Tools
Loop11
UserTesting.com
Optimal Workshop
Introduction
The museum experience begins during the planning process. To gain more insight into whether The Broad's website aligns with museum's mission of making art accessible to the widest possible audience, I administered a card sort and conducted qualitative and quantitative usability testing.
The Museum's Visitorship
Visitors from around the globe
Guests of all ages
Art lovers and first-time museum visitors
When evaluating the museum website, it was important to keep the museum's wide and diverse audience in mind.
Overview of Evaluation Methods
A card sort using OptimalSort provided insight into which features 22 participants found most important on a museum website.
Quantitative Usability Testing
Using Loop11, measurable information was collected about how 25 participants completed three tasks.
Qualitative Usability Testing
I conducted remote, unmoderated usability testing using UserTesting.com. Three participants thought-out-loud while completing 12 tasks.
Based on card sort results, which features were deemed most important on a museum website?
Special Exhibitions and Installations
81%
62%
62%
What was the objective?
The results were used to inform how I prioritized and chose tasks for the next two steps of my research: the quantitative and qualitative usability testing. One of my primary goals moving forward was to uncover whether these features were simple to both locate and understand on the museum website.
Some of the core tasks of usability testing centered around booking tickets, exploring art in the collection, learning about special exhibitions, and finding information about opening and closing hours (the four most important features determined by the card sort).
Infinity Mirrored Room Tasks
Task #1 Prompt
You have heard about Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room–The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, and would like to visit the museum to see it. Your goal is to find the page where you can learn more about how to view the Infinity Mirrored Room.
Task #1 Results
64 seconds
Average time to complete
Task #2 Prompt
Now that you have found the page, read about how you would secure a reservation for Infinity Mirrored Room–The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away.
Based on what you just learned from the website, how would you secure a spot to see Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room?
Task #2 Results
54.2%
Either answered incorrectly, or said that they were unsure
Comments from participants
"The copy is too lengthy. The Broad should consider using imagery/icons with less text to explain the steps.”
“I think there should be some visual elements to warn visitors that it's a first come, first served basis so that it can easily get their attention.”
“I felt overwhelmed by the amount of text on the website. It was hard to skim and locate the information pertinent to me.”
“There is way too much text to read. Condense the text…”
Key Takeaway
These two tasks revealed that finding the page is overall simple –– the pain point for users is in the messaging. Simplifying text and implementing icons may ease confusion for visitors.
Booking Tickets
Prompt
You are looking to book general admission tickets to the museum for a group of three (3). You may choose any date and time that you would like. Your task is to add the three (3) tickets to your cart.
Results
4.3
Average number of clicks to complete task
2
Minimum number of clicks to complete task
Comments from Participants
“Too many clicks to finally get to the get tickets page.”
“This site was very confusing. The extra step to select general admission is unclear.”
“Required a lot of scrolling to get down to the portion to add tickets to cart, making it more difficult.”
Key Takeaway
On average, it took double the amount of clicks to complete the task. Reducing the amount of steps and minimizing scrolling through pared down text may simplify the process of booking tickets.
