More Style Sheet User Testing
At Michigan, we did user testing with 8 subjects comparing our old CTools style sheet/skin to a new proposed CTools style sheet/skin. With either the current or new CTools skin, users were asked to correctly identify their location, available "clickable" items, and the function of some user interface controls. Their answers yield an overall "score" for each design. The average score for correctly answering the questions using the current CTools interface was 78.5%. The average score for correctly answering the questions using the new CTools interface was 72.2%.
Users rated the designs equally as to how confusing or clear they are (3.5 out of 5, 1 being 'Confusing' and 5 being 'Clear'). However, users rated the new design more highly when asked about how appealing the designs are (4.25 out of 5 for the new design; 3.5 out of 5 for the current design; 5 being 'Appealing').
Users were most challenged with the same areas of both designs:
- identifying what site they are in
- identifying some clickable icons are clickable
- identifying the function of the "reset" icon
- to a lesser degree, predicting what would happen when clicking the left-hand menu entry for the tool that they are currently in
These areas can be made less challenging by:
- increasing the size and contrast of items that identify the current site
- increasing the size and perceived "clickability" of icons by making them look more 3-dimensional
- adding a text label to the "reset" icon, or choosing another icon design
- or preferred, removing the "reset" icon and making the left-hand menu entry for the tool you are currently in clickable to "reset" the tool
The full results report, with the screens tested, the evaluation protocol, and the data spreadsheet are posted here for reference for others who want to run similar testing with their users.
| Name | Size | Creator (Last Modifier) | Creation Date | Last Mod Date | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 ResultsWithScreens.pdf |
1.71 MB | Aaron Zeckoski | Nov 21, 2005 | Nov 21, 2005 | UM Style Sheet/Skin User Testing Results | |
|
 Evaluation Data.xls |
63 kB | Aaron Zeckoski | Nov 21, 2005 | Nov 21, 2005 | UM Style Sheet/Skin User Test Data Spreadsheet | |
|
 Evaluation Protocol.doc |
47 kB | Aaron Zeckoski | Nov 21, 2005 | Nov 21, 2005 | UM Style Sheet/Skin User Test Evaluation Protocol |