Meghan Hale’s e-Portfolio Test
Meghan Hale
November 12, 2009
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2.Executive Summary
3. Methodology
Sessions
Participants
Evaluation Tasks/Scenarios
4Results
Task Completion Success Rate
Task Ratings
Overall Metrics
Overall Ratings
Likes, Dislikes, Participant Recommendations
5Recommendations
6Conclusion
1. Introduction
This blog was created to show Meghan Hale’s experiences in education. The site documents her education and former teaching positions, as well as her knowledge of instructional technologies. In addition, there are links to blogs that serve as reflections on Meghan’s progress at the Marlboro College Graduate Center.
Meghan Hale conducted this usability test on her own laptop at the homes of four participants. She documented the navigation practices, comments, feedback, frustrations, and overall ratings of the participants.
2.Executive Summary
This usability test was conducted on four different occasions on dates ranging from November 7- November 18, 2009. The usability took place in the homes of the participants on the test takers laptop. There were three participants total, and the sessions lasted about 20 minutes apiece.
The goal of this test was to get feedback from the participants about the presentation of the site and the quality of information. Overall the participants navigated their way through the site with ease, and were able to complete the tasks without help. All three participants use computers and the internet daily for personal and work purposes. All use PCs and not Macs.
The following are problems that were consistent with each participant:
-The links to the audio and video recordings were not marked and could not be found.
-The information on the home page, and bio page was redundant.
-The participants were unsure about the purpose of the various blogs.
-The site contains some grammatical errors.
This report serves as documentation of overall satisfactions ratings, task completion rates, ease or difficulty of completion ratings, time on task, errors, and recommendations for improvements.
3Methodology
Sessions
For example:
The test taker contacted three family members to serve as participants in this usability test. Each individual session lasted approximately twenty minutes. Prior to beginning the session, the test administrator asked the participants to fill out a short survey to determine the participant’s age, profession, computer competency, and knowledge about personal blogs. The test taker then explained the test session and asked the participant to complete 6 tasks using the Think Aloud Method. The tasks were the same for each participant. The participants were asked to rate the ease to which they found each task to be. The task each participant completed were:
-Find the Teaching Philosophy
-Find the video
-Find the audio
-Find the link to the Huck Finn Webquest
-Find the Teaching with Technology blog.
-Open the resume
After all tasks were completed, the test administrator asked the participants to fill out an additional survey expressing their opinions about the organization of the site, the relevancy of the information, the visual aesthetics, and any additional comments on their likes, dislikes, and suggestions for improvement.
All participants were male. Three were in their mid to late 20s and use computers on a daily basis, and have been for 10 plus years. The final participant is in his 50s, works as an Antique Dealer and has only been using computers for 5 years. Most computer usage is limited to ebay transactions and checking email.
All tests were administered between the dates of November 7 and November 18, 2009. None of the participants have any experience in the field of education, or have used blog sites of their own. The participants were asked to rate their comfort with computers. The results are shown in the graph below.
How comfortable are you with computers?
Participant / Very / Somewhat / Not Comfortable1 / X
2 / X
3 / X
4 / X
4Results
Task Completion Success Rate
All participants were able to find the teaching philosophy. Only one participant successfully found the audio and video recordings. All but one of the participants found the link to the Huck Finn Webquest. All of the participants were able to find the Teaching with Technology Blog, and print the resume.
Task Completion Rates
Participant / Task 1 / Task 2 / Task 3 / Task 4 / Task 5 / Task 61 / √ / - / - / - / √ / √
2 / √ / - / - / √ / √ / √
3 / √ / √ / √ / √ / √ / √
4 / √ / - / - / √ / √ / √
Success / 4 / 1 / 1 / 4 / 4 / 4
Task Ratings
After each participant was completed a task he was asked to rate the level or ease or difficulty he found the task to be. Ratings were done on three point scale, with 1 being very easy and 3 being difficult.
Ease in Finding Information
For example:
All participants scored a two for task one, a three for tasks two and three, and a one for tasks four, five and six.
Participants were asked to use the same scale to determine the level of ease in each he was able to keep track of location in site, predict information content on each page, and find relevancy in the information.
Keeping Track of Location in Site
All participants were able to keep track of their location on the site, and easily navigate back to the home page.
Predicting Information Section
Three of the four participants were able to predict the information content on each page, however each participant claimed that the page entitled Statement could use a more telling name.
Relevancy of Information
Each participant assigned a three for the relevancy of the information content
On the site, stating the all of the information was connected and properly
organized.
Task / 1 / 2 / 31 – Find Teaching Philosophy / 4
2 – Find Audio Recording / 4
3 – Find Video Recording / 4
4 – Find Huck Finn Webquest / 4
5 – Find the Teaching with Technology Blog / 4
6 – Find the Resume / 4
Overall Metrics
4.6.1 Overall Ratings
After task session completion, participants rated the site for three overall measures. These measures were:
-Ease of keeping track of location in sight,
-Predictability of content on each page
-Relevancy of information.
Keeping Track of Location in Site
All participants were able to keep track of their location on the site, and easily navigate back to the home page.
Predicting Information Section
Three of the four participants were able to predict the information content on each page, however each participant claimed that the page entitled Statement could use a more telling name.
Relevancy of Information
Each participant assigned a three for the relevancy of the information content
On the site, stating the all of the information was connected and properly
organized.
Post-Task Overall Questionnaire
Agree / Neutral / DisagreeWere able to keep track of location in sight. / 4
Were able to predict information on each page. / 3 / 1
Found information on the site to be relevant. / 4
4.6.2 Likes, Dislikes, Participant Recommendations
After completing all of the tasks the participants were asked to provide
feedback about their likes, dislikes and recommendations for improvement.
Liked Most
All participants liked the organization of the site, and thought there was a nice balance between images and wordiness.
Liked Least
The participants disliked the redundancy on the homepage and the bio page.
They also did not like that the audio and visual recordings were not properly
labeled.
Recommendations for Improvement
Each participant suggested that the site creator label the audio and visual
recordings, add information about the blogs next to the links, and include a
Professional head shot on the bio page.
5Recommendations
Each participant suggested that the site creator label the audio and visual
recordings, add information about the blogs next to the links, and include a Professional head shot on the bio page.
Change / Justification- Label audio and visual recordings.
- Add information about the blogs next to the links
- Include a professional headshot on the bio page
It is not obvious to the viewer what the point in these blogs is. They look like random links.
The site is less personable without a head shot to match all the information in this site.
6Conclusion
In conclusion, each participant found the sight very easy to navigate. They found the information to be clear and relevant and the site to be well organized. They found the aesthetics to be complimentary and appropriate in consideration of the content. The only recommendations for improvement centered on additional information for clarity.
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