Please note that some of the questions in the planned questionnaire were changed based on observations made during the tasks or on users’ responses to earlier questions.

1. Which browse interface did you prefer and why?
Writer: Frames because it would allow me to browse through the information more easily.
Educator: Two-column format because more straightforward.
Student: Frames because it provided instant feedback.
Social Worker: Frames because it is easier to go directly to the correct letter in the alphabet, instead of having to scan all of the groups to find the one the name belongs to.

2. Which search output did you prefer and why?
Writer: Frames (same reason as above) and that way I don’t have to click back and forth to view the different records.
Educator: Four-column format because more straightforward.
Student: Four-column format because it provided more information.
Social Worker: Frames, only if the birth date is included.

3. What aspects of the systems did you find most easy?
Writer: (Couldn’t articulate but observations suggested that she felt more comfortable browsing.)
Educator: (Couldn’t articulate but observations suggested that she felt more comfortable browsing.  She said, “It’s (browsing) easier because you don’t have to enter everything.”)
Student: (Couldn’t come up with one point but said that it “seemed pretty easy to use overall.”)
Social Worker: Liked the concept of sample traces since it would be in helpful in getting started.  Also found the Advanced Search form relatively straightforward.

4. What aspects of the systems did you find most difficult or confusing?
Writer: (Couldn’t articulate but seemed confused by labels and the Advanced Search form.)
Educator: (Couldn’t articulate but seemed daunted by the Advanced search form overall and didn’t understand most options. Didn’t read any instructions.)
Student: Soundex functionality was most confusing.
Social Worker: Slightly confused by frame functionality (she has never used them).

5. Do you think you would use the About services? Can you suggest any additional services that would be helpful?
Writer: (She clicked on all of them.)
Educator: She thought a special Educator page would be appropriate, perhaps profiles of people in the system who also had written diaries or autobiographies.  Just the numbers didn’t seem meaningful from an educator’s perspective. Maybe research but not high school.
Student: Interested in learning more about the resources included.
Social Worker: Strongly suggested that we include a feature to help users’ contact survivors found in the database.  Also thought it would be helpful to provide a place where users could post search questions, for example, I’m looking for information about John Doe from Austria. If you have any information about this person, please contact me at …”

Additional Questions

1. What type of information did you think the Auschwitz link would provide?
Writer: Additional records from Auschwitz.

2. How might you use the resource on your own?
Writer: I might look-up information about Jewish friends of European decent.

3. Why didn’t you select Resources?
Writer: I didn’t know what it meant.  Now that I know, I don’t think I would have selected it while searching on my own since I see myself browsing for information.

4. What type of information did you think the Project Resources would provide?
Writer: I thought it would contain financial information about the Project.

5. Who do you see using this resource?
Educator: She thought the Holocaust Center would find it very useful but had trouble seeing the benefits of the resource being in electronic version. She admitted that improved access would be great, i.e., for person in Iowa, but did not quite understand the benefits of the search features.  One strong point she made about the benefits of paper documents was the user’s desire to see the actual document. (Note that these “actual” documents are copies of the originals.)

6. What are your thoughts on the sample searches?
Social Worker: She thought they would be very useful, especially for novice users.

7. How would you suggest that we “soften” the content?
Social Worker: Stressed the importance of accuracy more than anything else.  Also said, “There is no way to soften the content.”  She explained that many survivors are suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, and that they are likely to find fault with one or more aspects of the system.  “You can’t anticipate many of these comments. Perhaps the best you can do is to listen to their suggestions, try to incorporate them into the system, and thank them for their contributions.”