Evidence-based practice and web usability assessment

Issues related to usability and creating effective and engaging user experiences on the internet continue to vex libraries and information agencies. Many organizations still do not have an on-going, sustainable usability assessment program in place. This should be a cause for concern because usability programs serve as a quality-control check on our ability to provide quality information. This is why evidence-based information practice is so important as a fundamental building block of a usability assessment plan. This paper aims to address these issues.

Through a review of the basic principles of evidence-based practice, the author puts into context how a web assessment methodology could be put in place at a library or information organization.

Using the principles of evidence-based practice, as well as a user-centered design perspective, can greatly enhance the ability of libraries and information organizations to develop effective web usability assessment programs.

While there has been a significant body of work in library and information science related to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP), there has been little specifically written about applying EBP to web usability assessment. This article fills that gap in the literature.