Website usability: Studentlink

1. Website usability: Studentlink Jessica Winblad Ravi Singh Ricky Sood Jendy Dennis Sahba Javedani

2. Introduction Our focus: the usability of the studentlink website from an undergraduate perspective

3. Where Does This Link Go? Most people make mistakes when visual cues do not correspond to the everyday design norms and conventions.

4. Email Button What does this button do?

5. WebMail?

6. Site Navigation • Overall: Generally Good • Strong Points: • consistent navigation aids • avoids confusing navigation methods (eg. frames) • Weaker Points: • No Site Map • No Search Feature

7. Physical Layout & Appearance • Use of • color • images • Accessibility • Overall, this is well done on Studentlink.

8. Site Colors & Background • Rule of Webdesign: Avoid loud backgrounds with large variances in luminosity and color. Make the text contrast the background • Why studentlink’s design is good: “A solid background is always a good choice for your web pages. It provides an easy reading surface for your reader and it doesn't distract the user from the main focus of your page: Your text!” –jeffglover.com versus

9. Color & Background Continued • This is hard to read • eg: • Compilers is # # # #

10. Color & Background Continued • This is also relatively hard to read

11. Color & Background Continued • These colors are much easier on the eyes • Thus is good design

12. Additionally • The background image is designed not to repeat like this: This was a real webpage featured on webpagesthatsuck.com

13. Navigation Buttons (from upper right corner of window)

14. More On Color:things in red • red consistently used to highlight things that are important • warnings • not overused though • overuse would lead to decreased sensitivity to this stimulus

15. Examples Financial aid page: Academic history page:

16. examples holds: (flashing) all pages that require logging on:

17. Blue • occasionally student link deviates from conventions on color • example from academic history page: • what is blue normally used for on webpages? • how this could be fixed...

18. Quick Quiz • how are the items on the button bar on the left part of the window ordered?

19. Answer: • Alphabetical • Is this logical? • alphabetical keyboards vs. QWERTY & DVORAK layouts • Alternatives • frequency of use • grouped by how you use them

20. Alphabetical Vs. Logical

21. Pictorial Navigation Bar Now With Pictorial Cues

22. Goal Oriented Tasks • Overview: Studentlink is designed with a very pertinent and important task in mind. • Signing up for classes • Managing your schedule • Paying fees and managing accounts • Changing personal data.

23. Usability in Printing • Example using academic history page

24. Before Make title of what you are looking at more noticeable Decrease use of color (color does not print well on many printers) Remove button bar on printer friendly view White text prints in light grey, not black

25. After Feedback of what You are viewing Use font weight/ Styles to make Things easier to Distinguish rather Than color for printing Use dashes in student number Using borders will make sections easier to distinguish than using backgrounds which do not usually print

26. Before & After

27. Default View Before Scrolling

28. After Scrolling

29. usage statistics we obtained from studentlink’s website 8th week winter quarter usage: this entire quarter (winter) since the first of jan.

30. What Was Our Point? • People look at next quarter’s schedule of classes more than this quarter on studentlink • studentlink’s statistics prove it • the next quarter should be the default • it’s not even an *option* till the middle of the quarter anyway

31. Conclusion Even though studentlink is not poorly designed, there is still much room for improvement.