Improving User Experience: 3 Key Insights from a University Website Usability Analysis

This past spring, I had the opportunity to analyze the University of North Florida Department of English's website for usability.

My colleagues and I enlisted three participants who are graduate level students at UNF in the English program. Preliminary research suggested that students were most likely to use the UNF English Department website, but the graduate students’ unique needs and capabilities might have been overlooked. All participants were UNF English graduate students who were currently enrolled or had been within the last year.

Students enrolled in the spring 2023 Usability Testing course were ineligible for the study. Previous knowledge of the study was also a disqualifier. Basic technological skills and ability to navigate a website were required for the involvement in the study. Participants may have had prior experience with the UNF English website, but experience with the specific tasks was not expected or required. Recruitment was completed via email.

Finding 1:

All tested information on the UNF DOE website is accessible within 3 clicks.

But that doesn't mean all of it was.

Recommendation:

Ensure that all information, such as how to apply for the English Graduate Program, also adheres to the 3-Click Rule.

Finding 2:

Users were confused by the College of Arts and Sciences navigation bar.

Upon being asked to complete the first task, a majority of participants started with the prominent navigation bar at the top of the page.

That bar is not specific to the Department of English; rather, it displays information for the entire College of Arts and Sciences (COAS). Instead of using the “Faculty & Administration” tab on the bottom left for Task 1, which asked participants to find the phone number or email address of an English professor, participants instead went for the “Faculty and Staff” drop-down menu along the top.

While that link does allow the participants to complete the task, two problems arise: one more click is required to find the actual list of faculty (confusingly labeled "Faculty Bios," though no bios are actually contained on the page it returns), and the page is populated with the contact information of every professor in the COAS. This was surprising to users — they found much more information than they expected, and a lot more scrolling was required to find the information they were seeking.

Recommendation:

Move the department’s navigation bar to a more prominent position.

When users navigate to the Department of English site, the first thing they see is the most prominent navigation bar across the top of the page. However, this bar is not specific to the DOE but rather contains links that help navigate the sections of the COAS, and thus when clicked they take users away from the DOE site. Our findings indicate that visitors to the site often attempt to use that bar to navigate the DOE site. This issue can be frustrating for users who are looking for specific information.

Currently, the navigation bar for the DOE is located farther down the page, and depending on screen size and orientation, may not even be visible when users first arrive. We recommend that the main navigation bar be moved to the top of the page, where the COAS navigation currently resides. This change would allow users to navigate the site more easily.

Finding 3:

Getting involved with other graduate students is difficult.

Finding information about the English Graduate Organization (EGO) information was difficult for all three participants. The information about it is found by clicking "English Graduate Program" in the side navigation (see Fig. 3), clicking the "Information and Programs of Study" tab, then scrolling all the way to the bottom and clicking the "English Graduate Organization (EGO)" tab from a secondary tabbed menu.

Recommendation:

Put the EGO info in the main navigation area.

It's beneficial for most students in the English graduate program to get involved with the organization for varying reasons, including networking, studying, and resume building; thus, the information should be easily accessible. A simple solution would be to include a tab in the "English Graduate Program" drop-down menu on the left navigation.

Download the full report below.

Copy of Usability Testing Report-compressed.pdf

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