Title: Usability Report for Eleanor Roosevelt College (ERC) Resident Advisors Web page
Author: Sean McCarty
Date: August 6, 2008

Subjects

Three people were included in the test. One was a former ERC RA. One was a current ERC RA. One was a former RA at San Diego State University (SDSU). Two people accessed the site using Internet Explorer on a Windows-based PC. The third person accessed the site using Firefox on an Apple running OS X.

Think Aloud Task

The three people were asked to find the following elements in the site:

1. Who is on duty today?
2. Who is on duty one month from today
3. Where is the Duty Log?
4. Where is the Incident Report Form?
5. Where is the phone number for the ERC ResLife Office?
6. Where is the phone number for the ERC Dean's Office?

Summary of Think Aloud

The two people who accessed the site using Internet Explorer were able to find all six elements relatively quickly. They reported the site was stratightforward and easy to access. The third person who accessed the site on an Apple iMac was unable to view the left-hand navigation menu. The float element was interpreted differently by Firefox and the main content completely overlapped it. The third person was able to access the other four tasks.

Summary of Posttest

The former ERC RA suggested moving the event calendar to a separate page and creating a link from the home page. She also suggested including a Key Inventory Form and a Message Board. The current ERC RA stated that some elements were difficult to locate due to black writing on a gray background and that brighter backgrounds should be used. He also suggested adding more visually appealing and colorful images. He also stated the duty calendar should be at the top-left so it is the first element people see. The person who accessed the site using an iMac stated that other than the hidden left navigation menu he found the web page easy to access.

Findings to be Implemented

As a result of the test, the following changes will be made:

1. Make the headings more visible. Use bolder colors for the headings and eliminate the gray background in favor of lighter brighter colors.
2. Swap the content of the two columns on the main page. Move the Duty Calendar to the top of the left column so that viewers see it immediately.
3. Make a separate page for the events calendar. Move the events calendar to its own page and link to it from the home page. In place of the events calendar, put pictures of recent events to make the page more visual.

The following suggestions will not be implemented, but will be considered for a later date:

1. No Key Inventory Form at this time. The focus of the page is to provide RA's with important information regarding their job. A Key Inventory Form may be added later.
2. No Message Board will be added. ERC RA's current use Google Groups to communicate so a custom message board is not necessary. However, a link to the Google Group will be added to the site.