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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Objectives
The Wagasa Project team reviewed the Lake Health web site to
determine how easy it is for potential patients to:
• Find required information online to make informed health
decisions
• Get support to live a healthy lifestyle
• Contact a Lake Health center for urgent care or to schedule
an appointment
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5. The Wagasa Project
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Methodology
• 4 expert reviewers using the heuristic evaluation technique to
evaluate the LakeHealth.org web site
• Each expert reviewer was assigned a persona to perform the
evaluation as
• Each expert reviewer would walk through the web site by
performing their persona’s corresponding tasks
• The heuristics used were from Jakob Nielsen’s Ten Usability
Heuristics list (see Appendix)
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6. The Wagasa Project
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Summary of Issues Prioritized by Severity & Scope
Usability issues are categorized according to:
Severity
High Prevents the user from completing their task Issues by Priority
or causes significant pause or confusion and
Severity Scope # of Issues
may cause them to abandon their task.
High Global 4
Medium Causes some pause or confusion, but the user
is able to continue or find a workaround to High Local 1
complete their task. Medium Global 4
Low Causes annoyance or slight pause or confusion
Medium Local 1
but does not deter the user from completing
their task. Low Global 2
Low Local 3
Scope
Global Impact greater than a single web page
Local Impact limited to a single web page
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7. The Wagasa Project
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Major Findings
The usability review of LakeHealth.org resulted in the following
major findings:
• Information were not always readily discoverable
• Information found on pages were sometimes
overwhelming to the user to read through
• The search feature was broken (on some browsers, it was
unusable)
• Dead links (Page Not Found error messages)
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8. The Wagasa Project
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recommendations
Lake Health web site will benefit from the following top
recommendations:
• Work with an information architect to create a hierarchy of the
data you wish to share with the community. He or she will help
you organize the pages and information in an easy to access
manner.
• Change the basic format of the pages to reduce the amount of
information on each one. Ensure that each page has one or two
main goals and users can find the key piece of data they require
in each area.
• Allow users to type a full word and click a “search” button to
find information. Consider changing your search results
provider.
• Ensure that all pages are present so visitors do not see a “404 –
page not found” error.
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9. The Wagasa Project
High Severity Issue
Global in Scope
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10. The Wagasa Project
Information Architecture is Unclear
Issue
Reviewers were unable to find the area of the site
where they could perform simple tasks such as
schedule an appointment.
Details
Reviewers found that most relevant information were
not brought to the front and center where their focus
usually lead them.
Most of the valuable real estate space on the page for
content was found to be not relevant to the section.
Recommendation
Consider hiring an Information Architect to organized
information that would benefit Lake Health web site
users to find information easier.
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11. The Wagasa Project
Inconsistent Browser Behavior
Issue
There are inconsistent performance across different
browsers.
Details
The top-level navigation does not show in Safari or
Internet Explorer.
The flash object on the homepage would not function
properly if the browser did not have the correct flash
player plugin installed.
Recommendation
Be sure to test the system on the most popular
browsers (Chrome, FireFox, Internet Explorer, and
Safari). Also note on the top section of the web site
the browser(s) and their version(s) the web site would
be compatible with.
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12. The Wagasa Project
Search Functionality is Broken
Issue
Search functionality is broken.
Details
The search box either prevents typing or
automatically refreshes, depending upon the browser
that is being used.
There is no "Search" button, instead the system
begins searching as the first letter is typed.
The search results don’t bring up data with basic
searches.
Recommendation
Add a “search” button outside of the search input text
field. Disable the automatic search as the user types
feature, allow the user to type in their search text and
then have them click on the search button (or press
enter) when they are assured of their query. Consider
a new back-end search results engine that would
return results even for the most basic searches.
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13. The Wagasa Project
Difficult to Find Important Information
Issue
Reviewers were unable to see which health locations
offered special services, such as urgent care and
emergency service.
Details
Contact information for the various health locations
were found at the bottom of the very long home
page.
Recommendation
Move the most relevant information to the front and
center of the page. Do not use valuable web real
estate on the content page that is not relevant to the
section. Add urgent care and emergency care links in
the services area. Move the phone contact
information to a location that is above the fold so
people can see they have access to phone numbers
(or give them their own section).
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14. The Wagasa Project
High Severity Issues
Local in Scope
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15. The Wagasa Project
Page is Missing
Issue
The “About Lake Health” page is missing.
Details
When a user clicks on the About Lake Health link on
the bottom of the web site’s home page, near the
contact information, it will display an error message.
Recommendation
Add an “About Lake Health” page if there is not
already one. If there is already a page, fix the link to
redirect to that page.
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16. The Wagasa Project
Medium Severity Issue
Global in Scope
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17. The Wagasa Project
Layered Navigation
Issue
There are too many options for navigation.
Details
There are two layers of navigation on the top part
of the pages.
The top level has an additional complication of
drop-down menus.
After navigating past the home page, there is also
vertical navigation on the left-hand side. The
structure is confusing and clutters the pages.
Recommendation
Simplify the navigation structure so there is only
one set of link along the top and one set along the
left-hand side of the page that is a subset of the
horizontal navigation toolbar.
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18. The Wagasa Project
Social Media Control Box
Issue
Social Media control box display prominently.
Details
The control box that contains various links to
different social media sites are prominent
displayed without a clear purpose of what the
user would be sharing.
Pages will often show the sharing control box
opened fully when the user has not clicked on it.
This functionality does not benefit the users and
detracts from other page content.
Recommendation
Consider removing the social media control box. If
the social media links are required, change the default
position of the box to be closed (collapsed).
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19. The Wagasa Project
Vague Terminology
Issue
The casual user will not understand certain terms.
Details
“Market Point” does not mean “shopping” to many
people.
It was not clear that the “Health Information” link
takes the user to a place to perform a database
search.
The terminology was inconsistent throughout the
site, for example:
• Occupational Health takes the user to a page
labeled “Occupational Services.”
• Find a Doctor takes the user to a pages labeled
“Find a Lake Health Physician”
Recommendation
Perform a sweep of the web site to ensure that
terminology is consistent and descriptive (e.g. ‘Search
Health Databases’ is more informative than ‘Health
Information’).
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20. The Wagasa Project
External Vendor Sites
Issue
Redirected to external vendor sites that had their own
usability issues.
Details
If a user clicks on the “Market Point” link, they
will be redirected to a web site that is not part of
the LakeHealth.org web site domain.
The external vendor sites are branded as Lake
Health Hospital Systems, so there is no
immediate indication to the user that they have
left the LakeHealth.org site.
Recommendation
Make sure users get a pop up notification telling
them that they are leaving or has left the
LakeHealth.org web site.
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21. The Wagasa Project
Medium Severity Issue
Local in Scope
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22. The Wagasa Project
Dense Information
Issue
There is information overload on the home page.
Details
There are several areas that move (boxes
open, text expands, etc.). The content is so
dense it overwhelms the user.
Recommendation
Consider a simpler layout for the home page.
A grid with fewer concentrated areas will help.
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23. The Wagasa Project
Low Severity Issues
Global in Scope
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24. The Wagasa Project
No Breadcrumbs
Issue
No distinguishable way a user can tell where in the
web site hierarchy they are looking at
Details
If a user drills down to the Injured workers section,
there is no way telling how far deep they are away
from the home page.
Recommendation
Add a breadcrumb to the top of each content page
which will allow the user to see where in the web site
hierarchy they are located (e.g. sections, sub-section,
sub-sub-sections, etc.)
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25. The Wagasa Project
Inconsistent Use of Icons
Issue
Some content pages have icons for PDF, Print, and E-
Mail abilities, which others use just linked text.
Details
For example:
The “Injured Workers” page has hyperlinked text to
export the page in PDF format, print the content page,
or e-mail the content page.
The “Occupational Services” page has hyperlinked
icons to export the page in PDF format, print the
content page, or e-mail the content page.
Recommendation
Check all content pages to ensure consistent use of
icons or text. If using icons, make sure they have
tooltips that would display the textual description of
the icon’s function when the mouse pointer is
hovering over it.
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26. The Wagasa Project
Low Severity Issues
Local in Scope
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27. The Wagasa Project
Losing Text
Issue
Text scrolls off the page down beyond the fold.
Details
If a user expands the “Mission, Visions, Values”
statements widget, the text will scroll beyond the fold
of the web site. The user will have to scroll down the
page in order to view the statements.
Recommendation
Consider moving Mission, Vision, and Values
statements to the “About Us” page. If they need to
stay on the home page, do not allow them to all be
expanded at once.
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28. The Wagasa Project
No Text or Preview
Issue
A user cannot view a class schedule without
downloading it first.
Details
The class schedule is downloadable, but the user
cannot view this information directly on the web site.
This means the user would have to take an additional
two steps in order to view the class schedule content,
one to download and another to open the
downloaded file. This is all assuming they already
have a PDF reader installed on their PC.
Recommendation
Show class schedule information directly on the
content page. Do not force users to download a file
prior to viewing the information.
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29. The Wagasa Project
Cannot Search Through Articles
Issue
Some content pages are populated by images, which
makes it difficult to search text on.
Details
The “Group Fitness Classes” page is an image.
If a user tries to search for text found on that
image, they would not be able to find the
correct results.
Recommendation
Do not use an image to display textual
content. Always provide a textual alternative
if an image must be used so it can be index by
the search engine.
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30. The Wagasa Project
Conclusion
• Present information in a gradual way.
• Allow the user to explore or drill down into
the web site if they would like to see more
information.
• Reduce visual clutter.
• Focus on one or two goals for each content
page
• Downplay menus & widgets (i.e. social media
link bar)
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Appendix
Jakob Nielsen’s Ten Usability Heuristics (1-5)
Heuristic Description
Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through
appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
Match between system and The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts
the real world familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world
conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
User control and freedom Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked
"emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an
extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
Consistency and standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions
mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
Error prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a
problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions
or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they
commit to the action.
Retrieved From: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristics/heuristic_list.html
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Appendix
Jakob Nielsen’s Ten Usability Heuristics (6-10)
Heuristic Description
Recognition rather than Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible.
recall The user should not have to remember information from one part of the
dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily
retrievable whenever appropriate.
Flexibility and efficiency of Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction
use for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and
experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Aesthetic and minimalist Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed.
design Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of
information and diminishes their relative visibility.
Help users recognize, Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely
diagnose, and recover from indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
errors
Help and documentation Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may
be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should
be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried
out, and not be too large.
Retrieved From: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristics/heuristic_list.html
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34. The Wagasa Project
Appendix
Reviewers & Corresponding Personas & Tasks
Reviewer & Persona Description Tasks Performed
Natalie • Find information on any therapies offered at Lake Health
48 year-old person who is computer savvy and has carpal that benefits her condition
tunnel and wants to see if there’s some kind of therapy • Find information on when therapy session occur
available, and if and when it can be arranged • Are these therapy session covered by her insurance
• Find where she can sign up for these sessions
Scott • Determine if there is a baby registry service
A mid-twenties woman whose sister is pregnant, and wants to • Create a baby registry
help her out by starting a baby registry, and then sending that • Send out a notification to family and friends about the baby
registry out to a circle of friends and family registry
Debra • Determine whether Spanish is spoken at any center
The not very computer savvy host of an international student, • Determine where to take someone in an urgent or
whose parents will be coming for an extended visit. The emergency condition
student’s mother has a medical condition and may need some
assistance.
Mandi • Learn about the frequency with which to take ‘health’ or
A sixty-three year old who wants to find out about upcoming exercise classes
yoga or possibly even Pilates classes, and then register online • Includes options (generally) and options (specifically through
for a session the hospital) for exercise classes
• Learn about scheduling & identifying pricing options
• Register for a class online
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35. The Wagasa Project
Appendix
Wagasa Project Team Contact Information
Team Member Email
Mandi Davis adavis.bentley@gmail.com
Debra Reich dmreich@gmail.com
Scott Williams scotakuamerica@gmail.com
Natalie Wong natalielcwong@gmail.com
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