Optimization Review of Website

What We Test

The optimization review is a basic review of the site by the Web Content Optimizer for issues of accessibility, usability, and search engine optimization. This report is done as a last step prior to a site launch, but should be undertaken periodically by units. The review makes recommendations to improve information architecture, navigation, use of links and key pathway processes, and can also include the following optional reviews:

  • Peer Site Comparisons for Best Practices
  • Five-minute assessments to capture initial impressions of home page or landing pages
  • Review of Typographic and Graphic Design Best Practices
  • Readability and Comprehension Level of Content

This Test Targets

  • SEO
  • Information Architecture
  • User Experience
  • User Workflow
  • Accessibility

What do we gain From testing? What’s the ROI?

  • Increased goal completions on websites for prospective patients, increasing the revenues of the hospital and clinics
  • Increased goal completions for students and prospective students, increasing the satisfaction of our base audience

How Can Web Services Help Me with Usability?

Peer Institution ReviewPeer Site Comparisons for Best Practices

A comprehensive review of the websites of your peer institutions is a good way to garner a reliable analysis of trends and common conventions in your field. In turn, it gives you a good sense of what users are looking for in a website, as websites become more user-focused as they mature. Alternatively, the analysis might also show where you might be able to leverage something users are looking for that your peers and competitors have missed.

Typography Best PracticesReview of Typographic and Graphic Design Best Practices

Choice of font and font size, spacing and color can affect the legibility of your content, and lead to usability issues. The use of photos, buttons and other graphics can cause similar issues. Web Services can advise and consult on these choices and to make recommendations based on up-to-date best practices from the industry. We also provide graphic design services for your unit – talk to us about your needs!

Reading Comprehension LevelsReadability and Comprehension Level of Content 

A key factor in building a well-used site is in providing content that is written within the comfort zone of your audience. This requires well-written text that is easy to understand and process. External Web Services can analyze the content of your site to determine the ease with which your target demographic can digest and retain the content that you present to them.

Usability TestingIterative Usability Testing of CMS Templates

External Web Services routinely examines the templates its provides to UF Health to see if they best meet the audience’s needs. A key component of this is Usability Testing, in which individuals are asked to use the site while their reactions and use of the site is recorded, analyzed and used to make universal changes to the template to enhance their usability for the entire enterprise.

Usability Testing for WebsitesOn-demand Usability Testing of Unit-Specific Websites and Tasks

Web Services can work with your unit in setting up user-based usability testing. By bringing in people not familiar with your website and asking them to accomplish specific tasks, we can identify where the site works and where the navigation or paths to complete a task might need to be reconsidered to make them more user-friendly and easy to accomplish.

Usability Site MappingReview and Recommendations to Improve Information Architecture, Navigation, Use of Links and Key Pathway Processes

Keeping a site concise and to the point is an ongoing process that requires periodic review of the material of the site to clean out redundant, trivial and outdated content. These reviews and site analytics can show ways to streamline user paths to get to relevant content and specific user actions. Web Services can assist units in identifying these areas for improvement and making changes that benefit the end user and the unit’s goals.

Heuristic Evaluation

Sites are reviewed based on Susan Weinschenk and Dean Barker usability guidelines and heuristics list.  These heuristics provide a template to help uncover problems a user will likely encounter.

  • User Control: The site makes users perceive that they are in control.
  • Human Limitations: The sites will not overload the user’s cognitive, visual, auditory, tactile, or motor limits.
  • Modal Integrity: The interface will fit individual tasks within whatever modality is being used: auditory, visual, or motor/kinesthetic.
  • Accommodation: The interface will fit the way each user group works and thinks.
  • Linguistic Clarity: The interface will communicate as efficiently as possible.
  • Aesthetic Integrity: The interface will have an attractive and appropriate design.
  • Simplicity: The interface will present elements simply.
  • Predictability: The interface will behave in a manner such that users can accurately predict what will happen next.
  • Interpretation: The interface will make reasonable guesses about what the user is trying to do.
  • Accuracy: The interface will be free from errors
  • Technical Clarity: The interface will have the highest possible fidelity.
  • Flexibility: The interface will allow the user to adjust the design for custom use.
  • Fulfillment: The interface will provide a satisfying user experience.
  • Cultural Propriety: The interface will match the user’s social customs and expectations.
  • Suitable Tempo: The interface will operate at a tempo suitable to the user.
  • Consistency: The interface will be consistent.
  • User Support: The interface will provide additional assistance as needed or requested.
  • Precision: The interface will allow the users to perform a task exactly.
  • Forgiveness: The interface will make actions recoverable.
  • Responsiveness: The interface will inform users about the results of their actions and the interface’s status

Cognitive Walkthrough

A cognitive walkthrough is also a usability inspection method like heuristic evaluation but the emphasis is on tasks. The idea is basically to identify users’ goals, how they attempt them in the interface, and then meticulously identify problems users would have as they learn to use an interface.

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