A user-centered study for the improvement of Laurea LibGuides
Mohamed, Ahmednur (2015)
Mohamed, Ahmednur
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 Finland
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015052710729
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015052710729
Tiivistelmä
The library of Laurea University of Applied Sciences is launching a new content management service that makes it easier for users to access available resources. This thesis report describes the findings of a user-centered study of the Business Information Technology LibGuide subject guide, the purpose of which is to develop an understanding of the users’ perspectives and expectations, as well as the perceived weaknesses of the service and the improvements the users are expecting to be made.
The study consists of a user satisfaction questionnaire distributed to a class of 20 students and a series of interviews with nine BIT students and lecturers. The literature review compares the results of similar user-centric research studies, where emphasis is placed on studies focusing on usability, user experience, reception as well as perception.
The study proved to be successful because all of the research questions and objectives have been achieved. The results of this research show the question of how future users perceive this service as positive, using responses to many questions from both the interview and questionnaire as a basis for this conclusion. The participants of this study have also given sufficient data to suggest the improvements that should be made and why.
The results of the questions that are not specific to BIT, but the subject guides in general mostly confirm the findings of previous research. A usability test would have validated the findings of this study, but could not be performed due to time constraints. Further research similar to this can be carried out with other subject guides in mind. In addition to the performance of surveys to collect insight into the behavioural habits, opinions and preferences of users, it is recommended to carry out a usability test for the validation of data collected and an in-depth evaluation of the implemented service.
The study consists of a user satisfaction questionnaire distributed to a class of 20 students and a series of interviews with nine BIT students and lecturers. The literature review compares the results of similar user-centric research studies, where emphasis is placed on studies focusing on usability, user experience, reception as well as perception.
The study proved to be successful because all of the research questions and objectives have been achieved. The results of this research show the question of how future users perceive this service as positive, using responses to many questions from both the interview and questionnaire as a basis for this conclusion. The participants of this study have also given sufficient data to suggest the improvements that should be made and why.
The results of the questions that are not specific to BIT, but the subject guides in general mostly confirm the findings of previous research. A usability test would have validated the findings of this study, but could not be performed due to time constraints. Further research similar to this can be carried out with other subject guides in mind. In addition to the performance of surveys to collect insight into the behavioural habits, opinions and preferences of users, it is recommended to carry out a usability test for the validation of data collected and an in-depth evaluation of the implemented service.