Web Usability Test

Thanks to all who participated in the recent web usability test. We learned from the opportunity to watch people step through our four test cases. What did we learn? In a short, people are not seeing the items in the right column...the employee directory, the events calendar, and the alerts go unnoticed. We documented some other observations as well, but more importantly, we used the usability test information to guide some changes that are coming.
Like...shuffling the search box and calendar/maps/directory/departments portlet...revising the alerts portlet so it is more visible...enhancing the calendar. These changes are coming in the next couple weeks! We implemented the Google Search Appliance earlier this month but more on that in another post.
We want to conduct more usability tests in the future but we need you. If you are interested in participating in one of our future studies, email us with your contact information. Read the study results and observations...

Volunteers Wanted

We need a few volunteers to assist us with a usability study for the web portal. It will be Friday, January 14, 2010 during the day at the Raleigh Municipal Building (downtown). We will only need an hour of your time but it will provide us with valuable information. We will schedule a time for us to observe you perform 3-4 simple tasks on the web portal. We will record your keystrokes, mouse movement and commentary. If you would like to volunteer or know someone who would, email us today!
Thank you...and we have more to come in 2011.