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About Us: 2002 Archived Projects

Electronic Research Administration (ERA) (Jan-Feb, 2002)
The ERA system is designed to allow administrative staff and faculty complete workflow and routing activities for research grant proposals at IU. The UXG lab worked with the ERA team to plan and conduct paper-based testing with users from multiple campuses in order to guide the design of the system. An electronic prototype is currently in development. View the ERA 2002 report (pdf 168 kb).

School of Medicine (IUSM) (Feb-Apr, 2002)
The School of Medicine was interested in revising the Admissions portion of its website. The UXG lab conducted two user studies to meet these objectives: the first study tested the admissions page and categories on the homepage — a second study compared a new prototype to the original system. With the new system, users made fewer errors and were more successful. Guided by these findings, the IUSM website is currently being revised.

STC Site Reservation System (Apr - May, 2002)
We worked with the support staff of the Student Technology Centers (STC) to collect user data to guide the redesign of the STC site reservation system. The STC team provided detailed information about user groups and usage statistics. Based on this information, a cross section of the user groups were surveyed over the phone regarding their experience using the system. A report was produced detailing areas of concern for the redesign of the system.

Division of Recreational Sports (June, 2002)
The Division of Recreational Sports wanted to usability test their web site redesign before taking it public. In a collaborative effort, the recreational sports team and UXG lab planned, coordinated, and tested the system on a range of users. The results of the study will guide further changes in the web site which will be released shortly.

Student Academic Center (Jun, 2002)
The Student Academic Center wanted to collect formative usability data to help improve their website. They also wanted to learn how to do usability testing on their own in the future. UXG worked closely with the Center's director, Dr. Hope Elkins, in providing assistance in planning and conducting the tests and synthesizing the results.

Unix Systems Support Group (USSG) (Jun, 2002)
The Unix Systems Support Group web site's information architecture made it difficult for users to find information they wanted. This prompted their staff to redesign the site making the information architecture more transparent. Wanting to see if the site structure made sense to users, USSG requested our services. The UXG lab tested eleven UNIX users and the findings from the study will be used to make further improvements to the site. View the USSG report (pdf 713 kb).

Accounts Management (July, 2002)
The accounts management website allows IU students, staff and faculty to request new IU computer accounts and change their passwords. UXG collaborated with the accounts management team on the design of the system and completed a user study of the Network ID Starter Kit and Accounts Management Service. Results of the study were incorporated into the design. The new system went live before students arrived in the fall. View the Accounts Management report (pdf 1.17mb)

Pervasive Technology Website (Aug, 2002)
The Pervasive Technology Labs are technology research centers funded by a $30 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. The Communications Planning Office was charged with designing and developing a new website to serve as a front door for the general public as well as researchers. During March, UXG helped the CPO initially by testing early designs on paper. Results were used to guide the design of a working prototype, which was tested in April. Testing was conducted on a final design in July. Various user groups were represented throughout the testing process, and an iterative design approach was taken.

Research & Academic Computing (August, 2002)
The Research & Academic Computing (RAC) division approach UXG with questions about how to improve it's current website. Server logs were examined and phone interviews were conducted.to identify current causes for concern. These results were compiled and a review of the site architecture and layout was conducted. The data were discussed with managers in RAC and changes were made to improve the site.

School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) (Oct, 2002)
With a redesigned site largely completed, the School of HPER requested a usability evaluation of their design prior to their release. UXG planned and conducted a study involving 12 participants representing three different user profiles (university students, university staff , and high school students and their parents). A total of 22 recommendations were made resulting in several key changes to the site being made prior to is release.

IU Cancer Center (Dec, 2002)
The IU Cancer Center (IUCC) requested a needs analysis of their current site in order to inform its redesign. UXG conducted an online survey of IUCC researchers and referring physicians as well as a paper survey of patients and family members during their visits to the center. In total, 81 respondents completed the survey. The results revealed the target audiences' primary goals for the site, their most valued parts of the site, and those aspects of the site that require attention. Future work with IUCC will involve ideas for redesign supported by iterative testing.

IU Information Environment (IUIE) (Dec, 2002; Jan, 2003)
This IUIE study marked the third time in three years that IUIE developers visited the lab to test their system. Having recently converted the original Uniface system to Java, the IUIE team wanted to gather user data on the effectiveness of certain changes to the interface. Eight participants took part in task-driven lab sessions over four days. IUIE team members were in attendance at each session and collaborated afterwards with lab consultants to summarize their findings and recommendations.

OneStart EDEN Workflow Engine (December, 2002)
As part of the OneStart portal application project at Indiana University, the Eden Workflow system and Action List were tested to help inform the design team about their sequencing and interface design choices. A paper prototype test was conducted with three different representative users from the financial management department. UXG supported the design team in the design, implementation, and analysis of the study with great success. A total of 38 recommendations addressing system terminology, data entry methods, navigation, organization and sequencing were made with the majority incorporated prior to the initial pilot release. View the EDEN report (pdf 76 kb).

School of Continuing Studies (Dec, 2002)
A repeat client, the School of Continuing Studies at Indiana University requested a cognitive walkthrough of their recent site with the goal of identifying global issues of usability, accessibility, and search optimization prior to their redesign efforts. UXG enlisted a team of one external and three internal consultants to independently conduct the walkthroughs and summarize the findings in a final report for the client.

 

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