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Some Conclusions from our Usability Tests: Inspec Thesaurus- IODyne Interface
General Problems with Using Windows
desktop gets cluttered while doing searches - can't see everything at once
some people do not know how to move the windows around the desktop - "How would a beginner know how to use this?"
confusion with single and double clicking
how do you start a new search form?
Icons and symbols not Used
"Done" key hasn't been used yet --- "What does 'done' mean?"
- people had a tendency to drag and drop to the search form
People have a tendency to hit the "enter" key rather than click on the icon.
"Cancel" button not used
"+" was confusing -- "will there be a list for symbols?"
"I don't think I'll remember to use the notecards."
Icons/parts of search should be labeled
people often forgot what KWIC and KWOC do
hierarchy should be labeled
some people forgot what the "top term" window was for
what does "subject" mean? does it mean keywords or just words in the thesaurus?
should tell people that the maximum number of search terms per search form is four
Parts of Thesaurus that were Confusing
people have a tendency to look at the "cloud terms" more than the hierarchy of the terms
- there is a tendency to drag terms from the "cloud" onto the search form more than a tendency to drag from the hierarchy to the search form
how are the hierarchy and the "cloud terms" related?
how are KWIC and KWOC related to the hierarchy?
"the hierarchy is not hierarchical in the same way that KWIC is...this is confusing."
what can you drag from where to where?
- (1) one person wanted to drag a term from KWIC directly to the search form and
couldn't
- didn't realize she had to put it into the search entry box before it could be placed onto the search form
- (2) one person wanted to drag term from "cloud" to the search entry box but couldn't
- (3) wants to take terms from the "cloud" and place it into KWIC but couldn't
- it wasn't clear that words from KWOC should be dragged into KWIC
"If I choose the center term in the cloud, will all the other [surrounding] terms be searched, too?"
One person thought that the cloud terms were the results of a search.
how do you go backwards to an earlier part of the search?
automatic substitution unclear ---"I typed ...why did it switch to this?"
- how are things connected?
Things people liked about the thesaurus:
KWOC will be helpful when you get no hits because it will suggest terms that are regularly used
the drag and drop feature
the clouds and hierarchies
system was fast
Some recommendations:
"Will there be on-line help, or labels next to the icons to tell me what they're there for?" (Not sure if she meant the yellow labels or balloon help.)
May want to tell people that KWOC is the "alphabetical listing of all the terms in the thesaurus."
the cloud of terms is "indistinct"-- would assume that the placement and arrangement of the words has meaning (words' proximity to each other should tell something about their relationship), but it seems there is no meaning.)
It's difficult to use the scroll feature for KWOC- it takes a long time because the scroll bar/slide thing brings him further away from where he wants to be.
Tends to use the search window as a space to dump terms so that the person can see term and keep working on them. After the search, person looks at words, puts some in notecards, trashes some, keeps some on the search form, and then re-organizes the terms in the order that the person wants them searched.
Maybe there should be a separate search window where people can organize stuff and work.
When titles do show up, will the person be able to click on the title and see the abstract? One person said this would be extremely helpful.
Make the "+" and "-" signs bigger. One person could not see them without squinting.
Like in Mosaic, indicate which words have been searched already so that the person doesn't continually look at the same words. It's a way of keeping track of your search.
The dragging and clicking difference in KWIC and KWOC are confusing- one person thought it should be the other way around: because KWOC should be used in conjunction with the KWIC window, it would make sense to click on the KWOC word to make it jump to the KWIC window, and then be able to drag the phrase into KWIC to the search box. When you move out of the tools, you should need to drag.
There should be some feedback- the system should give search results
What about the use of a "looser synonym generator"? Then you could know if a term is in the system at all. (search terms are easy to find out as long as a person knows some standard terms... it seems that the user must know some standard terms or the system is unusable)
Need a better or more noticeable explanation for substitutions, perhaps let the user see the substitution happen.
When the search is actually performed, will the other search terms remain on the search form? "It would be bad if they were lost or erased." He wants to be able to search them in whatever order he wants."
Want to drag from the search box into KWOC.
Wwant to drag from the hierarchy/cloud/search box directly into KWOC button--- eliminates need to scroll in KWOC to find word and also eliminates need to click on the KWOC button at all.
Should be "warnings" after you click on the "Done" button and on the "Cancel" button. Something as simple as "Are you sure?"
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