Website redesign and testing with a usability consultant: lessons learned

This is another post about a library redesigning their website. Here they are going from a HTML site to one the utilizes a content manage system (CMS). Although this would have been a great step forward, they also focused on usability to ensure a user friendly web site.

to accomplish this a consultant was brought in. This person helped created a testing environment to help the simulate an end user experience. However, it became apparent that the librarians had a fairly good grasp of what was needed, so they took a much larger role in determining the content of the site. But the consultant still provide valuable testing measures to ensure a high degree of usability was still maintained.

My question is whether since this study, if there's has been any standardization in usability in library sites.

Tolliver et al. (2005). Website redesign and testing with a usability consultant: lessons learned. OCLC Systems & Services. 21(3). pp. 156-166

Yeah, I Found It! Performing Web Site Usability Testing to Ensure That Off-Campus Students Can Find the Information They Need!

When libraries make websites, they need to make sure that their clients can use them. The problems is that often sites are made from the perspective of the designer rather than the end user. Further, to properly engineer a useable site requires a good degree of work. In the case of this article, the author provides a glimpse of what amount energy goes into such a project.

This article focuses of the testing of an educational website. They use task-based testing, focus groups and cognitive walkthroughs to ensure usability. By taking these steps ensures that the final product is useful and user centric. However, it seemed that they took a of effort in ensuring this. Each step was very well thought out and thorough. But the end product was a useful site that encourage use. 

My question is how much does fragmentation between library websites affect usability and whether a standardization would help in these efforts. 

Beth Thomsett-Scott (2005). Yeah, I Found It! Performing Web Site Usability Testing to Ensure That Off-Campus Students Can Find the Information They Need. Journal of Library Administration, Volume 41, Issue 3 & 4. January 2005 , pages 471 – 483