Website Usability Study: The American Red Cross. Sarah Barth, Veronica McCoo, Katelyn McLimans, Alyssa Williams. University of Alabama

Transcription

1 Website Usability Study: The American Red Cross Sarah Barth, Veronica McCoo, Katelyn McLimans, Alyssa Williams University of Alabama

2 1. The American Red Cross is part of the world's largest volunteer network which can be found in 187 countries. It s mission is to provide assistance to those in need by striving to alleviate human suffering. The Red Cross is an independent organization. The American Red Cross provides compassionate care in five critical areas; people affected by disasters; support for members of the military and their families; health and safety education and training; blood collection, processing and distribution to as many as 3,000 medical facilities across the United States. It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavors to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress. 2. The intended audience of the American Red Cross s website is for those who are distressed or are in need of emergency services. It is for those who are looking for classes to be a certified lifeguard, or for those who are looking for life-saving classes such as First Aid & CPR. It is also intended for people looking to serve as volunteers. 3. This website usability survey was developed and conducted online using the website Survey Monkey. The survey was conducted in this manner in order to make it easily available to our test population. The Red Cross website is intended for use across the United States, and due to the

3 geographical difference between the study creators, our participants represent potential users nationwide. Our online survey (found here: ) includes questions designed to test the learnability, efficiency, memorability, potential for errors, overall user satisfaction, and utility of the website. There were 20 subjects chosen to complete the survey. Our test population was chosen in order to reflect a wide range of ages, occupations, and computer use levels. The subjects included a police officer, middle school teacher, financial advisor, UPS worker, two office workers, two college students, a carpenter, a mail carrier, a social worker, an administrative assistant, a circulation assistant, two librarians, a welder, a software engineer, and a high school senior, among others. In terms of participant age range, our test population included four year-olds, two year-olds, eleven year-olds, and three year-olds. There were 13 females and 7 males. Our users also had a relatively-high level of computer use, with 12 participants reporting computer use of at least 26 hours per week, 4 reporting computer use of hours per week, and 4 reporting computer use of 0-10 hours per week. To administer the usability test, we first described the purpose of the study to our participants. We explained that their survey responses would be used to analyze the usability of the American Red Cross s website. We also clarified that the survey would require the participants to complete task-based questions using the website redcross.org. They would then rank the ease of

4 completing the tasks using a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being the easiest and 10 being the most difficult. We also explained that the survey would end with questions used to ascertain demographic information. After being asked to participate in the study, the participants were also asked to sign the attached consent form. The participants were also asked to use personal devices in order to complete the survey. For this reason, our participants used primarily desktop computers with a few participants using app-based devices.

5 Consent Form: Remote Usability Test Please read and sign this form. During this usability test I agree to participate in an online session using my computer. During the session I will be interviewed about the site, asked to find information or complete tasks using the site and asked to complete an online questionnaires about the experience. I understand and consent to the use and release of the findings of this survey by Sarah Barth, Katelyn McLimans, Alyssa Williams and Veronica McCoo. I understand that the information and recordings are for research purposes only and that my name and image will not be used for any other purpose. I relinquish any rights to the results and understand the recordings may be copied and used by Sarah Barth, Katelyn McLimans, Alyssa Williams and Veronica McCoo without further permission. I understand that participation is voluntary and I agree to immediately raise any concerns I might have. If you have any questions after today, please contact. Please sign below to indicate that you have read and understand the information on this form and that any questions you might have about the session have been answered. Date: Please print your name: Please sign your name: Thank you! We appreciate your participation. Please return the signed document to kmmclimans@crimson.ua.edu Test: redcross.org 03/21/17 to 04/05/17

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9 General Information Finding Individuals were asked to rank how difficult it was to find the information we asked them to find with zero being easy to find to ten being difficult to locate, shown on the vertical. How many people choose each level of difficulty is shown horizontally. Military Family Information Individuals were asked to rank how difficult it was to find the information we asked them to find with zero being easy to find to ten being difficult to locate, shown on the vertical. How many people choose each level of difficulty is shown horizontally.

10 Tasked Based Questions Individuals were asked to rank how difficult it was to find the information we asked them to find with zero being easy to find to ten being difficult to locate, shown on the vertical. How many people choose each level of difficulty is shown horizontally. Aesthetic Questions Individuals were asked to consider the fonts and colors used on the website and consider the readability and ranked it zero to ten, zero being readable and ten being unreadable, shown on the vertical. How many people choose each level of difficulty is shown horizontally.

11 Age of the individuals surveyed Gender of those surveyed Female 13 Male 7 Hours per week the survey participants use a computer

12 7. Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 of the survey were task-based questions used to ascertain the learnability and efficiency of the website. The results of this survey show that overall, the website was easy for the participants to navigate and learn. On a scale of zero to ten with zero being the easiest and ten being the most difficult, questions 2, 3, and 8 had an average ease of use between 0-2, meaning that it was very easy for the participants to find volunteer opportunities, locate first aid classes, and translate the page into Spanish. Although the results from question 4 show that this task was relatively easy for participants to complete, with an average ease of use score of 3, it was slightly more difficult for the participants than questions 2, 3, and 8. Since question 4 asked the participants to find information needed in the case of an emergency, specifically how to contact family members in the military, the Red Cross should consider making this information more easily available. The emergency contact link for this information is currently nested under the Get Help tab under the subheading of Military Families. Although these links appear to be labeled clearly, having a direct link to this information on the homepage instead of relying on a user s skill to navigate multiple links may help to promote easier access to this information. Question 1 was the most difficult learnability and efficiency task-based question for the participants to complete, receiving an average ease of use score of 5. This means that it was most difficult for the participants to find information about the items needed for an emergency preparedness kit. Similar to question 4, the difficulty with question 1 appears to be an issue of navigability. To find this information, users had to navigate to the Get Help tab, find the

13 Prepare for Emergencies subheading, and choose the Be Red Cross Ready link. Once on this page, users can navigate to a link that lists items for emergency preparedness kits. As with question 4, this information requires users to navigate multiple links in order to find this information, which may be hard for first-time website users. Moreover, the responses to question 10, which asked the participants to elaborate on any issues they had navigating the website, showed that question 1 received the most difficult ease of use score due to navigability issues. Multiple participants commented that they explored the website and were not able to find this information, and another noted that in trying to answer this question, they were taken to a separate Red Cross store webpage and experienced difficulties navigating back to the homepage. Overall, the responses to question 10 showed that it was fairly simple for the participants to navigate the website, including statements such as, The site was logically organized, and It s a fairly easy site to search. No real difficulties. However, there was a trend amongst respondents noting the density of information. The participants said that there were Sometimes too many clicks, that the website Opens new tabs too often, and that There s a lot of information to wade through. Although the Red Cross organization encompasses many different services that may make this density of information necessary, they should consider listing only the highest-priority information and most frequently used tabs on their homepage to help alleviate some of this overload of information for users. In terms of website memorability, question 5 asked participants how easily they would find the information needed to contact military family members in the case of an emergency upon a

14 return visit. The average user response to this question was an ease of use score of 2, demonstrating that the participants believed it would be fairly easy to remember how to navigate the site upon a return visit. The participants did, however, have more difficulty with question 6, which asked them to pin the website for future use. This question resulted in an average ease of use score of 5, and some participants noted that they were not able to complete this task. This suggests that the Red Cross should consider moving the icon to pin the site to a more prominent location, such as the top of the page. For the overall satisfaction of the website s users, our survey demonstrated that the participants were mostly satisfied. Question 7, which asked the participants how satisfied they were with the Red Cross s use of donations, resulted in an average score of 2, showing that they were satisfied with this information. Question 9, which discussed the colors and aesthetics of the site, also resulted in an average score of 2, showing that the participants overall liked the colors and fonts used. Finally, for question 12, sixty percent of the participants noted that they would visit the website again and another thirty percent noted that they would maybe visit the website again. Only ten percent of the participants said that they would not visit the website again. The results of this usability study therefore demonstrate that overall, users are pleased with the ease of use, aesthetics, mission, and navigability of the Red Cross s website. While some users commented on the density of the information provided and the preponderance of links, they were able to successfully complete tasks designed to gauge their ability to find information relevant to different types of users.