A Theoretical Design for University Department Web Pages

A Theoretical Design for University Department Web Pages Based on a Task Analysis Andrew R. Freed Computer Science and Engineering Pennsylvania State University IST SURF Presentation July 3, 2002

A Theoretical Design for University Department Web Pages Based on a Task Analysis Why do we need a design for department web pages? n Book design evolved for a long time before it was easy to use and complete, the Web will be no different n A similar process is needed for the Web n

A Theoretical Design for University Department Web Pages Based on a Task Analysis The increasing role of the Web on dissemination of information for university departments n Task analysis for department websites n Comparison of tasks with existing department websites n Areas for future work n After the website is built n

The increasing role of the Web on dissemination of information for university departments Internet: ~450 million global users (Nielsen//Netratings) n ist. psu. edu: ~120, 000 unique visitors during 2001 n Lots of users, looking for lots of information n -- but what information are they looking for? n

What is a task analysis? A family of techniques for describing various aspects of how people work n Why? Gain a deeper understanding of the goals people are trying to achieve n Answers the question, “Does the design support the task? ” n

Approaches for building a task analysis Know your users! n Consider all tools user has to solve goals n Determine procedures of user from collected data n Generate list of tasks that the users have n

Task analysis for department websites Analysis of existing sites n Analysis of hardcopy materials n Analysis of search queries n Open interviews of users n Summary of tasks n

Analysis of existing sites Looked at websites from our departments (IST, EE) n Generated initial list of tasks n

Analysis of hardcopy materials IST prospective student “blue packet” and Computer Science graduate brochure n Generate new list of tasks n Merge this list of tasks with the list from the existing websites n

Analysis of search queries Looked at Spring 2002 search logs from psu. edu n Over 1 million queries n Sorted logs based on most common queries n Extracted certain types of queries: department or registrar-related n Compare to current list of tasks and add new tasks n

Analysis of search queries n The number one query is…. n n (Number two: “webmail”)

Open interviews of users Interviewed current/prospective students, parents, alumni, faculty n Showed them list of tasks and asked for additional tasks n Added new tasks to task list n

Final summary of tasks Came up with ~100 tasks n Organized into 13 categories n This is a good starting point for informational design n Point of note: High overlap between hardcopy/website, hardcopy materials included website printouts n

Comparison of tasks with existing department websites Methodology n Sites examined n Summary of conclusions n

Checking analysis against websites Took list of tasks and added five yes/no columns n Visited these five sites to see if each task was easily supported n Also looked for new tasks n

Sites examined IST at Penn State n Psychology at Penn State n EE at University of Illinois, Urbana. Champagne n Rutgers Business School n

Summary of comparisons Wide variety of supported tasks n Highest: 87% (IST) n Lowest: ~51% (PSU Psych, Rutgers) n Seven new tasks found n n Rankings, summary of reasons to come, applications, job openings, minors, student resumes, merchandise

Areas for future work Evolution of this task analysis n Using cognitive models or AI agents to check a website against a list of tasks n

After the website is built Search engines n Beyond search engines n Maintenance n Useful website features n

Conclusions Task analysis necessary to determine what information users need n Collect data through direct and indirect interaction with users, review of information available to them n Lots of improvement possible for many department websites n

Thank you! Any questions?