Initial Report

Our analysis identified three key development issues: Homepage, Account Creation, and Navigation.  We spent 20.2 hours of work on the initial redesign phase.  The majority of our time was spent on usability analysis, redesign work, and report writing.

Analysis

Homepage

Sample users struggled to identify what NASIG stands for, did not notice the NASIG tagline on the homepage, and wondered about the purpose of the homepage’s graphics.  These observations are important because the homepage will be the first thing a potential NASIG member sees.  Therefore, the homepage should provide, as simply as possible, an understanding of what NASIG is and what it does.

Account Creation

Sample users had to create a new password on their first log-in after creating a password with their account.  Additionally, the password creation page shows the password as plaintext.  Together, these design errors paint NASIG as behind the times.  Given NASIG’s tagline, “Transforming the Information Community,” the account creation and login pages should reflect the current best practice in web design.

Navigation

Users repeatedly commented on the fact that menus offered too many options.  Site navigation was impeded by having to search through each menu option line by line.  Additionally, the site’s various pages used a lot of hyperlinks.  Instead of being informational, users were again overloaded by the options.  For the same reason as with the homepage, the navigation structure should allow visitors to access the desired information as simply as possible.

Redesign Mock-Ups

Our first redesigns focused on the Homepage and Navigation because if a user cannot understand the purpose of NASIG’s website, then they may not want to join, and if a user cannot navigate to the sign up page, then they cannot join even if they wanted to.  Our homepage recommendations can be found here.  Our navigation recommendations can be found here.  Future work could include improving the site’s security and integrating homepage and navigation improvements.