| Routes
for Youth Website Testing Results |
Respondents include: Tomorrow's Leaders Today: Kenneth
Alexander, Lydia Taylor, Jeri Hastava, and Sutthiphong Sannaoue.
Sonoma County Horse Council: Matt Wehr, Heidi Pettis and Lucy Kenyon.
Sonoma County Health Services: Steven Fontaine, Angie Barragan,
and Patricia Simpson. Absent: Steve Tapia.
|
| Target
Market |
The Routes for Youth Website is targeted primarily
at Sonoma County teens who have been cited or arrested, as well
as their families. It is also aimed at providing information about
the programs to the community at large.
|
| Conditions
of Testing |
| Operating System |
Monitor Size/Bitdepth/Resolution |
Browser Version |
Internet |
| |
|
|
|
| MAC OS 8.6 |
16", thousands, 832 X 624 |
IE 5 |
56K |
| Windows ME |
16", millions, 800 X 600 |
IE 5 |
56K |
| Windows 2000 NT |
17" Trinitron, 32 bit, 1024 X 768 |
IE 6, Netscape 6.2 |
High Speed Cable |
| Windows 98 |
17", 32-bit, 800 X 600 |
IE 5.5 |
56K |
| MAC OS 9.2 |
15", millions, 800 X 600 |
IE 5 |
56K |
| Windows 98 |
15", millions, 1024 X 768 |
IE 5.5 |
26.4 AOL |
| Windows ME |
15", millions, 800 X 600 |
IE 6 |
56K |
| Windows XP |
17", millions, 800 X 600 |
IE 6 |
56K |
| Windows 2000 |
17", 24-bit, 1152 X 864 |
IE 6 |
45.2 |
| Windows ME |
22", 32-bit, 1024 X 768 |
AOL 6.0 |
56K |
| Questions |
| Does the site load
in a reasonable amount of time? |
|
Everyone says yes.
|
| How many seconds
did the opening page take to load? |
|
16 seconds
5 seconds
Pretty much instantaneous.
I think about two seconds.
15 to 20 seconds
I dunno, should have asked me before I loaded it. ;)
8-9
10 seconds
3 seconds
Very Few
|
| How long did the
first inside page take to load? |
18 seconds
13 sec
Again...pretty much instantaneous. High speed cable is a beautiful
thing.
It is about a seconds. But the calendar page will be three seconds.
about 40 seconds
Same answer as above. But I didn't notice having to wait at all,
so basically it's on the up side of average to fast.
3-4
10 seconds
5 seconds
7 seconds |
| What is the overall
tone and feel of the site? |
Clean and contemporary.
It feels soothing as I browse the site, and the shapes and varying
visuals keep your eyes interested and awake.
Maybe I'm weird, but it felt soothing, calm, peaceful, and inspirational.
I am not sure. It looks like dark blue or something.
Clean, businesslike, visually appealing
Oooh, so pretty!!
Very nice esthetically, very good graphics
Calm, cool
Very nice, serious, but creative and attractive
Very organic and comfortable. An easy site to get through.
|
| Is it clear what
this website is about? |
Yes. (3 responses)
The name says a lot already. There isn’t an ‘about’ page; that threw
me off for a second, so I clicked on ‘program info’. same thing.
I’m not sure if the first quote helps to clarify, but as soon as
I started reading it went back on track and I was clear on what
it was about.
Actually I had to poke around a little until I found the Program
Info page which seems to explain RFY. I guess I'm a creature of
habit, but I was looking for an "about us" kind of page
title.
Yes, the title and the content make it clear.
I wasn't sure after the first page, but I began to figure it out
the more I read
Uhm... Ah, you need a preloader for your rollovers... It's about
an organization called routes for youth, which offers two unique
and unduplicated programs that provide strategies and opportunities
for young people to positively affect their peers. (hehee)
Yes, it's clear when you read the Program Info. page
|
| What was your first
impression of the opening screen? |
Clear design.
I really enjoyed the opening screen out of all the pages. nice art.
The tree and its roots are great, along with the striped effect
on the girl.
Beautiful. Elegant. I like that it didn't have rollovers. Nothing
against rollovers (they're hard to resist), but the absence of them
made a distinctive impression on me.
The color tone and the image on the home page impressed me.
Very clean, nice graphics.
My first impression was Wow, because it looked really nice, I just
tried to go back to it, though, and I got to some ugly black and
white page =/ Maybe you should make them delete their old gunk on
their server...
Ah, got to it. I like the opening page the best, actually. I don't
really like the collages, they kinda ruin it, but I imagine you
had to put those pictures in somewhere...
I like it a lot - it gets the message across well.
I liked it very much, great job!
Nice, well chosen colors, peaceful
Very artistic and inventive
|
| Where did you first
click? Why? |
The Staff button because it was the first button.
Program Info; wanted to see what it was all about.
Staff. It was at the top and I'm a pretty linear kind of gal. Top
to bottom thank you very much.
The first item, the staff page because it is the first item.
Staff, because it was the first link
I first clicked "website created by SRJC web development team,
and then clicked on elliscreation.com, 'cause the opening page was
so pretty...
"Locate Us", because there's no "About Us"
Buttons on side bar, intuition
Program Info.
The navigation.
|
| What did you think
of the second-level pages? |
Nice.
Overall, I liked them.
Very nice. Attractive. Easy to navigate.
It is nice and fast load time.
I liked them. I like the collage at the top of each page. The only
thing I didn't like is that there wasn't a link back to the home
page on the main navigation. You had to go to the bottom of the
page to find it.
I dislike the collages at the top, the way the name of the current
page is pasted into the collage, and I think the links should be
blue instead of green because they are an extension of the Routes
for Youth swirly blue thing. I love the swirly blue thing though,
and the sorta abnormal shape it adds to the otherwise boxy straight
angles of the webpage.
They're very professionally done.
All were very good
Good design, good information
Consistent, easy to navigate.
|
| Do you think this
site will communicate effectively to teens? Why or why not? |
Maybe. I'm not a teen so I can¹t say.
Yes, I think the message is clear and the site has a youthful look
to keep them youngins interested.
Actually, there doesn't seem to be a lot of content geared towards
teenagers. It seems to be geared more towards adults. Lots of good
information, but not a lot of "fun, young" elements.
I think yes, but not much because it is too simple and easy for
teens today.
I didn't really get that impression. I understood things about the
organization, but the overall tone didn't seem to be slanted towards
teenagers. It was clean, and businesslike. Maybe if there was a
page that had some information specifically aimed at teens. But
the site still does offer a lot information about the organization.
Uhm... Know what? I hate that question. I already had to answer
one today... I don't know. I've been an official non-teen for a
few months now... I'm out of touch (ha!) Um... I think that... it
takes a little bit to find out what the heck it is. That would have
probably been more effective as the top link. The way it is, you
have to sort through the staff, calendar stuff, and driving directions
before you get any info on what it's about. But I think it looks
nice, and people will stop to look at the pages just because they
are pretty. Well, at least art people will anyway. And a whole lotta
teens are into art of some sort. Spare time'll do that to you...
I think so - I also think that has more to do with what the program
offers than with the site itself.
Yes. Because of the colors and the ease of navigation
Yes. It is attractive and easy to navigate
It has a very young feel to it. I really like the curves and the
fresh color palette.
|
| Did you find the
site easy to navigate? If not, what could improve it? |
Yes. ( 6 responses)
Yes with the one exception I mentioned which of course is very subjective.
It took me a few clicks to find out what RFY is all about.
Yes, very easy to navigate because of just a few pages.
Yes it was fine except, like I mentioned above, their was not a
link to the home page on the main navigation on the second level
pages
Yes, simple navigation, very easy
|
| Are all of the links
working? |
Yes (8 responses)
The “top” jump links on the Staff page didn¹t work.
Yes, except that the calendar is a little confusing because the
selection box says one month and the title says another. Also, the
box doesn't work - I had to use the "Next" button to get
to December
|
| Were the pages interesting?
Why or why not? |
Yes. Not too boxy looking like some sites.
Yes, the program seems interesting and site is pleasing to the eye.
From an adult perspective I think they were beautiful and very interesting.
I particularly like the drop down menu for the staff.
Yes, for using the tone color.
Yes. But I would say they were more content driven. I like the graphics
on the site. I like the collages
Yeah, I like the design.
Yes - the graphics and layout make them appealing
All were, gave good information
Yes. The pages are very eye-catching and it provides substantial
information about the program
Yes. It's not overwhelming. A lot of white space, keeps it fresh
and
appealing.
|
| What did you like
best about the site? |
The clean look and the cool calendar.
the home page and the pics of the murals of the kids on the walls
The color scheme, and clean elegant look. Nice calendar. Is that
a script offered on the web?
I like the color tone and the home page.
(no response)
The vectors.
The graphics and layout.
Layout and colors
The design
The color palette and the curves in the design
|
| What suggestions
for improvement do you have? |
Fix the jump links.
On the ‘calendar’ page, the picture with the setting sky is nice,
but the trees throw me off a bit. It looks like part of the trees
are missing and my computer didn’t load the entire jpg. or maybe
you should just take out the trees and leave the sky by itself.
The “donate & volunteer” page has an image at the top which
has a rainbow stripe over the kids which could be a filter, but
looks like a mistake.
The site is lovely just the way it is, but the one improvement I
would suggest (although it's probably not realistic at this point)
is to put the "program info" link first and rename it
to let the visitor know that this is the page identifying the organization.
Every thing looks nice, but the two links from web development team
should open new window as the first person's link.
Rollovers on the home page. There are some on the second level pages,
why not the first?
I've listed them already at various places above.
None.(3 responses)
There's a weird break in the paragraph under Roger Lawless.
|
| Did you find everything
you expected to on this site? |
Yes. (8 responses)
Yes, because it just a small site.
Yeah, it was informative about the innerworkings of the organization
I didn't expect anything, so sure.
|
| Did you
feel anything was left out that should be present? (info or images
missing?) |
No. (8 responses)
What position does Roger Lawless have in the Co.? It's not stated
like everyone else.
|
| Now that you have
gone through the site and are familiar with the content, do you
feel the design (color, tone, layout, feel) is appropriate for the
material? |
Yes. (3 responses)
Yes, if the target market is adults.
Yes, the layout cool!
I like the design and the graphics, but to me it didn't give the
right feel for a teenager. It will work fine for people who are
involved
with the organization.
Oh, you mean I have to look at the material?! =/ aw, shucks! Okay,
brb. Yeah, sure. It looks rather sophisticated and all, and though
I don't like the collages, the site design represents them rather
well. Sorta sophisticated. This is kinda like the TLT organization
I had to do a survey for, except they took a bright approach with
sorta little kid handwriting for the buttons, this is the more sophisticated
version.
Very
Yes, clean nice and professional
I think so.
|
| Further Questions |
|
To further test site usability, we gave testers some tasks to
complete. One respondent did not complete the site tasks.
Task No. 1: Find out what is happening on Dec. 14, 2002.
Most said there was a party. One respondent stated: “I went
to the calendar page. I used the month pulldown form button to
³December², then clicked “go”.On the 14th
I clicked the word “party”, then I found out there really
isn'ta party.
Task No. 2: Who would you speak to if you were looking for the
Project Manager for
Routes for Youth?
Most stated "Heather Silacci." Differing responses include:
"Wow, what a weird way to spell Diane... Anyway, I can't
find out what the heck Roger Lawless does... If I wanted to talk
to the Project Manager, I'd see the Program Manager, since they
both start with a P and have the word Manager in them. Heather
Silacci. Where the heck is there a Project Manager?" And
also: " I am not sure. I am not good in reading text. I think
Heather Silacci was Program Manager."
Task No. 3: If you wished to make a donation, where would you
send it to? Everyone found the address on the Donate & Volunteer
page.
Task No. 4: If I was looking to get involved with "Teen Court",
is this an organization I could contact? All testers seemed to
think so.
|
| Summary |
Overall, we have gotten very positive feedback. The layout and
design was quite popular, and everyone found the site easy to navigate
despite the departure from the standard "About Us" approach
to the first navigation bar link.
The testers were mixed on whether the site would effectively communicate
to teens, but several commented that it was soothing. Teens who
get in trouble are going to end up on this "soothing"
site. That can't be a bad thing.
One concern is that most of the testers were Explorer users, but
this may well represent the current Explorer to Netscape user ratio.
I would imagine there are still some users with older equipment
who will come across this site. Because this site is targeted to
the community at large, users will be diverse. Therefore, it couldn't
hurt to do a little further testing on other browsers like Netscape
4.7 and even WebTV if possible (Incidentally, the Content Developer
does have a Web TV simulator and the Routes for Youth site held
up nicely.)
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