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Focus on Findability

Focus on Findability. InterLab 2004 Marsha Luevane National Renewable Energy Laboratory. What this presentation covers. Basics of findability How we help people find our sites on the Web How we help users find content on our sites Methods we use to learn what users are looking to find

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Focus on Findability

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  1. Focus on Findability InterLab 2004 Marsha Luevane National Renewable Energy Laboratory

  2. What this presentation covers • Basics of findability • How we help people find our sites on the Web • How we help users find content on our sites • Methods we use to learn what users are looking to find • Techniques we use to guide visitors to special content

  3. Basics of findability • What is findability • Basic definition: ability to find • Definition per findability.org Web site: quality of being locatable or findable

  4. Basics of findability (cont’d) • Findability is a hot topic • Search engines • Yahoo - >30K results for findability • Google - >800 titles contain findability • Articles, blogs, books, Web sites

  5. Basics of findability (cont’d) • Peter Morville is leading the findability movement • Wrote article on Age of Findability • Founded findability.org site in May 2004 • Writing book called Ambient Findability • Per Peter, findability is not limited to content or the Web

  6. Basics of findability (cont'd) • Findability isn’t new; it’s been rediscovered • Libraries have always cared about findability • Government cares about findability • E-Gov Act of 2002 – make it easy for people to find information and services • FirstGov.gov – home page focuses on topics and tasks • Federal Web Content Managers Toolkit www.webcontent.gov - guidance on E-Gov requirements; includes best practices for findability, i.e., topics and tasks on home pages

  7. Basics of findability (cont'd) • NREL cares about findability • Three mothership sites • www.nrel.gov – NREL public site • www.eere.energy.gov – DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy • thesource.nrel.gov – NREL intranet • Bottom line • We want to people to find NREL and EERE on the Web • We want people to find what they are looking for when they visit NREL, EERE, and SOURCE intranet

  8. How we help people find our sites on the Web • People browse (follow links) and do searches to find information on the Web • Ways we help people find NREL and EERE • Links • Search engine optimization

  9. Links • There are >30K links to NREL and >50K links to EERE on other Web sites • Links to NREL and EERE home pages and content pages • Links in lists of related sites and page content

  10. Links (cont'd) • NREL and EERE • Are linked in major directories such as Yahoo, Google, Open Directory Project, and FirstGov • Are linked on other energy sites • Link to other sites, especially energy sites

  11. Links (cont'd) • Benefits • People find NREL and EERE pages when they are browsing the Web • People visit NREL and EERE • Per 2004 survey, 45% of the respondents first became aware of EERE through links on other Web sites • Per 2003 statistics, Yahoo, FirstGov, DOE, and energy sites are among the top referring sites, i.e., links on those sites brought a lot of visitors to NREL and EERE

  12. Links (cont'd) • Benefits (cont'd) • NREL and EERE pages get a ranking boost in searches in Google, Yahoo, and other Web-wide search engines • Because important sites like Yahoo, DOE, etc. link to them • Because lots of other sites in the energy community link to them

  13. Search optimization • We optimize NREL and EERE pages so they rank high and display well in Google, Yahoo, and other Web-wide search engines

  14. Search optimization (cont'd) • Optimizing basics • Write for the Web – get to the point quickly, make pages scannable, be brief, and focus on one topic whenever possible • Use terms in content that people use in searches • Position search terms/keywords in content, header text, and titles • Describe document content in headers, titles, and introductory text • Optimize PDFs and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents • See our past InterLab presentations for more details about optimization

  15. Search optimization (cont'd) • Benefits • NREL and EERE pages rank high in search results • Google searches on renewable energy • NREL home page ranks #1 • EERE home page ranks #2 • NREL and EERE pages have descriptive titles and summaries in search results

  16. Search optimization (cont'd) • Benefits (cont'd) • People find NREL and EERE pages in searches and visit them • Per 2004 survey, 23% of the respondents first became aware of EERE through a search engine • Per 2003 statistics, 30% of NREL visits and 37% of EERE visits were from people who found NREL and EERE pages in search engines

  17. How we help users find content on our sites • People browse and search to find information on NREL, EERE, and SOURCE intranet • Ways we help visitors find what they are looking for • Search features • Site maps and subject indexes • Information architecture • Topics on home pages

  18. Search • NREL and EERE • Have a search box on every page • Use a great search engine – Verity Ultraseek • Optimize documents for searches • Techniques that work well for Web-wide search engines also work well for Ultraseek

  19. Search (cont'd) • Browse and search on EERE • Energy Information Portal contains 850 topics related to energy efficiency and renewable energy • Topics lead users to more than 100K documents from EERE and the hundreds of energy sites that EERE links to in the portal

  20. Search (cont'd) • Browse and search on EERE (cont'd) • Users can browse by topic, then view search results relating to topics • Users don’t have to know energy terminology or how the EERE site is organized • See our past InterLab presentations for more details on using the Ultraseek content classification engine to create and manage topics

  21. Search (cont'd) • SOURCE intranet • Search stinks because most of the content is in bad shape • In the future we need to • Create quality content • Provide content on topics that people need to do their jobs • Optimize content for searches (and browsing) • Use terms in content that people use • Job descriptions, not position profiles

  22. Site maps and subject indexes • NREL and EERE provide site maps • SOURCE intranet has an extensive index • Includes major topics from each subsite • Includes popular topics • Is a critical finding aid because search is bad • Is popular with users

  23. Information architecture • NREL and EERE • Have templates that provide a common look and feel • Are organized so users consistently find pages where • Navigation is in the same place (top or left) • Content occupies the center space • If pages include news, events, and feature boxes, they are on the right

  24. Information architecture (cont'd) • NREL and EERE (cont'd) • Are organized so users find similar content sections that have similar navigation labels • NREL – R&D sites have content sections for Capabilities, Projects, Research Staff, Working with Us, Publications, Awards, Success Stories, etc. • EERE – program sites have content sections for About the Program, Program Areas, Information Resources, Financial Opportunities, etc.

  25. Information architecture (cont'd) • NREL and EERE (cont'd) • Benefits • Users don’t have to learn new organization, navigation, or labeling systems as they browse through various related sites on motherships • Users can focus on content; on finding what they’re looking for

  26. Information architecture (cont'd) • SOURCE intranet • We have lot of work to do…

  27. Topics on home pages • Serve two purposes • They give users clues about site content • They give users quick access to important or popular content • Are a best practice per the Federal Web Content Managers Toolkit (E-Gov)

  28. Topics on home pages (cont'd) • NREL home page • Features major R&D areas such as solar, wind, biomass, etc. • Provides easy access to other topics such as About NREL, applying technologies, learning about renewables, etc. • Before 2003 redesign, users had to drill down a couple of levels to get to R&D content

  29. Topics on home pages (cont'd) • EERE home page • Directs users to program sites, arranged by technology • Guides users to the Energy Information Portal, arranged by technology/topic • EERE program home pages • Many feature major or hot topics

  30. Topics on home pages (cont'd) • SOURCE intranet home page • Before the recent redesign • Highlighted NREL offices • Listed topics under the various offices • Users had to know the NREL organization to find info • Library was listed under Information Services, travel was listed under Finance Office, etc. • Provided ten quick links to popular content

  31. Topics on home pages (cont'd) • SOURCE intranet home page (cont'd) • After the redesign • Highlights popular content • Lists sixty quick links by topic • Users don’t have to know the NREL organizational structure to find info • Provides links to NREL offices

  32. Topics on home pages (cont'd) • SOURCE intranet home page (cont'd) • More about the redesign • We did usability testing early on re:topics • Highlighting topics on the home page is phase one of portal development • Feedback on the new home page and topics has been positive • Biggest challenge will probably be explaining to site managers that quick links are for popular content, i.e., they are not comprehensive like the subject index

  33. Methods we use to learn what users are looking to find • Focus groups • Surveys • Search log analysis • Statistics analysis

  34. Focus groups • Some things we’ve learned • EERE users want information on energy technologies, not just program info • SOURCE intranet users told us • Home page links and features they like and use • Info they want on the home page • Subject index is useful • Quick links on the home page are useful

  35. Focus groups (cont'd) • Some things we’ve learned (cont'd) • NREL staff told us • Home page should highlight R&D areas • NREL sites should showcase our expertise, capabilities, current research, publications, etc. • We need to provide more robust information about researchers • We need to provide basic information on technologies for users and also for staff to use when responding to inquiries

  36. Surveys • Some things we learned from the 2004 EERE survey • Most visitors found EERE via links and Web-wide search engines • Most people use EERE to find general info on energy efficiency and renewable energy • Participants were most interested in solar and wind energy • One-third of participants were motivated to personal action

  37. Search log analysis • We analyze Ultraseek logs to learn • Topics users are looking for • Terms people use in searches • How people search • Search logs are a gold mine • What users are looking for, in their words • Their “trigger terms” – if users were browsing, words they would click on to find what they are looking for

  38. Statistics analysis • We analyze WebTrends statistics to learn • Popular documents • Topics covered in popular documents • Paths people follow to find info • Which Web-wide search engines send visitors to NREL and EERE • Terms and topics people search for in Web-wide search engines (more trigger terms)

  39. Search logs and statistics • We correlate the analyses and tell site managers • What topics are popular in searches on their sites and in Web-wide search engines • Which topics are popular in site searches but not Web-wide searches (and vice versa) • What terms people use in searches • What relationships exist between popular searches/topics and popular documents • We also do popular searches to see what results people get

  40. Search logs and statistics (cont’d) • Some things we have learned • Most people do basic searches using 1-3 terms • Searchers rarely use advanced techniques • On some sites, users search for general info more frequently than technical info • Users are searching for people • Documents that rank high in popular searches are also popular documents per statistics • Google and Yahoo send a lot of traffic to our sites (from pages that rank high in search results)

  41. Focus groups, surveys, search logs, and statistics • How we’ve applied what we learned • Content development – what content to develop, including general info on energy technologies • Search optimization – what content to optimize and what terms to use • Topics to include in subject indexes • Information architecture • Site organization • Content sections and navigation systems • Words to use in navigation labels

  42. Focus groups, surveys, search logs, and statistics (cont’d) • How we’ve applied (cont’d) • Content, topics, and words to use on home pages • Finding tools to provide on sites • SOURCE intranet – search stinks, so we need topics on the home page and a good subject index

  43. Techniques we use to guide visitors to special content • In addition to browsing and searching, asking is a way that users seek information – so we help users find people • Sometimes we have content that we want users to discover • Sometimes we want users to take action

  44. We make it easy for users to find and contact people • NREL • Researcher info on R&D sites • Key contacts page for research, applications, operations, and outreach contacts • Research fellows page • Staff phone book • Webmaster contacts on every page • EERE • Contact sections on program and regional office sites • Webmaster contacts on every page

  45. We make it easy for users to find and contact people (cont’d) • SOURCE intranet • Staff phone book and search box is prominent on home page • Staff phone book and SOURCE webmaster are linked in headers on corporate pages • Subject index has an indexmistress contact for users to ask questions or suggest additions

  46. We help users discover special content • NREL and EERE • Highlight content in feature boxes in right navigation • Feature special content and topics/quick links in the content space on home pages • Examples of special, featured content • R&D feature story on NREL home page • Animations on EERE geothermal, hydrogen/fuel cell, wind, and consumer home pages

  47. We help users take action • NREL • Working with Us • Technology Transfer – Are you interested in this technology? • EERE • Financial opportunities – Here’s how you apply

  48. Summary

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