Script for Lo-Fi Prototype Testing:

California Digital Library

Interface Design Project

Low Fidelity Prototyping

Script for Low-Fi Prototype Testing:

We will be testing an interface to the California Digital Library. Before we begin, we have a brief Consent Form for you to sign. [Give participant Consent Form.] This simply says that you understand the potential risks of this study – none – and the potential benefits – also none.

The California Digital Library has been created as a "tenth library of the UC System" and is accessible via the Web. Today we will be testing a revised interface for the top-level Web pages of the CDL site.

Before we begin our test, let me ask you a few brief questions about your background and experience with this and similar systems:

Pre-Test Questions

(read and completed by interviewer)

Participant #________

1. In what year of your program are you?

2. Have you ever used CDL before?

If so, can you give a brief description of the interface?

And, how often do you use it?

If not, have you ever heard of it?

3. Have you ever used:

Melvyl—command-line version?
Melvyl—web-based version?
Gladis?
Pathfinder (web-based Gladis)?

4. What types of library resources do you usually search for—journals, books, online material, archives, etc.?

5. Do you know what an "archival finding aid" is?

Now, let’s begin our test.

The re-designed screens will be represented by a "low-fidelity" prototype, which means that each computer screen is drawn on paper.

I will be acting as the computer for our paper screens, displaying different screens as you select them. In order for us to be able to imagine the way the redesigned pages will integrate with the existing functions of the CDL site, when you reach a screen for which we do not have a paper prototype, we will present you with the existing screen on the computer. You may then continue to navigate the site until you return to a screen, which has been redesigned. ________________ will be manipulating the computer to help you transition between the redesigned screens on paper and the existing ones on the computer. While you test the prototype, _________________ will be taking notes.

Remember, we are not testing you – we are testing the interface. If anything is confusing or difficult, it is helpful for the designers to know that so they can improve the interface design.

We will be giving you three specific "tasks" or "goals" to try as you use the system. Each task should take about 5 or 10 minutes. Following the test, we will ask you a few questions about the system to help assist the designers in their work.

While you are using the system, we will ask you to "think aloud", by speaking both what you are doing and why; for example, "Now I’ll double-click this button to get my search results." This will help our "computer" to know what actions you are taking and will help us judge how understandable the system is. "Thinking aloud" may seem unnatural at first, so if you forget, I will try to remind you to continue talking aloud.

If you want to take a break or discontinue the test at any point, you are certainly welcome.

Do you have any questions before we start?

Scenarios:

[read aloud, give handout of overviews to participants]

First: Imagine that you are a UC undergraduate student. You are using the California Digital Library for the first time. Rather than looking for a specific resource, you are browsing the system to determine what resources might be available related to your major, Art History. You are interested in both general Art History resources as well as in Renaissance Italian sculpture of the 16th century.

Handout: Scenario #1: Undergraduate student First-time CDL user

Browse resources related to: General: Art History Specific: 16th-century Italian sculpture

Second: Imagine that you are a UC graduate student in the Genetics Department. You are looking for a specific journal article that a professor recommended. You don’t remember the exact title or reference, but you know that the article was published within the past couple of months, is about mitochondria DNA in sea urchins, and is by somebody named Roberti. Please see if you can find this article.

Handout:Scenario #2: Graduate student Genetics Department

Journal Article: Title: ??? Author: M Roberti Date: (past couple of months) Topic: mitochondrial DNA in sea urchins

Third: You are a faculty member in the History Department studying religious minorities in the 19th-century United States. You are currently working on a research paper about Jews in the American South during the Reconstruction period. It is important for you to stay up-to-date on related developments in your field, so you are using the CDL to look for recent related scholarly journal articles.

Handout: Scenario #3: Faculty member History Department

Paper topic: Jews in American South during Reconstruction (1865-1890) Find recent related journal articles/resources.

Before we finish, we have few questions to ask you about your experience with this system:

Post-Test Questions

(Please use the back of this sheet if you need more room to complete your answers.)

Participant #_________

Given that our UI is in a rough design phase, what is your general impression of the User Interface presented to you today?

Briefly describe 3 specific things that you liked about the UI:

Briefly describe 3 specific things that you disliked about the UI:

Compare this UI to the current homepage & search setup of the CDL site. Which site would you prefer to use for your research needs, and why?