Chapter 9 Website Evaluation and Usability Testing

1. Chapter 9Website Evaluation and Usability Testing Eyad Alsahreef

2. WEB PERSONALIZATION • Cookies • Collaborative-filtering Software • Check Boxes • User-based Personalization • Neural Network Eyad Alsahreef

3. Cookies • Most recognizable personalization tools • Are bit of code or a text file that sits in a user Internet browser and identifies that person to a web site when they return • Allows the site to greet the user by name • away of communicate information about you to a web sites that you visit Eyad Alsahreef

4. Cookies • Technically • A cookie is a message a web server sends to a web browser • The browser store the message in a text file • The message is returned to the server every time the browser requests a page from a server Eyad Alsahreef

5. Collaborative-filtering Software • Keeps track of user movement across the web to interrupt their interest • It views their habits, from how long they stay on a page to the page they choose while in the web site • The software compares the information about one user behavior and compare with other customer data • The result is a recommendation to the customer • Amazon.com is an example Eyad Alsahreef

6. Check-box • A user controlled process • A visitor chooses specific interests on a checklist so the site display the requested information • Less obvious than cookies Eyad Alsahreef

7. User (Rule)-based Personalization • Users are divided into segments based on business rules that generate certain types of information from user profile • Ask customer to fill form to determine the type of product or information it can provide • This information on the form becomes the user profile, which is stored in the database by user segment Eyad Alsahreef

8. User (Rule)-based Personalization • The decision to give personalization information is based on business rules • The database looks up the visitor profile and triggers a business rule to fit the profile Eyad Alsahreef

9. Neural Network • Use statistical probability algorithm to deliver personalization • Based on movements such as a visitor action • Learn from customer behavior on the site and continues to adjust to his or her preferences Eyad Alsahreef

10. COOKIES • It is impossible to differentiate among visits to a site unless the server can somehow mark a visitor • Site use cookies to personalize information • Cookie is an HTTP header with a text-only string placed in the browser memory • The string contains • The domain • Path • How long it is valid • The value of the variable that the web site sets • If the user spends more time at the site than the life time of this variable, the string is saved to fill for future reference Eyad Alsahreef

11. COOKIES myths 1- Cookies clog the hard disk • Transient cookies • Cookies that contain information about the user that the web server can access until the browser is closed-occupy no hard disk space • Lack expiration date and last only for the duration of session • Persistent cookies • Cookies that contain information that the web server retains on the hard drive of the user computer, • carrying an expiration date • Remaining on the hard disk until the date expire Eyad Alsahreef

12. COOKIES myths 2- Cookies can put a virus on my computer • Cookies are always stored as data on a text format instead of executable format, they can not do anything hostile • A virus would not be able to spread automatically until the user opened the file • Making a cookie that could be spread a virus would be virtually impossible Eyad Alsahreef

13. COOKIES myths 3- Cookies give companies access to my personal file • Cookies can store any information the user provides to a web site • Laws limit the details that can be released Eyad Alsahreef

14. COOKIES myths 4- Disabling cookies in my browser will prevent any web sites from gathering information about me • The data that cookies collect also can be recorded in a web server log files • Cookies just make it easier Eyad Alsahreef

15. COOKIES • Original purpose of cookies was to save user time • Disabling cookies might disable the service that identifies you as a member • Cookies utilize space on a client hard disk for a web site purpose, they do so without permission to use space or capture information • They threaten our privacy as Internet users • They know which web browser you are using • Which operating system you are running • Your IP address • Track which web site you came from and which web site you are going to Eyad Alsahreef

16. COOKIES • A marketing company (Web site) can follow only • Which page you are looking at • For how long • But not what you do within those web pages Eyad Alsahreef

17. Deleting and rejecting COOKIES • Cookies can be deleted and ejected • Close browser: cookies are held in memory until you close your browser • If the cookie is deleted with the browser open, it will make new file when you close it and you will not be able to get rid of it • If you delete cookie you start from scratch with the site that you once recognized Eyad Alsahreef

18. Deleting and rejecting COOKIES • Cookies can be deleted and ejected • Internet Explorer provide features that can alert you every time a cookie is being added to the browser • In IE cookie can be disabled by using Tools/Internet Option/security menu • Microsoft save cookies in the temporary Internet files folder, with takes up approximately 2% of hard disk • Netscape limits the total cookies count to 300 • Average size of a cookie is from 50 to 150 byte Eyad Alsahreef

19. What makes a web site usable • Usability • A set of independent quality attributes like performance, ease of navigation, .. • For end user: an application that allows the user to perform the expecting tasks more efficiently • For Manager: a major decision factor for selling a product Eyad Alsahreef

20. What makes a web site usable • The key to attracting customers back to ones web site include • High-quality content • Ease of use • Quick download • Frequent update Eyad Alsahreef

21. What makes a web site usable • The key to attracting customers back to ones web site include • High-quality content • Ease of use • Quick download • Frequent update Eyad Alsahreef

22. WHAT MAKES A WEB SITE USABLE? Eyad Alsahreef

23. Tips for Web shopability • Show the full product cost as soon as possible • Explain why you need to collect personal information • Ensure that images are big and show features that is important to buyers • Put the search box in every page • Have the customer select options before the product goes in the shopping cart • Expect the user will hit the enter key when filling the form • Offer a toll-free number for placing phone order Eyad Alsahreef

24. USABILITY TESTING GUIDELINES • Is the site engaging • Do the visitors enjoy the experience • Do they feel in control of the site • Is the site efficient • Response time fast to keep visitors on the site • Site make visitors easy to understand what each page is about • Is the site supportive • When the visitors make a mistake, is it easy for them to undo • Does it offer help, advice, or direction when necessary • Is the site consistent and reliable Eyad Alsahreef

25. USABILITY TESTING GUIDELINES • Decide on a writing style and stick to it • Don’t use a variety of forms for the same term • Give visitors what they are looking for • Give visitors a reason to visit • Show class (Identify your business) • When the homepage comes up on visitor screen, it should your business in a unique light • This is called Branding • Keep the big picture in mind for usability • Make the site easy to navigate • Focus on content before graphics Eyad Alsahreef

26. USABILITY TESTING GUIDELINES • Make your text scanable • 79% of web users scan rather than read • To improve scanablity • Consider bold text • Large type • Highlighted text • Caption, graphics • Bulleted list • Be careful about flashy marketing language • Present information without boasting and minimize any subjective Eyad Alsahreef

27. USABILITY TESTING GUIDELINES • Encourage visitor feedback • Test, test and test! • Two level of testing • See if the web site is technically right • See if the site is right in the eyes of the visitor • Analyzing site logs (records of how many hits each page got) Eyad Alsahreef

28. RELIABILITY TESTING • For a web administrator the core of reliability is availability • The three components to web availability are • System available • Network available • Application available Eyad Alsahreef

29. RELIABILITY TESTING • To ensure web site reliability • Provide system backup • Install a disk-mirroring feature • Allow you to add or replace hardware while the system is in operation • Ensure that the system hardware is “fault-tolerant” Eyad Alsahreef

30. Readability Testing • Include font, font type and size • Color of background • Layout of the text • The safest combination is black type on a white background • The larger the type is, more readable the text is Eyad Alsahreef

31. Images • The best method to add graphics to your web site is to put the graphics in a separate file and then reference that file in your web page • You need to decide weather a given image to be in GIF or JPEG format • Two format can be used Eyad Alsahreef

32. Images • The main difference between the two is the compression technique • Gif : • Is perfect for smaller graphics, like logos, icons, small buttons, and navigation bars • Using it for large pictures leads to huge file size and long download time • JPEG • popular bit-mapped graphics format • Ideal scanned photographs • Can display thousands of colors • can be compressed into small file size Eyad Alsahreef

33. CACHES • Images that repeat throughout a web site, such as logos or navigation bars, do not need to download again and again • IE set aside a memory cache to store recently used image in RAM and on the hard disk by default Eyad Alsahreef

34. CACHES • How it works • A user Request a Web page • The user browser check the cache to see if the request is in, if it is in, then no more is necessary; otherwise the browser ask local server • The server checks the cache to make sure the page is not in. If it is in, then it serves the browser • The server requests the page from the Internet • the server checks the location of the request and refers it to the closest distribution server • The distribution server delivers the request to the local server • The request is deliver to the local server • The local sever sends it to the user, the browser caches the objects Eyad Alsahreef

35. How many Links • The more links that appear on a page, the less likely it is that any link will be read • Minimizing the links will help speed up site performance Eyad Alsahreef

36. ROLE OF WEB ADMINISTRATOR • Database Server • Application Server • Web Server • Special-purpose Servers for Security • Internet Bandwidth • Internet Performance Status Eyad Alsahreef

37. Chapter 9Website Evaluation and Usability Testing Eyad Alsahreef