HR: 13:55h
AN: ED53B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Web Site Usability: First, Ignore the Science.
AU: * Pharris, K
EM: kpharris@nsidc.org
AF: National Snow and Ice Data Center, 449 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0449 United States
AB: Web sites within our industry serve complex information to a gamut of user audiences that are constantly evolving, making effective site design a challenge. In addition, the average lifecycle of a Web site is 2-3 years. If a site is to maintain user satisfaction and technical usability, revision is inevitable. Effective revision begins with the ability to clearly identify the successes and failures of your current site's usability. To do this, you must first ignore the science - -you must address those Web characteristics that have emerged through years of testing as indicators of usability, regardless of the site's target audiences or content. If you cannot successfully execute the basic principles of usability, any work completed to meet the specific needs of your scientific community will be ineffective. A checklist of usability principles can be used to objectively score your site's excellent or poor execution of such Web site features. With quantifiable results, you have an impartial measure of your current site's usability from which a prioritized list of recommended revisions can be created. You can find checklists of this nature, or the information you need to create a list for your organization, with some online and print investigation. This session will provide checklist examples and an explanation of how to use checklists to achieve basic Web site usability.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005