1. [H1 Visibility of system status] (Severity 2)
Difficult to determine status of location in relation to the top navigation frame. Although the main window indicates the placement, there doesn't appear to be any reflection of the location in the top frame.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

2. [H8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 2)
If it was determined that the advanced search feature was not frequently used, I would delete it as a selection from the top navigation frame. Keeping it accessible as a link from the home page is probably sufficient. It remaining as a selection on the top frame makes it a primary selection. Probably better for users to consciously select it after they determine they need more options than the initial search provides. (See related issue for problem #8)
[Found by 1 evaluator]

3. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3)
The hierarchy of the information architecture was unclear. The options on the top navigation bar don't appear in any logical order. The horizontal arrangement of terms made it appear that they were initially in sub-relationship order, but then maybe they were each individual selections. A site map would help, but also a graphic depiction of the relationship of selections on top frame would be helpful.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

4. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 2)
The term "search services" might be confusing to users initially. The users may think of "search" in terms of their broader efforts to locate information about individuals, which might include traveling to specific locations. It might be misleading to offer "search services" for this reason. It might be helpful to specify that the search services are in relation to this site only, and are only online searches.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

5. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3)
Use of term "Form 4387"--is user supposed to know what a "form" is (it might be more clear the selection produced something, but in its current state it’s not clear what a “form was.  The user might expect to access images (such as photos) but maybe all the options are registration forms? Most people do not think of a scanned text document as an image although technically it is one. It might help to have a list of the different types of images available under each collection, so when you choose "Auschwitz Haftlingsperonalbogen Collection" you get to select "forms" vs "photographs" vs. any other kind of image.
[Found by 3 evaluators]

6. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3)
Browse "sources." What is a "source" here? Is it the provenance of a document (a collection) or a person? Because names of people were listed, it was confusing. The user might expect a type of source to be listed, or a collection. Because the title "Browse sources" appears in the box with names—it might be better if that title to be in the box where the collections are listed. Or change the title to say "Browse names by source."
[Found by 1 evaluator]

7. [H1 Visibility of system status] (Severity 3)
This may not be implemented yet, but when you select a different collection, the arrow should move to that selection, to reflect that you have made that selection.
[Found by 2 evaluators]

8. [H6 Recognition rather than recall] (Severity 3)
The "Home" page is also the primary search page, which may be confusing to people if they are elsewhere in the site, and want to go back to the search page, but forgot that Home is the search page. How about deleting "Advanced search" from top navigation bar and renaming "Home" with "Home (Search)."
[Found by 1 evaluator]

9. [H1 Visibility of the System Status and H10 Help and Documentation] (Severity 3)
The thesaurus functionality is not clearly described. Should the user type a name, then choose thesaurus and they will be presented with a list of names or is it a backend functionality that automatically looks up the term in a thesaurus. (The main reason that it is not clear is because it is not currently implemented. However since a thesaurus is such a specialized tool that can easily confuse the average person this seemed worth pointing out). [Related to problem #10]
[Found by 1 evaluator]

10. [H2 Match between system and the real world] (Severity 3)
On the Advanced Search page, the user has a choice between Soundex and Thesaurus when selecting the Birthplace. It is not clear what the difference between the Soundex and Thesaurus choices might be. Also, the user might not understand why a thesaurus is useful, and why one is necessary for a city name. [Related to problem #9]
[Found by 1 evaluator]

11. [H1. Visibility of System Status and H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 2)
There are several pages where the name of the current page is hyperlinked. For example, the Home page link is linked while you are home (if the user clicks Home while at the Home page, nothing happens.). Another example is on the Search Results pages when you are in a persons’ record that name is still hyperlinked.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

12. [H5 Error Prevention] (Severity 2)
In the Search Results screen, in the left-hand frame it is unclear what is hyperlinked with regards to the image icons. Because it says “click” next to the defined icons at the top of the left frame, the user may become confused when clicking the icon doesn’t produce any results.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

13. [H1 Visibility of the System Status & H9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors] (Severity 2)
In the “save results” feature it is unclear where “mysearchresults” will go; how the user will find them again. It is unclear to the user what the difference is between “Click here for confirmation” and “Save.”
[Found by 2 evaluators]

14. [H2 Match between the System and the Real World] (Severity 2)
On the Make Connection page the following two sentences are unclear. “Web site visitors can identify these connections by the document icon provided next to the individual's name in search results. Please fill out one form for each individual.” First of all if by “web site visitor” that means me, say “you”. Also how does the document icon convey any information? And in the next sentence, does each entry constitute a form or is the page a form?
[Found by 1 evaluator]

15. [H4 Consistency and standards] (Severity 1)
Inconsistent use of labels - sometimes surname is used and at other times last name.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

16. [H1 Visibility of the System Status] (Severity 1)
The Advanced Search Page – It is unclear what “none” means on the advanced search. If the user leaves it as “select search option” or changes it to “none”, will there be a difference in the search results?
[Found by 2 evaluators]

17. [H2 Match between the System and the Real World] (Severity 1)
On the Search Results page, “click for more records” could be ambiguous. You don’t actually get more “records” you get more information. “Records” seems like a database term, not a term that the average person might use.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

18. [H3 User control and freedom and H5, Error prevention] (Severity 1)
On the Soundex results page the user cannot unclick “Select all” (probably just a technical oversight).
[Found by 1 evaluator]

19. [H8 Aesthetic and minimalist design] (Severity 2)
Frames do not fully appear on a smaller (15”) screen. If users will be accessing the site from home this may be a major concern.
[Found by 1 evaluator]

Overall Recommendations:
We think this is an excellent start, and it’s very evident that a lot of thought has gone into it. There are a few terms and labels that could be better defined, that will clear up some potential confusion for the users. We are concerned about the scalability of some of the browse functions—for example, the “browse by collection”: we would imagine that there will be at least hundreds, if not thousands, of records for each collection, which will make a browse list very difficult to handle. Because the frames might be problematic on smaller screens, we discussed the possibility of removing the top frame and/or the bottom revised search frame. As long as there’s a link to “Home” on each of the pages, users will have a way to access the primary categories of interest.