are looking for important information to make an informed decision or to give a contribution to their respective campaigns. Aspects such as page layout, use of fonts and graphics, promptness of the information presented, and overall speed of the web page were tested and compared. We hope to show that each web site has strengths that appeal to certain users, while also having areas in which they need some improvement. Our test was based off of information obtained online from Keith Instone, where we were able to obtain an outline on how the test should be administered to both pages as listed below.
Each section is explained in more detail at the URL http://instone.org/howtotest/introduction.html. With this basic test outline, we constructed our own test for which we will base our conclusions.
We first thought about the users who would seek these web pages. They are most likely voting citizens who are in search of more information about each candidate or want to aid their favorite candidate in his campaign. The features of each site and how they were presented are at utmost importance here. Knowing what a user wants is a major concern in the development of a web page, and we hoped to analyze each site to the best of our abilities.
To make identical comparisons on specific areas of each web page, data had to be collected on tasks common to our target user. We compiled the following list of tasks that our test subjects would have to perform, rating each on the amount of time it took to complete.
This list was presented to a few friends outside our group, as well as to each group member to complete, for a total of eight persons providing us with the data we requested. Although the target audience in our study isn’t a perfect representation of the population, it provided us with data on which to base our results as show in the following table.
The next part of our comparison came in the form of asking all of our test subjects their overall opinions about each web site, noting things such as targeted audience and overall ease of use. For this part of our experiment, our test subjects could give a more open-ended response that we incorporated into our final analysis. After all, it is how the users, or voters, feel about a candidates web page when they enter it that ultimately determines that sites real value.
Overall it was felt that the web page for Al Gore was the favorite. Features such as auto refresh of pages, quick links to a children’s section, and no annoying popup windows asking for money were just some of our test subjects observations. Although the Al Gore site was the overall winner, it still lacked in a number of areas where the web page for George Bush stood out. Features such as a date stamp at the top of the page for any up to the minute information allowed the Bush site to pull ahead.
Taking these observations into consideration, we began to derive our suggestions for improvements for the two pages. Criteria for our evaluations and suggestions of each web page was done using Peter Lonsdale’s site on "What’s good and what’s bad about Web pages?" found at URL http://www.frankritter.com/ist110/web-lonsdale/index.html. Items we looked at on both web pages included the following:
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Text |
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Links |
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Color |
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Graphics |
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Download times |
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Usability of information presented |
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Asthetics |
With this basic list of items that define the backbone of a web sites "usability", we began combining our data with our observations. This process led us to the development of four major improvements that could be made to each web page.
The George Bush web site, www.georgewbush.com, was lacking in a number of areas, and we hoped to improve it in the following ways.
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Improve the distribution of the site's location to various internet search engines. |
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By providing proper links to the search engines such as Yahoo, Excite, or Lycos, users who did not know the exact location of the official Bush web site could easily find it. This would most certainly increase the amount of traffic his site would see, as more targeted users would find their way to his site. Another way this could be improved would be to create a title for the web site other than the URL address. Some search engines use the titles as keywords when looking for specific web sites. |
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Decrease the download time of each page on the site to allow for quicker access to important information. |
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Delays in downloading items can have a significant effect on any web site. The internet was designed around the principle of information at your fingertips. When users have to wait for something to load, they may decide to skip that information, or at worst, leave your site entirely. Ways to improve this would be to host the site on a faster server or by lowering the detail of images presented. Less color in images and backgrounds equal smaller file sizes that in turn equal quicker downloads. |
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Reduce the amount of unnecessary reading needed to find your way to the information you desire. |
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Although the goal of the web site is to provide thorough information to the user, it can sometimes become an obstacle for that user. If a user must read through a lot of text around which the main topic is to be found, the user might skip over the information. Providing topics in a list format rather than a paragraph format would allow the users to quickly find the information they desired. Other related improvements would be to simply use more defined terms for the links given on the site, as some users might find certain terms misleading. |
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Remove any and all popup windows that push for the user to contribute funds. |
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Placing a pop-up window over the web site upon entering is distracting to most users, and can even be annoying enough to stop some users from continuing into the site. Most users who wish to contribute to the campaign should be able to find a link readily accessible on the site, not be pressured into donating. |
Even though the web site for Al Gore, www.AlGore2000.com, was the overall winner in our usability tests, we were still able to find where it could be improved in the following ways.
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Include an indication of the date and time any new information is posted. |
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Providing a date stamp on pages with important information allows the user to see that current information is flowing into the site as it happens. This assures the user that they aren’t getting "yesterdays news". This would also be an asset to those reporting on such web sites as they could more easily document their findings when publishing information. |
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Reduce some of the "show" aspects of the site, giving way to a more functional design rather than a flashy one. |
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While aiding in the sites uniqueness and flair, multiple colors and animated pictures will tend to take away from the intentions of the site. These may at first draw your attention to certain items, but will eventually lead to users being distracted, causing them to skip over other more important issues you may wish for them to read about. |
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Reduce the amount of information presented on each page. |
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More often than not the user needed to scroll for an unacceptable amount of time to see everything on each page. By not having the information directly in front of them, a user may opt not to scroll through the page and miss an important issue in the process. If all of the information must be there, then provide a brief summary that will link the user to a more detailed page that outlines that particular issue. This would allow each user to easily find the topic of his or her choice and connect to the information more rapidly |
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Overall layout of options presented, as well as the font type and size used to present the information should be more clean and clear to the user. |
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Complex fonts, tiny text, and varying color, shape, and size of links will most often lead to a user not knowing where to go to find the information he or she seeks. Certain font types, sizes, and colors are easier to read than others, and generally should be larger and more uniform. Terms used for links should be better defined, allowing for a user to better distinguish what areas might hold the information they desired. Font type and size should be increased to provide easier navigation. |
As noted in the beginning of this document, it is the presentation of relative information to a voter visiting either of these web sites that is of utmost importance. The social impacts of having a successful political web site are almost endless. More informed voters would most certainly result in higher voter turn out at the poles, as people would feel more confident about the decision they were making. Having a better web site would allow such voters, as well as those in the media, to more easily compare each candidate’s position on certain issues facing the nation. With technology growing faster than ever, the medium known to us as the internet, will most definitely play a part in how our government is chosen, and possibly even run in the near future.
We hope that you now have a better understanding about the issues faced when developing a web site, and that you will be able to apply those factors if you every have to create a web site for either your boss, company, or even yourself. The impact of a good web site can be felt throughout not only those in the technical community, but through society as a whole. As we become more of a technological based people it will become increasingly important to provide quick, accurate, and clear views and insights to the world if you wish to succeed in the future.