IRB Website Usability Project
English 3367, Fall, 2007
irb/IRBmanagers1
Teams

Test Plan

Schedule

Archive

Contact

Discussions

Search

IRB Approval

Be a Participant!!

Testing is over for the semester.

 Thank you to all our test subjects!

Project Mission

The mission of the IRB Human Research usability test is to provide feedback and data on how researchers are using the Office of Research Services website to obtain their IRB approval. The usability evaluation will use needs assessment, heuristic evaluation, and usability testing.

Project Goals

The project will study the following elements of the website:

  1. Terminology. Do users understand the terminology on the IRB  site?

  2. Resource types. Do users understand the differences between resource types as described on the site and how that affects the availability of items?

  3. Organization. Is the site organization effective and usable for users trying to locate institutional review process information? Are users able to identify parts of the site relating to IRB and differentiate it from other parts of the site (ORS)?

  4. Navigation. Is the navigation of the site efficient for an IRB approval task? Are users aware of their current location in the site and how to return to a prior point in the process? Can site be accessed from different locations by different users?

  5. Page layout. Are the page layouts confusing or distracting? Are they too similar or too different—too dense, or too sparse?

  6. Form usage. Are the users made aware of the function of the various forms they need to fill out?  Can users understand and be able to properly complete the checklist?

  7. User control. Do users feel engaged and “in control” when using the web site?

  8. Quality of writing. Is the site well-written overall and clear enough for users to understand the information they see?

  9. Links and controls. Are hyperlinks and controls always spotted and recognized as such on each page?