Do Not Display Unsolicited Windows or Graphics
Observation:
Users have commented that unsolicited windows or graphics that ‘pop up’ are annoying and distracting when they are focusing on completing their original activity.
Provide Assistance to Users
Observation:
Testing showed new users sometimes required special assistance.
Limit Text on the Homepage
Observation:
About half of the time participants of the online survey looked only at the homepage .
Participants commented that the text made it difficult to find link titles and major headings,
Participants stated that because of the large amount of text they avoided reading the homepage
Limit Homepage Length
Observation:
Information that could not be seen on the visible portion of the homepage was missed during usability testing.
Establish Level of Importance
Observation:
Users did not read all the options in the drop down menus.
Facilitate Finding Target Information
Observation:
This website doesn’t allow for quick scanning
Users commented pages were too crowded with items of information.
Participants in testing searched and found items in the sparse areas faster than those in the crowded areas.
Use Meaningful Link Labels
Observation:
User confusion because of link labels that did not clearly differentiate one link from another.
When looking for places to eat in the French Quarter users found several links for French Quarter but were unsure which ones to use.
Indicate Internal vs. External Links
Observation:
When booking a hotel users are taken to another site. Users assumed that links will take them to another page within the same Web site. When this assumption is not true, users became distrustful of this site.
Limit the Use of Images
Observation:
Users stated that they were annoyed by the large amount of images.
Users stated that they felt the images were just decoration and not useful.
Organize Information Clearly
Observation:
Users stated that pages were not organized to show a clear and logical structure.
Users could not locate information quickly.
Ensure Usable Search Results
Observation:
The results of user searches were confusing or did not immediately find what they were searching for, they become frustrated
