Designing effective tasks for digital library user tests: lessons learned
OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives
ISSN: 1065-075X
Article publication date: 1 December 2005
Abstract
Purpose
To describe lessons learned about the process of designing effective tasks for digital library user tests.
Design/methodology/approach
Illustrated examples are drawn from eight separate user tests run over the course of three years during development of Variations2, the Indiana University digital music library.
Findings
Four major considerations for effective task design are described and illustrated. Areas explored include iterative task development, design of authentic activities, recruitment of authentic users and how to deal with unrealistic testing scenarios.
Practical implications
Lessons learned in task design are matched with examples that illustrate how to balance real‐world constraints with ideal testing conditions to gather useful results.
Originality/value
User tests that consider a balance between real‐world constraints and ideal conditions are more apt to provide useful design ideas for complex systems such as digital libraries. Practitioners may use these guidelines to develop and run their own effective user tests.
Keywords
Citation
Notess, M., Kouper, I. and Swan, M.B. (2005), "Designing effective tasks for digital library user tests: lessons learned", OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 300-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650750510629634
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited