Nicolette's+Test+Results

toc = __**Testing Procedure**__ =

__Participant 1__
Group members involved: Melanie and Myself Test Used: Nicolette's Test Script Testing Time: Mar. 02.10, 4:50pm

> (Wendy's, Melanie's, and Brenda's test scripts had been tested on)
 * Participant had already had already browsed through the site and was aware of the site's interface.
 * Initial reaction to the site: Thought it was an improvement from the current visual art's site
 * Participant was not familiar with the Mac system and operating the track-pad and clicking. This was one of the initial barriers with having these tests done on our Macbooks
 * Tests were completed
 * Feed back was given during the procedure as well as after in the from of questions and answers
 * Overall a smooth testing procedure

__Participant 2__
Group members involved: Brenda, Wen Tests Used: Wendy's, Brenda's, Melanie's, and Mine Testing Time: Mar.03.10, 4:30pm


 * Participant was familiar with Mac operating system.
 * Participant browsed through the website before testing occurred
 * One of the tasks were failed during the testing procedure and will be re-designed in Phase 4
 * Feedback was received from participant and proved to be very useful

__Participant 3__
Group members involved: Nicolette Tests Used: Nicolette's Test Script Testing Time: Mar.08.10, 8:30pm


 * Participant was relatively familiar with Mac operating system.
 * Both tasks were completed relatively easily
 * Comments were made regarding the web pages in an open discussion
 * Answer and question period
 * Feedback received was relatively helpful

= __User Testing Findings__ =

__Participant 1__
Group members involved: Melanie and Myself Test Used: Nicolette's Test Script Testing Time: Mar. 02.10, 4:50pm

**__Test 1:__**
“You are a student that is curious about the field of Fine Arts and you think that you might be interested in visual arts and what York University has to offer. So you would like to know more about if a career in visual arts is right for you. Please find out more information about this career choice.”

__Questions:__ 1. Did you find that it was easy to navigate through the site to get to the information that you were asked to find? 2. Is there anything that you would have liked to see on this page? Such as more images or headings?

**__ Findings __**

 * Finding the Career Option's link on the Future Student's page was a simple task. Navigation was a success!
 * Task completed in less than a minute
 * The Career Option's page was found to need a lot of work however. The following comments were made:
 * "More headings are needed on the Career Option's page, so that I don't need to go through all of the information."
 * More images are needed so that the programs doesn't look as boring
 * Career page was not very inviting

**__Test 2:__**
"You are a student who is interested in applying to the Visual Arts Department at York University. You have browsed through the Visual Arts website and you would like to know more information about the various studios. Please contact the Visual Arts administration.”

__Question:__ 1. On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being the quickest), how quickly were you able to locate this information? 2. Did you find it easy to understand the contact information that was presented?

** __Findings__ **

 * Finding the Contact Us link was very straight forward for the participant. Navigation was a success!
 * Participant responding by saying: "The contact information is where it usually is on the top right side."
 * (This is not how it is with all sites however, which is why it's important to test this particular source of information)
 * The participant responded to Question 1 by saying that she would rate her ability to locate this information at 9.
 * The contact information however, was not labeled clear enough for the participant
 * She said it would have been easier if the information, General Inquires or Administration was labeled right next to the department number

__Participant 2__
Group members involved: Brenda, Wen Tests Used: Wendy's, Brenda's, Melanie's, and Mine Testing Time: Mar.03.10, 4:30pm

__**Test 1: Findings**__

 * The participant first went to the Resources option in the Hot links bar, in order to find the Career Options
 * Then the participant went to the Future Students main navigation
 * Then scrolled all the way down to the program description
 * When the participant realized how long the description was, she went back to the top of the page and saw the career options the second time around
 * The participant blamed herself for not seeing the link right away
 * The participant then commented on the lack of imagery on the Career Options page

**__Test 2: Findings__**

 * The contact page was easy to locate on the hot links panel
 * Rated it 8- 9 on the ability to find the page easily
 * When arriving on the page, the participant found that it was hard to determine what number that she should call to complete the task
 * Participant then said that there were a lack of descriptions next to the numbers provided on the page
 * More detailed descriptions of faculty members (who she wants to reach)
 * Possibly provide imagery of faculty
 * //Idea --- > Link these extensions to faculty biographies//
 * Overall, the page was confusing to understand

__Participant 3__
Group members involved: Nicolette Tests Used: Wendy's, Brenda's, Melanie's, and Mine Testing Time: Mar.08.10, 8:30pm

__**Test 1: Findings**__

 * Finding the Career Option's link on the Future Student's page was a simple task.
 * Blue text helped the participant distinguish its' importance from the rest of the text
 * The Career Option's page had a number of issues that were outlined by the participant.
 * More headings are needed on the Career Option's page
 * A lot of information to go through without headings
 * More images are needed on the page
 * Testimonials was something that was suggested for this page
 * Career page was seen as not being very inviting

**__Test 2: Findings__**

 * The contact page was easy to locate on the hot links panel
 * The general area in which participant said she expected to see it
 * Rated it a 9 on the ability to find the page easily
 * When arriving on the page, the participant thought that there was a lack of descriptions telling her what the number was that she was suppose to reference to next to the email and contact numbers
 * When reading the sentence above the contact information, it was easy for her to tell me which number was the correct to reference.
 * Participant questioned whether or not this was the only contact information that could be accessed

= __Testing Reflection__ = In performing these user tests, I have realized that there are a number of things that we might have overlooked when designing our website pages. Our perceptions of what we consider to be straight forward or "normal" labeling, or design, might actually not be the case for a number of users.

In doing this research I was able to provide answers to the main questions that needed to be answered. Those questions were as follows: //I s the navigation system effective? Are there ways in which we can improve upon the labeling/ navigation system? //

These questions related to our prototype's Contact Us and Career Options page. In the next section I will go on to analyze those results and possible solutions that could be implemented in the Phase 4.

__**Positive and Negative Results**__

** //Positive Results:// **
Some of the positive results with my user testing were the following: > (Future Students -> Career Options and Contact Us (Right Hot link) -> Contact Information) >> One site in which users have to do more maneuvering is the following site: >> http://design.yorku.ca/>> >> Here is a screen shot of the department of design page in Firefox: >>
 * Participants were able to easily locate the desired link by correctly choosing the main navigation option. In both the Career Option and Contact Us testing scripts.
 * The Career Options link was located very appropriately at the top of the Future Student's page, as it was said to be one of the first things that a prospective student would have liked to have seen on that page.
 * The location of the Contact Information on the top right Hot Links bar could be easily accessed and received an average rating of 9 which reflected user's ability to locate this information on a scale of 1 - 10
 * Easy access to this vital information is key to a good website.
 * It actually quite difficult to locate this information on the site as there isn't a hot link to this information, nor can it be found anywhere on the home page.
 * So even though finding the Contact Us information can seem like a nonsense test, it is one that is obviously not tested enough.

** //Negative Results:// **
Some of the negative results with my user testing were the following: //I have also added in some of my own reviews and revisions that I would like to make on these pages//. //(Colour Coded)// >> >> //(Mission Statement)//
 * There were issues with the Contact on both the Career Options and Contact Us pages
 * __Contact Us page content issues__:
 * The labeling of the administrative department was not clear enough
 * Should be labeled Administration or General Inquiries
 * Information regarding professor's contact information was not listed on the page
 * This could be listed and referenced in the Faculty section
 * A link in the contact page to Faculty's extensions is one way of solving this problem
 * The Department hours are also usually located on the Contact Us page
 * //Many on campus departments close at 4:30pm on week days//
 * Map of where the Visual Arts building is located on campus
 * __Career Options page content issues:__
 * More headings would help to organize the information on the page
 * Perhaps include a table of contents
 * More Images need to be added to this page in order to make it less boring
 * More images would make the page more inviting, exciting, and feel relevant to prospective students
 * Perhaps include a link to student galleries on the page
 * More FAQ about being in the program
 * Quick link to Fees and Tuition
 * A brief program statement explaining the goals that the faculty are trying to achieve.
 * Testimonials are something that could potentially be added to this page

Overall I think that this scripted user testing experience was a success and a good way to evaluate our Visual Arts website prototype. It not only helped the group to gain feedback from a prospective student's point of view, but it also helped us to critically evaluate our work and come up with ways in which we can improve upon it.