Experience
Project Outline
Identifying My Audience
User Research Interviews
Initial → Final Design
Theme
Card Sorting & Sketching
Coded Draft Website
User Testing (Round 1)
User Testing (Round 2)
Final Website
1. Identifying My Audience
The intended audience for the website is parents and family members of college students visiting Ithaca. Visitors will likely need and seek out more information about the festival from the website than locals would, since they will do research before they arrive.
2. User Research Interviews
Semi-Structured Interview Questions
Recall the last time you visited Cornell's campus. What research did you do to plan your trip/visit? (i.e. what information did you need?)
Have you ever gone to the Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival? Why or why not?
If so, tell me about your visit - how you planned your visit, what you did there, and how your overall experience was.
If not, do you have reasons to go in the future? What are they?
What do you know about the festival, its events, performances, history, etc.? What information are you lacking?
Interview Findings: Summary
I interviewed two people from my audience (in person). I found that both of them used maps (Google Maps or online campus map) to get around, and neither of them knew much about the festival. In particular, they were curious about what exactly an “Apple Harvest Festival entailed — what was its purpose and history? What was there to do there? Was there parking nearby? My next task was to identify specific user needs based on these interviews.
User 1 Notes
Interviewee 1: A parent of a Cornell freshman who has visited Ithaca before
Q1: Recall the last time you visited Cornell's campus. What research did you do to plan your trip/visit? (i.e. what information did you need?)
- Looked up campus map
- Researched major sights to see on and around campus
- Found locations, where to park, and calculated travel times to make itinerary
Q2: Have you ever gone to the Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival? Why or why not?
- No - never heard of it
Q4: If not, do you have reasons to go in the future? What are they?
- Yes - curious about what the event is, what there is to do there
Q5: What do you know about the festival, its events, performances, history, etc.? What information are you lacking?
- Don't know anything about it
- Curious about what exactly it is, when it is, what to do there, what the history/purpose of the festival is
User 2 Notes
Interviewee 2: A different parent of a Cornell freshman who has visited Ithaca before
Q1: Recall the last time you visited Cornell's campus. What research did you do to plan your trip/visit? (i.e. what information did you need?)
- Used Google Maps to figure out how to get places, whether to go by car or by foot
- Found lodging based on proximity to campus, main sights to see, restaurants, etc.
Q2: Have you ever gone to the Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival? Why or why not?
- No - have not yet visited during that time of year
Q4: If not, do you have reasons to go in the future? What are they?
- Yes - would be nice to visit Ithaca and go w/ student to have fun and explore all the different things the festival has to offer
Q5: What do you know about the festival, its events, performances, history, etc.? What information are you lacking?
- Knows that the festival has food, booths, performances
- Doesn't know:
- Exactly what an "apple" festival entails
- Apple-themed food, merch, games?
- If there is lodging or parking nearby
Analyzing User Needs & Wants
Need/Want 1: Location, Directions, & Parking Information
Needs and Wants: What does your client and audience need and want?
- Information on the location of the festival, how to get there, and where to park (if arriving by car)
Design Ideas and Choices: How will you meet those needs and wants?
- I will create a page for this information that includes:
- The address of the festival as well as location(s) of nearby parking, linked to Google Maps
- An image of a map showing the location
Rationale & Additional Notes: Justify your decisions.
- Knowing the location is extremely important
- Linking to Google Maps will make it easy for people to find out directions to the festival or to parking spots from their current location
Need/Want 2: About the Festival: When/Where, Things to See/Do
Needs and Wants: What does your client and audience need and want?
- Information on what/when/where the festival is and what is at the festival (e.g. specific things to see and do at the festival)
Design Ideas and Choices: How will you meet those needs and wants?
- I will create a page that first gives a brief overview of what the festival is, and then goes into detail about everything the festival has to offer, with images showing what past festivals had
- General info (food, performances, events), as well as subsections for specifics, like the performance/live music schedule
Rationale & Additional Notes: Justify your decisions.
- Having a separate page will allow people to easily see what there is to do
- Might be effective to place a "learn more" link on the home page after a brief description of the festival (to pique interest) that leads to this more detailed description
Need/Want 3: History of the Festival
Needs and Wants: What does your client and audience need and want?
- Information on the history of the festival
Design Ideas and Choices: How will you meet those needs and wants?
- I will provide information on the history of the festival
- When it began, how it began, what its purpose is, etc.
Rationale & Additional Notes: Justify your decisions.
- This section will be interesting and useful to people who are curious about why the festival exists
5. User Testing (Round 1)
I tested my draft website on two users (in person) by asking them to complete the tasks below in a randomized order.
Tasks
Identify where you can park your car and how much it will cost.
You decide to visit the festival on a Saturday. Find one specific event or performance that you are interested in attending.
You are looking forward to the variety of edible goods for sale. Identify one type of food or beverage typically available at the festival that you would like to try.
User Testing Findings: Summary
I learned that the site organization wasn’t as clear as I thought it was. Users had difficult finding information about events, and key information about vendors got lost within paragraphs. I had many changes to make.
User 1 Testing Notes
About the User
This user is the mother of a Cornell freshman. She is a software engineer from New Jersey who has visited Ithaca once before, but has never been to the Apple Harvest Festival. English is her second language. She enjoys traveling to new places, exploring local sights, and trying new things.
Testing Results/Analysis
Task: Identify where you can park your car and how much it will cost.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did very well; she met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No problems/issues or negative feedback
- User liked that the information was easy to locate, clear, and to the point
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user performed the task well, with ease and efficiency
Re-design choices
- No re-design needed for this part of the site
Task: You decide to visit the festival on a Saturday. Find one specific event or performance that you are interested in attending.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user struggled with finding a specific event
- She did not meet my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- The user could not identify where to find the necessary info
- She thought the title of the page where it was located was unclear
- Had to explore and click around before finding that there was information on events in the "About" page
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user's struggles to find the information made me realize that the "About" page was titled too vaguely, at least in the navigation bar
- She also did not seem to notice the link to the event map, so maybe that also needs to be more clearly titled
- It was interesting to see how she went to the gallery first to find events
Re-design choices
- Re-name the "About" page navigation to include "Events"
- Make the "learn more" link on the home page more specific: "Learn more about our vendors, events, performances, and more"
- Add a link to the "About" page on the "Gallery" page
Task: You are looking forward to the variety of edible goods for sale. Identify one type of food or beverage typically available at the festival that you would like to try.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did well; she met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems/issues
- Liked the pictures in the gallery; they showed what the festival would be like and made her interested
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user easily identified an answer to the question, since she had already seen images of food/drinks in the gallery when she was attempting to complete an earlier task
Re-design choices
- None
User 2 Testing Notes
About the User
This user is the father of a Cornell freshman. He is a systems analyst from New Jersey who also has visited Ithaca once before, but has never been to the Apple Harvest Festival. English is his second language. He has substantial experience traveling and navigating, whether it be driving by car or taking public transportation.
Testing Results/Analysis
Task: You are looking forward to the variety of edible goods for sale. Identify one type of food or beverage typically available at the festival that you would like to try.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user was able to complete the task, but the way he went about it did not seem the most efficient and did not meet my expectation at all
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- Problem: could not access the event map because it required a Scribd membership
- Had trouble identifying a specific food or beverage from the "About" page, specifically expected to find it in the "vendors" section, which vaguely mentioned food but only gave one example
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- I found it interesting that while on the "About" page, the user did not seem to pay attention to the text
- The last sentence of the very first paragraph in the "About" section lists several examples of foods, but he still decided to keep scrolling and click on the link for the event map
- I was surprised that he visited the link provided in the citation, as it was placed there not to provide more information for the user but to cite the source of the given information, but I see now that this was a resourceful way to find information when my site was not being clear enough
Re-design choices
- Make the key examples of events, foods, etc. bolded to more easily catch users' attention
- Add a link to the gallery page on the about page (e.g. "To see images of what delicious foods and fun performers have been at the festival in past years, click here!")
- Instead of simply linking to the event map, include screenshots of the event map on the site itself, along with the link for those who want to download it separately
Task: Identify where you can park your car and how much it will cost.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did very well; he met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems/issues
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user was able to easily locate the information, as expected, since it is very clearly labeled in the navigation bar
Re-design choices
- None
Task: You decide to visit the festival on a Saturday. Find one specific event or performance that you are interested in attending.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did relatively well
- He did not exactly meet my expectation, but the task has some wiggle room; "live music at the Bernie Milton Pavilion" could be interpreted as a specific event
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems/issues found while completing this task
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- I expected the user to go to the event map to try to find an event, but he may have not done so because he already knew that he could not access the full document from a previous task
Re-design choices
- (same re-design as for first task) Instead of simply linking to the event map, include screenshots of the event map on the site itself, along with the link for those who want to download it separately
- Clarify language when linking to the event map in the "Events" section: instead of "See the event map for the full schedule", write something more specific like "See the event map for the full lineup and schedule of performers"
- Additional Notes
- Being unable to easily access the event map is a major issue when it comes to the convenience and usability of the site, so I need to add an image of the event map
- When providing links to other pages or external sites, I need to be very clear as to what information the user will find there so they know where to go
Updated Website
6. User Testing (Round 2)
For the second round of user testing on my revised site, I recruited two different members of my site audience to complete the same tasks.
User Testing Findings: Summary
Users had a higher success rate in this round of testing. Only minor changes for clarity were needed, such as changing the wording of certain phrases.
User 3 Testing Notes
About the User
This user is the brother of a Cornell student. He is a 25-year-old business analyst from San Francisco, CA who has never been to Ithaca. He is fairly tech-savvy and well-traveled.
User Testing Results/Analysis
Task: Identify where you can park your car and how much it will cost.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did very well; he met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems or issues encountered, completed the task easily
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user did well, as expected, since the parking information is clearly labeled in the nav bar
Re-design choices
- No re-design necessary for this part of the site
Task: You are looking forward to the variety of edible goods for sale. Identify one type of food or beverage typically available at the festival that you would like to try.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did well; he met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems or issues identified by user
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user's first instinct was to go to the Vendors section, which makes sense, and makes me think that I should add more detailed information about food vendors to this section rather than further redirecting to the gallery for images of food
- Re-design choices
- Since the user expected to see information about food in the vendors section, add a few examples of the food/beverage vendors to the Vendors section (cut from the last sentence About section intro)
Task: You decide to visit the festival on a Saturday. Find one specific event or performance that you are interested in attending.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did well; he met my expectation exactly
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems or issues
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user followed the path that I intended when I re-designed the site after the last round of user testing
- He was able to easily navigate to Events and identify a specific event on the event map provided
Re-design choices
- None
User 4 Testing Notes
About the User
This user is the mother of a Cornell sophomore from New Jersey. She works for a pharmaceutical company. She has been to Ithaca multiple times, but has never been to the festival. She travels often.
User Testing Results/Analysis
Task: Identify where you can park your car and how much it will cost.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did very well; she met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- The user commented on the lack of specific directions on the "Directions & Parking" page; she only saw the parking section and the name of the location
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user was able to easily locate the information, as expected, since it is clearly labeled in the nav bar
Re-design choices
- Make it more clear that the link of the location will lead to Google Maps, where the user can get directions
- Add links to Google Maps for each parking garage
Additional Notes
- Adding more specific links and link names will make it much easier for the user to get directions to either the festival or a specific parking garage
Task: You are looking forward to the variety of edible goods for sale. Identify one type of food or beverage typically available at the festival that you would like to try.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did fairly well; she mostly met my expectation and was able to complete the task, although not as efficiently as I expected (she asked what the task was again, so it may have been because she might have gotten distracted looking at the site/images)
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- The user got sidetracked by the gallery after being linked to it from the Vendors section
- Indicates that a re-design might help to let users more easily/efficiently find information on food vendors on the same page
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- The user's first instinct was to go to the Vendors section, like User 3, so that further supports the need for the previously discusses revision of the content
Re-design choices
- Same as from User 3 test
Task: You decide to visit the festival on a Saturday. Find one specific event or performance that you are interested in attending.
How did the user do? Did they meet your expectation?
- The user did well; she met my expectation
User’s reaction / feedback to the design (e.g., specific problems or issues found in the tasks)
- No specific problems or issues found
Your reflections about the user’s performance to the task
- I found it interesting that she went to the external link for the event map rather than using the event map images on the site page
- The site for the external download (Scribd) requires a subscription to see the full document after the first page, but in this case this did not hinder the user, since she was able to find the information she needed on the first page
Re-design choices
- None
- Additional Notes
- No re-design is necessary in this case; even if she had been affected by the limitations of the external site, she would have been able to return to the original festival site and look at the complete version there, so it is not an issue
