Farizah Naeem
Grand River Blues Society
This second-year university project aimed to redesign the Grand River Blues Society website, improving site organization to make it more accessible and user-friendly for both new visitors and active members, thereby enhancing engagement and understanding of the organization.
Overview
Purpose of GRBS
-
Supports local artists
-
Provides education about blues culture
-
Promotes community interaction and involvement
-
Preserves and promotes blues heritage
User Purposes on the Site
-
To socialize
-
To network
-
To learn about blues or the organization
User Search Behaviours
-
Berry Picking: Exploring general information about blues or the organization.
-
Foraging: Searching for specific tasks like finding venues or artists.
-
Pearl Growing: Building on existing knowledge, such as signing up for competitions or events.
Site Structure Issues
-
Wide and Shallow Structure: Leads to confusion and difficulty in finding information.
-
'More' Header Tab: Causes confusion and disorientation among users.
Proposed Improvements
-
Reorganize content through card sorting, tree tests, and site maps to enhance site structure.
Roles and Responsibilities
-
Ifrah Kidwai
-
Clara Mendiola
-
Farizah Naeem
-
Camden Smida
-
Olga Steblyk
Team Members:
Together,
-Each team member worked on each aspect of the project. Only when it came to report writing, did we divide up the work.
The Working Process and Actions Taken
Website Hierarchy
For our Website Hierarchy, we used FigJam to collaboratively layout our website.
Click the button to view in full
Content Inventory Spreadsheet
Click the button to view in full
Content Inventory Analysis
Website Weaknesses:
The site successfully provides access to education, youth camps, and blues artist information, but this content is hidden under the 'More' section, making it difficult for users to find.
Figure 1. Headers ‘More’
The website's visuals and content do not effectively meet user needs, with poorly formatted text and outdated graphics for membership and donation buttons, making them appear untrustworthy to users.
Figure 2. Outdated Buttons
The site's inconsistent typography, including misleading blue text that appears to be links, creates confusion and makes it difficult for users to efficiently find information.
Figure 3. Blue Coloured Text
Other Weaknesses:
-
The site structure is broad, while content is niche, causing issues with user navigation and accessibility.
-
Some pages are incomplete, such as the store page, and external links are unreliable.
-
Text-heavy pages lack clarity and proper page hierarchy, with important information often buried at the bottom.
-
Repetitive information spread across pages could be condensed or placed in the footer.
-
PDFs are unnecessarily placed in the middle of pages.
Website Strengths:
-
Provides access to education, youth camps, and blues artist information.
-
Promotes community involvement through headers like 'Join', 'Contact', 'Support Blues', and 'Volunteer'.
-
Offers newsletters and updates on blues trends.
Overall Issue:
The website's poor execution hinders its effectiveness in supporting users and achieving GRBS’s goals.
Card Sorting
To research information architecture, our group conducted a card sort to understand how users organize GRBS content, comparing their mental models and naming conventions.
Optimal Workshop was used to create the card sort.
Demographics
Figure 1. The completion rate and the time the participants took
Figure 2. Indicates the participants' familiarity with the Blues
Figure 3. The percentage of participants that are Blues members
Figure 4. Indicates the participants' confidence level while making the categories.
Figure 5. Indicates two participants that were confused about the 'Merchandise' card and where to place it.
Analysis of Results
Click the button to view analysis in full
Similarity Matrix
Similarity Matrix Insights:
-
Merchandise & Donations: Frequently paired, possibly due to the belief that purchases support donations.
Clusters Identified:
-
Top cluster: Joining/Membership-related cards.
-
Middle cluster: Background information and contact details.
-
Bottom cluster: Events and artist-related cards.
-
90% grouped "Benefits of Joining" with "Types of Memberships."
Dendrogram
Dendrogram Insights:
-
Odd pairings: "Donation" with "Director Nomination Form" (40%).
-
Unexpected pairings: "Blues Newsletters" with "Types of Memberships" (30%).
-
Some cards were grouped due to lack of specific categories (e.g., "Blues Newsletters").
Design Recommendations
-
Consider a "narrow and deep" structure for the website, focusing on 5 main headers:
-
Home
-
About Us
-
Get Involved
-
Support Us
-
Events and Artists
-
Use participant labels to guide header organization and content structure.
Tree Testing
The tree test aimed to assess the success rate of the current site structure and see how well it aligns with the organization's core missions.
Optimal Workshop was used to create the tree test.
Demographics for Tree Test A
Figure 1. The number of participants who completed Tree Test A.
Figure 2. Indicates the overall statistics for Tree Test A.
Figure 3. Indicates the statistics for Tree Test A, Task 1.
Figure 4. Indicates the statistics for Tree Test A, Task 2.
Figure 5. Indicates the percentage of participants that have visited the site before for Tree Test A.
Figure 6. Indicates the percentage of participants that are Blues members for Tree Test A.
Figure 7. Indicates the participants' confidence level while locating information for each task for Tree Test A.
Demographics for Tree Test B
Figure 1. The number of participants who completed Tree Test B.
Figure 2. Indicates the overall statistics for Tree Test B.
Figure 3. Indicates the statistics for Tree Test B, Task 1.
Figure 4. Indicates the statistics for Tree Test B, Task 2.
Figure 5. Indicates the percentage of participants that have visited the site before for Tree Test B.
Figure 6. Indicates the percentage of participants that are Blues members for Tree Test A.
Figure 7. Indicates the participants' confidence level while locating information for each task for Tree Test B.
Comparison of Demographics
Tree Test B had more participants, higher success rates, a greater proportion of Grand River Blues Society members, and more participants who had previously visited the website. Tasks were completed faster in Tree Test B. Interestingly, despite Tree Test B’s better performance metrics, participants in Tree Test A were slightly more confident overall. Confidence levels in Tree Test A were more evenly distributed, while Tree Test B had a higher percentage of moderately unconfident participants.
Analysis of Results for Tree Test A
Click the button to view analysis in full
Figure 1. Indicates the number of direct and indirect successes among participants for Task 1.
Figure 2. Indicates the number of direct and indirect successes among participants for Task 2.
Figure 3. Indicates the indirectness of participants' paths for Task 1.
Figure 4. Indicates the indirectness of participants' paths for Task 2.
**No participant found the answer directly, and most success paths were indirect, involving numerous clicks.**
Key Observations:
-
The site's layout has too many vague headers, causing user confusion and difficulty finding information. Which led to low success rates and indirect paths.
-
The "More" tab contains essential information but is often overlooked by users who assume it holds irrelevant content.
-
Participants' assumptions about where information should be found often did not align with the actual site structure, resulting in negative user experiences.
Analysis of Results for Tree Test B
Click the button to view analysis in full
Figure 1. The success rate for Tree Test B Task 1.
Figure 2. The success rate for Tree Test B Task 2.
Figure 3. Indicates the number of direct and indirect successes among participants for Task 1.
Figure 4. Indicates the number of direct and indirect successes among participants for Task 2.
Figure 5. Time and Success for Tree Test B Task 1 and Task 2.
Figure 6. Indirect successful completion for Tree Test B Task 1.
Figure 7. Indirect successful completion for Tree Test B Task 2.
**Most participants correctly completed both tasks, but 25% skipped both tasks, likely due to confusion with the revised test despite being familiar with the site.**
Key Observations:
-
The revised structure based on the Card Sort Study did not improve task success rates as expected.
-
The new labels did not align with participants’ mental models, causing them to overlook correct paths.
-
Participants often backtracked after selecting incorrect paths, indicating uncertainty and confusion with the labels and structure.
-
Low directness rates and higher failure rates suggest significant issues with information scent, where labels do not effectively guide users to the correct content.
Comparison of Tree Tests
Our analysis of the tree tests revealed that while the revised structure and labels improved results, the improvement was not as significant as expected. The revised structure fell short of our expectations, highlighting the need for further refinement. Moving forward, we must focus on creating clearer labels and refining the structure to improve both tasks' success rates. Additional testing will guide the development of a more effective sitemap for the website.
Site Map
Based on our extensive research, our team collaborated on creating website recommendations that would better fit the website's goals and objectives as well as make navigation an easier experience.
Figure 1. Sitemap of our revised structure
Click the button to view sitemap and wireframes in full
Navigation Systems
Our navigation on our website includes a global navigation bar
Figure 2. Waterfall drop-down from global navigation header labels
Figure 3. Hyperlink buttons that pertain to supporting the GRBS
Figure 4. Read More button that sends the user to the Blues Newsletters page
Figure 5. Contextual 'Sort By' Navigation Bar
Figure 7. Payment submission external links
Figure 6. Printable Form PDF external link to download form
Figure 8. Form Confirmation pop-up referring to event registration forms
Search Systems
One of our priorities in our website redesign was to create and implement a global search feature.
Figure 1. Shows the global search in the header to the right.
Figure 3. Shows where the 'next' button is placed so users can visit secondary results.
Figure 2. Shows the drop-down of suggested search results.
Figure 4. Shows the 'relevance' and 'date' search filters for results.
Metadata and Controlled Vocabulary
The current GRBS website uses limited metadata, primarily on the 'Home' page, which hampers searchability. To address this, we redesigned the site with a focus on improved metadata. We followed schema.org standards for organizations but tailored them to GRBS, adding specific metadata for venues, competitions, and music-related content. This approach enhances search rankings and helps users find relevant content more easily.
We also developed a controlled vocabulary to ensure that metadata aligns with the site's message, avoiding the attraction of the wrong audience. With AI and natural language processing in mind, the metadata was crafted to improve interpretation of user search queries, ensuring clearer and more effective search results.
Conclusion
The proposed website changes will greatly benefit the Grand River Blues Society by improving site organization, making it more user-friendly for both newcomers and active members. The original site lacked structure, potentially deterring new members and event registrants. By addressing user information needs and accommodating different search behaviors, the redesign aims to create a more accessible and engaging experience, enhancing users' understanding and involvement with GRBS.
Click the button to view the written reports in full
Outcomes and Takeaways
We aspire that our redesign for the site will help both the organization and the users providing an understanding of what Grand River Blues Society is.