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Competitive analysisLibrary Web ReDesign, May 2010
Contents
Framework Findings & recommendations Overview of each site
Framework A Web competitive analysis is a study of comparable websites that provides a baseline understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
PurposeIdentify best practices and de facto conventions to orient the redesign.
MethodologyTo compare the websites in a structured manner and to facilitate the analysis, we identified 18 criteria/ points of comparison (see list in Appendix).
Findings
HomepageIdentification of trends (search boxes, news with images) and interesting ideas (display hours and events on campus).
TechnologiesIdentification of more trends: widespread use of discovery layers and subject guides. With this analysis, we experienced for ourselves how helpful subject guides can be.
Level of integration of the different librariesThe solution varies greatly from one institution to another – ranging from 1 unique site to a site per library. For ease of use, it seems important to maintain some consistency. When we define our approach, we will have to take into account the different technologies we use: CMS, LibGuides...
Recommendations
Search functionalitiesWe identified 2 trends: classic links and search boxes. This latter approach seems to facilitate research for users, and responds to one of their demands: reduce the number of clicks. We recommend using search boxes.
ContentSome websites offer content written specifically for the Web. This practice facilitates the use of a site and information retrieval. We recommend that the content of the redesigned site be written for the Web.
NavigationNavigation varies greatly from one site to another. The presence of breadcrumbs facilitates the use of a site. And a concise navigation seems an effective way to guide the users. We recommend using these 2 approaches.
Look and feelUniversity branding varies greatly from one library to another. Web governance and projects at the University of Ottawa will influence the new design for the Library website. But in order to achieve our objectives some flexibility seems necessary.
University of Ottawa http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/index-e.php
Évaluation moins objective à cause de la relation avec le site, la familiarité…
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
3 4 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of Rochester http://www.library.rochester.edu/
Plusieurs boîtes de recherche et related links pour orienter l’utilisateur. Bonnes idées: affichage des heures sur la page d'accueil, page expliquant comment mettre des documents en réserve, ou dans Blackboard.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
1 2 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of New Brunswickhttp://www.lib.unb.ca/
La page d'accueil rassemble les fonctions les plus recherchées par les étudiants: Library search, Blackboard, WebMail... Bonne idées: heures sur la page d’accueil.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2 2 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of Alberta http://www.library.ualberta.ca/
Bilingual website. Overloaded homepage. Highlights: announce downtime on homepage.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
4 3 3
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
Université Laval http://www.bibl.ulaval.ca/mieux
Site clair et efficace mais semble dénué de contenu - alors qu'il y a pas mal à découvrir… Facile à lire et à naviguer. Fil d’Ariane. Guides thématiques à l’avant-plan.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2 3 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
Concordia University http://library.concordia.ca/index.php
Très facile à naviguer et de trouver des info factuelles. Malheureusement, les Research Guides sont peu utiles. Possibilités de recherche dans le catalogue également restreintes. Bonnes idées: bonne présentation de la liste de base de données (tableau). Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2-3 2 1
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
McMaster University http://library.mcmaster.ca/
Presentation detailed. Difficult to quickly locate information. Missed the button to the Health Sciences Library page the first time around, although it was very obvious. HSL page was excellent - key health sciences resources clearly presented up front.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
3 4 4
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of British Columbiahttp://www.library.ubc.ca
Intuitive and easy to use. Labels were clear. Lots of information on the page, but well presented and well organized. Good use of light and dark colours and white space, text, although small, was legible. Classy site.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
1 1 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
Carleton Universityhttp://www.library.carleton.ca/
Some pages appeared to have been updated, others seem less recent. Highlights: helpful notice for ‘Scheduled maintenance' under What's New. Helpful contact info displayed at bottom of page.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
3 4 3
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of Saskatchewan http://library.usask.ca/
Présentation épurée des infos, malgré un look traditionnel. Bonne navigation; les services sont présentés par catégorie d'usagers. Bonne idées: Bases de données organisées par titre ou sujet. En redesign…
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2 3 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
University of Western Australia http://www.library.uwa.edu.au
Look attrayant. Les différentes sections sont bien identifiées. Fil d’Ariane. Bonnes idées: Supersearch finds journal articles, statistics, caselaw, legislation and web sites. Intégration intéressante d’une courte FAQ sur page d’accueil.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2 2 2
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
Harvard University http://lib.harvard.edu
Page d'accueil sobre, claire : peu de texte. Peu de cliques nécessaires pour arriver au but. Il faut souvent d'abord choisir une bibliothèque pour trouver de l'info.
Overall ratings
Overall experience
Look and feel Ease of use
2 2 3
on a scale of 1=Satisfying to 5=Unsatisfying
