Usability and the mobile web: A LITA guide, by Junior Tidal, Chicago: American Library Association/ALA Techsource, 2015. 118 pp., US$65.00 (US$58.50 ALA members) (soft cover), ISBN 978-0-8389-1301-7 (available from Inbooks)
As the title suggests, this book aims to assist librarians and web developers in creating mobile websites from a user-centred perspective to give users a quality experience when interacting with libraries on mobile devices.
The author, Junior Tidal, is the multimedia and web services librarian and assistant professor at the Ursula C. Schwerin Library, City University of New York. He is widely published in the area of web technology and usability for libraries. In this work Tidal argues that it is essential for libraries to present a positive experience for clients on their phones and tablets, as this can be the main way that clients access libraries. Moreover, usability of websites on mobile devices is significantly different from that on a laptop or desktop computer. The guide looks as the differences between desktop websites and mobile sites, addressing aspects such as connectivity, hardware/cross platform operation, small screen sizes with lower resolution, data entry methods such as swiping and touch, reduced processing power and, importantly, users’ interaction with their environment which is vital in the mobile context. The differences between responsive websites and app use and development are discussed, along with specifics of coding mobile websites, iOS apps and Android apps. This content is very useful for anyone seeking to understand why the usability of mobile websites is so important, as well as explaining what aspects to consider when developing these websites.
The rest of the book discusses practical aspects of usability testing. The author describes the usability testing process in considerable detail, as well as stressing the importance of incorporating this process into the development phase of mobile website creation. There are chapters providing guidance on developing a test plan, metrics, scripting and analysis of results. Types of usability testing are explored, such as card sorting, task testing and task scenarios. Usually applied to the usability testing of desktop websites, the author has successfully adapted these methodologies to mobile websites. The book has an appendix containing some sample text for usability testing scripts and sample mobile task scenarios. There is also a comprehensive index.
With mobile technology as prevalent as it is today, usability aspects of mobile websites could not be more important. This book is a useful guide for anyone developing mobile websites and applications for libraries. If you have ever been part of a discussion on what to call electronic resources on your library’s website or complained over the length of a URL to be typed into a mobile device, then this is the book for you.
Catherine Gilbert
Parliament of Australia Library