College students have many options when it comes to conducting scholarly research. Given the array of research databases available through a typical library, where do students start the research process, what tools do they use in their search, and where do difficulties arise during the process? Additionally, how do the EBSCO databases available through the Bentley University Library website compare to those of a major competitor (ProQuest), when it comes to factors like ease of use, success in finding resources, and the usefulness of interface-specific functionalities like search and filter?
Goals: In the project we established a big-picture overview of how Bentley students conduct scholarly research. Our goal was to assess the overall usability of the EBSCO database including considerations like ease of use, lack of confusion, and workflow compatibility with existing student research habits. We also aimed to determine how EBSCO compares to a main competitor (ProQuest Research Library) in terms of usability, feature offerings, and overall participant preference.
Scope: Given the two feature-intensive databases under consideration, it was important for our team to narrow down the scope of the study so as to capture a realistic workflow.
Timeline: This study consisted of approximately 3 months of work by UX-GO with continued support from the EBSCO team.
Methodology: 8 Bentley students. 6 participated in-person, 2 tested remotely in 60-minute sessions. GoToMeeting software was used.
Testing session: Pre-test Survey Questions, Qualitative Interview Questions, Comparative Usability Study (Tasks also included a SUS questionnaire and a 3-adjective choice derived out of Microsoft Product Reaction Cards) and Wrap-up Questions
Overall Usability Analysis: We discovered 12 usability problems in EBSCO (and 8 in Proquest). None of them show-stopping. The key issue we uncovered related to users being unable to locate or understand how to utilize features that would help them to best structure search queries.
Severity Scale: David Travis’ Severity Scale was used.
Key Findings: EBSCO was described as more professional-looking. Proquest was described as easier to use.
The usability study report consists of a comprehensive usability study report that includes a timeline, methodology, questions/tasks, participant details, executive summary, usability tests, expert reviews and a final report that contains overall usability findings, conclusions and recommendations.
You may click here to download the final report.