MPT Magazine Usability Test

MPT Magazine
Usability Test of the Modern Poetry in Translation Website
Heather Young 11/19/17 Technical Writing

1
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 2
Equipment and Testing Environment ......................................................................................... 2
Tasks ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Metrics ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Likert Scale ................................................................................................................................. 3
Results ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Task 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Task 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Task 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Task 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 7
Task 5 .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Task 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Task 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Task 8 ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Task 9 ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Task 10 ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Task 11 ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Task 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Task 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Task 14 ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Task 15 ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Task 16 ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Task 17 ...................................................................................................................................... 16
Task 18 ...................................................................................................................................... 16
Task 19 ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Task 20 ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Recommendations and Conclusion ............................................................................................... 19
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 19
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 19
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Introduction
The Modern Poetry in Translation (MPT) website provides a wide variety of poetry translated
into English. This white paper presents the results of a usability test that determined how well the
website performed based on the five component standards that define usability. Typical users of
the MTP magazine website are poetry enthusiasts who may have a general understanding on the
format of websites. However, this does not measure their level of technical ability, which is why
the MPT magazine strives to create a user-friendly website. With that knowledge, my usability
tests purpose was to see how successful the website was in creating a user-friendly website.
Methodology
Equipment and Testing Environment
This test of the usability of mptmagazine.com was performed using Microsoft Edge on a
Lenovo desktop computer.
Poetry is a form of expression and observation and is often about things that have occurred
around the poet. Additionally, poets tend to read in public environments because of the ability to
observe life around them. A poets perspective was ideal, so the test was performed in the
University of Idaho Library, a public environment. The semi-silent and public area where the
computers were provided the perfect mix of people and poetry.
Tasks
The following are the tasks that I created for this usability test:
1. Contact the Editor
2. Read the Featured Poem
3. Comment on a Poem by a Poet Whose Name Begins with H
4. Subscribe to the Magazine
5. Subscribe to the Mailing List
6. Find a German Poem
7. Find a French Poets Most Recent Book
8. Search for a Poem and Determine Which Issue it was Featured In
9. Search for a Greek Poem Using the Search Bar
10. Search for a Chinese Poem and Find the Name of the Translator
11. Listen to a Podcast
12. Listen to a Video of a Poem Read Out loud
13. Buy a Product from the Webpage
14. Submit a Translation of a Poem
15. Read a Blog
16. Determine the Focus of the Most Recent Issue
17. Determine What Date the Next Issue Will be Released
18. Determine the Date that the Magazine Was Created
19. Share the Site on Facebook
20. Donate to MPT
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Metrics
The five components of usability are Efficient, Effective, Engaging, Error Tolerant, and Easy to
Learn. The following are the criteria statements that I used to guide my usability test. These
statements define the five components of usability and helped in the scoring process of the test.
Efficient: the task was completed
Effective: the task did not take exhaustive effort in order to achieve the final results
Engaging: the formatting of the website made it easy to achieve the final result
Error Tolerant: any error was easy to correct without needing to restart the task
Easy to Learn: the task was easy to learn and knowledge was transferrable to other tasks
Likert Scale
The Likert Scale is how I ranked the success of each task. By using the criteria statements, I
judged how the task ranked on a scale from 1 to 5 on whether or not it completed the task based
on the definition of the component of usability.
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
Results
Task 1
Contact the Editor
Starting from the home page, I searched for an area that would most likely have the contact
information on it. I first selected the top menu button labeled Magazine, shown below:
Figure 1: Top Menu Header

This link brought me to a new page which had similar information as the home page, but added a
new module titled, About the Magazine.
4
Figure 2: About the Magazine Module

As seen in Figure 2, this module presents Sasha Dugdale as the MPT Editor. However, her
contact information is not present with the history of the magazine. Conveniently, her name is
hyperlinked, which when clicked brought me to an About page. However, this didnt provide me
with any information on how to contact her, only her history as a poet, translator, editor, and
reviewer.
Because this section did not provide any information in ways of contacting her, I started over at
the home page and looked more specifically for contact information. As seen in Figure 1, there
was no contact link in the main header, but looking at the top, I found a Contact button.
Figure 3: Additional Links

This brought me to a new page with visible contact information, not only for Sasha, but for the
website editor.
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Figure 4: Contact Information

In addition to email, the website also provided other ways of contacting MPT such as by post or
in a contact form.
While this task was easy to finish and easy to learn from, I think the setup of the website would
work more in the users favor. A magazine that is created by translation submissions probably
involves a lot of contact between editors and writers. With this in mind, I would have thought
that the contact link would have been with the main header instead of in smaller font on the top
of the site. By using my Likert Scale and criteria statements, I gave this task a 23 out of 25.
Task 2
Read the Featured Poem
The second task was very simple to complete because of the setup of the website and large text.
From the homepage, the featured poem is the middle module, emphasized with white text against
black, which draws the eye into the information that the module presents.
Figure 5: Featured Poem Module

The module also gives the user several options in terms of the poem. From this module, a user
can access the entire poem, look through the Poems Archive, translate a poem, and comment on
the featured translation.
While this task was easy to complete, the small text Browse Poems Archive was missed the
first time. I didnt realize that and the later tests to search for poems took longer because I didnt
notice the direct link to the Poems Archive. By using my Likert Scale and criteria statements, I
gave this task a 24 out of 25
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Task 3
Comment on a Poem by a Poet Whose Name Begins with H
Starting from the homepage, I clicked on the Poems tab in the header. As stated in the previous
task, I didnt realize that there was link to the Poems Archive on the homepage, so in this task, I
went the long way. In my opinion, this link is misleading because instead of bringing me to the
Poems Archive, I was presented with the full Featured Poem that I searched for in the last task.
However from this part of the webpage, a new module is presented to the right of the Featured
Poem colored in yellow to make the module stand out against the grey background, seen below:
Figure 6: Browse Poems module

By clicking on By poet, the alphabet is presented.
Figure 7: Browse Poems by Poets Name

From this section, the user could access all of the poems in the archive or search by the last name
of a poet. Clicking on H brings up The MPT Archive
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Figure 8: The MPT Poems Archive

This information at the top of the archive informs the user that marks which poems could be read
online. I scrolled down to find a poem with that symbol and opened the link by selecting the title
of the poem. This brings up the entire text and by scrolling down to the bottom of the webpage, a
comment module is found, shown below:
Figure 9: Adding a Comment

While this task was relatively straightforward and required no backtracking, the archive took
longer than expected to find. Additionally, the small green image that denoted which poems were
available for viewing didnt catch my eye the first time. When I finally arrived at the archive, my
eye immediately fell down to the list of poems, but I quickly became confused when I realized
that not all poems had links to the full text. However, when I finally noticed this, I was able to
apply my new knowledge to other tasks. By using my Likert Scale and criteria statements, I gave
this task a 22 out of 25.
Task 4
Subscribe to the Magazine
This task was the simplest to complete. Because this appears to be the way they make their
money, visible links are important. There are several links available on the homepage to access
the subscription page, the first being on the top in the header.
8
Figure 10: Top Menu Header Subscribe

You can subscribe also by clicking on the green Subscribe button in the Current Issue module:
Figure 11: Current Issue Module

Finally in bright red, there is a third option to the right on the homepage:
Figure 12: Subscribe Button

By clicking on any of these links, a new tab opens to a list of the different products that MPT
provides with the prices of these products. Additionally, the subscription area shows what the
subscription includes and an available check-out area.
This task was very easy to complete because there were multiple links on the website that
navigated you to the subscription page. By using my Likert Scale, I gave this task a 25 out of 25.
Task 5
Subscribe to the Mailing List
This was another task that was easy to perform. From the homepage, a white envelope caught my
eye on the right hand side.
9
Figure 13: eNewsletter Tab

By clicking this link, the webpage changes to a sign-up and explains what the MPT eNewsletter
provides, as seen below:
Figure 14: Signing up for the Newsletter

From here, you can enter your email address to get on the mailing list and read previous
newsletters. This task was very easy to perform since there was a link at the top of the page with
an envelope image which implied mail, which helped guide me to the correct page. Based on my
Likert Scale and criteria statements, I gave this task a 25 out of 25.
Task 6
Find a German Poem
Thanks to one of the previous tasks, this task was easy to complete. I first went to the Poems
Archive by clicking on the link on the homepage that I missed in the third task. From there, I
used the yellow module on the side of the webpage and clicked on By original language to
search for German.
Figure 15: Browse Poems by Language

One thing that I didnt notice about this module until this task was that there was no search
button in this module which confused me when the webpage became slow. Another issue with
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not having a search button is that the user cannot narrow down their search results, however,
because that element was not a part of this task, it wasnt an issue, but I mentioned it as a
suggestion in the appendix.
When the webpage finally loaded, the website brought up the Poems Archive, narrowed down to
German poems.
Figure 16: MPT Archive by German Language

From here, I clicked on the first available poem to view online, as denoted by the green symbol,
shown in the image above. By using the Likert Scale and my criteria statements, I gave this task
a 24 out of 25.
Task 7
Find a French Poets Most Recent Book
This task was relatively easy to complete since it was a similar process to the previous task. By
following the same steps as Task 6, I arrived at the Poems Archive in the French language.
However, one problem I did face was that I was not aware of the multiple French languages. I
assumed that these were based on the area where French was spoken (Algeria or Tunisia).
Because I was strictly looking French, I selected French with no specified area. I selected the
first author with the designated symbol that said I could view it online. Even though I was
searching by poet, I thought I would be the most successful if I selected a viewable poem. The
poet I selected was Guillaume Apollinaire.
Figure 17: French Poet

I clicked the poets name which was colored in red, as seen in the figure above. This brought me
to an About page about Apollinaire, but didnt provide a list of books that he wrote; however, it
did give me a Wikipedia article, which I clicked on. The article provided a list of poetry, but
didnt specify that they were books, however they were in chronological order, which allowed
me to see that Pomes Lou was his most recent book which was published roughly 40 year
after his death.
While MPT didnt provide a list of books to see, they did provide a way to access that
information. With that in mind, I decided that the task was completed, even though the website
didnt have it. Based on my Likert Scale, I gave this task a 24 out of 25.
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Task 8
Search for a Poem and Determine Which Issue it was Featured In
This was another task that was easy to complete because the previous steps helped with the first
half of the task. I searched for a Spanish poem and selected the first poem that I could access
online which were two poems by Yohanna Jaramillo. By clicking on those poems, I was
presented with information on the side of the page which provided the issue that the poem was
featured in.
Figure 18: Spanish Poem Issue

This task was very simple to complete because the issue number was accompanied with the other
information about the poem which I had searched for in other tasks. Based on my Likert scale, I
gave this task a 25 out of 25.
Task 9
Search for a Greek Poem Using the Search Bar
This task was the hardest one to do, and unfortunately, I couldnt complete it. I started off at the
homepage and used the search bar at the top of the webpage.
Figure 19: Search Bar

I clicked on the search bar and typed Greek Poem. Unfortunatley, this task bar doesnt
function to do so and instead of a list of poems, I received nothing.
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Figure 20: Search Bar Results

Because I couldnt complete the task within the given parameters, I gave this task a low score of
8 out of 25. The redeemable aspect that this task provided was the fact that I was able to learn
that this search bar doesnt function like I had wanted, so I simply avoided using it.
Task 10
Search for a Chinese Poem and Find the Name of the Translator
This was another task that was completed quickly because of the other tasks. Like the other
tasks, I went to the Poems Archive and searched by language. After using the yellow module to
search Chinese, I was given a list of Chinese poetry. What I hadnt noticed before was that even
if the poem wasnt accompanied by the green icon, I was still able to see what issue the poem
was featured in and who translated it.
Figure 21: Chinese Poem Translator

For this task, I found a poem that I could not view online, as seen in the figure. Underlined was
the name of this poems translator, Matt Bryden. Based on my Likert Scale, I gave this task a 25
out of 25.
Task 11
Listen to a Podcast
This task was harder to complete. Because the search engine doesnt search for anything specific,
I did this task by trial and error. I first started by going to the Community link at the top of the
screen, but that lead me to information about the people who run the website and magazine. I
then went back to the homepage and scrolled down in the hopes that they may have a module of
podcasts there, however they didnt. At this point, I opened up almost every link in the hopes that
it would lead me to what I wanted. I eventually clicked on the Translate! button at the top of the
screen. The first thing I saw as a SoundCloud link in the Versions module, which lead me to
believe that I was close. This link however was a video to hear a poem read out loud, which
evidently was the next task. I scrolled to the bottom of the screen and found a module about
translating poetry.
13
Figure 22: SoundCloud Podcast

Inside this module was a link to a podcast featuring translators for the website which I was able
to listen to and share if desired. Based on my Likert Scale, I gave this task a 13 out of 25.
Task 12
Listen to a Video of a Poem Read Out Loud
Because the last task lead me to the end result of this task, it was completed quickly. I went to
the Translate! link like I had in the last task and found the SoundCloud link of a poem being read
out loud.
Figure 23: SoundCloud Poem

However, the formatting of the website still didnt make the task easy if I hadnt found it in the
previous task. If I hadnt found it in Task 11, I would have searched through the Poems Archive
to find it, assuming that a poem read out loud would be accompanied by a poem. Also, there was
no visible link to find poems read out loud and it would have been the same process as the
previous task. Because of this, I didnt give it a full score and instead gave it a 22 out of 25.
Task 13
Buy a Product from the Webpage
This task was simple to complete because of the link to the shop in the header. By clicking on the
Shop link, the webpage brought up several items into view, including magazine subscriptions
and single issues which were all available for purchase. Next to each of those items was a green
button, as seen below.
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Figure 24: Purchasing an Item

By clicking on this button, a new page is brought up with a shopping cart allowing you to
purchase many items at once. This task was very easy to complete and I gave it a 25 out of 25
based on my Likert Scale.
Task 14
Submit a Translation of a Poem
Task 14 was another simple task to complete because of the visible link in the header Translate!
emphasized with an exclamation point and it was the same link I took in Task 11. Aside from the
SoundCloud links that were discovered in Task 11 and 12, there was information about
translating a poem and emphasized that no one needs to be fluent speakers of a language to
translate a poem. Under Versions is a small tab to submit your own version, which causes the
page to scroll down automatically to the bottom of the page where you can submit your
information and version.
Figure 25: Submitting a Translation

Because this website thrives on people submitting translations to their magazine, I wasnt
surprised on how quickly I was able to complete the task. Because of this and my other criteria
statements, I gave this task a 25 out of 25.
15
Task 15
Read a Blog
This task took a few tries to complete, but not as much as Task 11. When I had begun this task, I
had assumed that it would have been under Community, but since I learned in a previous task
that that was not the case, I tried other links. I eventually remembered that I had seen it on the
homepage when I was scrolling to find the podcasts.
Figure 26: Blog Module

By clicking on the Read more link, I was brought to the complete entry for the blog as well as
other news stories in the past. Because this task took longer to complete due to a memory lapse
on my part, I didnt dock any points off of the final score for this task and gave it a 25 out of 25.
Task 16
Determine the Focus of the Most Recent Issue
I started from the homepage with this task and clicked on the Contents of the current issue, seen
in the Current Issue module on the homepage. After clicking on that link, the page brings up
information about that issue and a Table of Contents module with information about what poems
were in the issue, who edited it, and what the issue was highlighting. This particular issue, was
focusing on the poets of Shubback, as seen below.
Figure 27: Issue Information

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This information could be seen on the right-hand side of the Table of Contents module. Based on
my Likert Scale, I gave this task a 25 out of 25.
Task 17
Determine What Date the Next Issue Will be Released
This task was a little harder to complete because there wasnt a visible area or link at the top of
the webpage. I went to the Magazine link at the top of the webpage to find information bout the
magazine, but no information about when the next issue comes out. On that same page, I scrolled
down to find a module outlined in black, but no other coloring which didnt make it stand out, as
seen below:
Figure 28: Next Issue Release Date

Another issue with this module was the fact that the date was very vague because the Spring of
2017 has already occurred which means the issue has already come out and this module hasnt
been updated or the issue hasnt been released. However, either one is hard to tell because there
wasnt information about what that issue was about. After going over the elements of my Likert
Scale, I gave this task a 23 out of 25.
Task 18
Determine the Date that the Magazine Was Created
This was another task that would have gone by faster if I had realized the link that I was looking
for was next to a previous task. I started out looking for a History or an About link in the header
because most websites Ive been on have that information available at the top of the page. When
I didnt see it, I scrolled down to the bottom because I normally can find that information at the
bottom of the screen in the Quick Links.
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Figure 29: Quick Links

In this case, I was correct and was able to find information about MPT and its history by clicking
on the About MPT link. However, after going back to the top of the screen, I realized that an
About link was also a the top next to the search engine bar.
Figure 30: About Link

Again because this was another thing I should have realized because of previous tasks, I didnt
take very many points off for formatting reasons, but I did take a few off because it could have
been made bigger and accompanied the other tabs on the main header since that is how most
websites structure their information. In the end, I gave this task a 23 out of 25.
Task 19
Share the Site on Facebook
Because I know that most websites have ways to share their website on social media, I knew that
this task wouldnt be hard to complete. Additionally, I know that websites like to use the icons of
those social media platforms and keep them in that medias colors.
Figure 31: Share Website

My first thought was to check the home page and scroll from top to bottom. By doing this, I
found the icons to social media platforms very quickly. MPT magazine also linked these icons to
those websites, making sharing very simple for a user. Because of this, I gave this task a 25 out
of 25.
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Task 20
Donate to MPT
The final task wasnt very hard and it was actually surprising to me because I didnt realize that
this magazine was also a charity. I started at the homepage and first thought that a donate tab
would be paired with the other tabs, but since I hadnt seen one in the previous tasks, I didnt
look into that way. I later remembered seeing an orange box of text on the right-hand side of the
screen that said Support MPT.
Figure 32: Support MPT

This modules bright colors made it stand out compared to the rest of the screen which made
finding it easier. I clicked on Find Out More and was lead to a new screen which presented me
information about the MPT magazine and its history about being funded on public and private
funding, as seen below.
Figure 33: Donation Links

This module provided two different ways someone could donate to MPT, by leaving money in a
Will or simply making a donation by clicking on the Virgin Moneygiving link. Overall, this task
wasnt hard to complete but since this magazine relies heavily on donations, I would have
thought that a bigger and brighter link would have been available like the subscription button.
Because of this, I gave this task a 23 out of 25.
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Recommendations and Conclusion

Overall, the website had strong scores of usability, aside from a few tasks that took longer to
complete than the others because their links were harder to find. In addition to suggesting that a
Contacts tab would be useful at the top of the screen and creating the Browse Poems Archive
link larger and separate from the Featured Poems, the biggest recommendation I have to the
MPT website is the Search bar. I think the website would have had even higher usability scores if
the Search bar could be used to find different elements of the website, like the podcasts and
blogs.
Bibliography
Modern Poetry in Translation: The best in the world poetry. Edited by: Sasha Dugdale.
http://www.mptmagazine.com/page/magazine/
Appendix
Task 1: Contact the Editor
The task was completed
Strongly Strongly
Efficient Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
X
The task did not take an exhaustive effort to achieve the final results
Strongly Strongly
Effective Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
x
The formatting of the website made it easy to achieve the final result
Strongly Strongly
Engaging Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
X
Any error was easy to correct without needing to restart
Strongly Strongly
Error Tolerant Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
X
The task was easy to learn and knowledge was transferable to other tasks
Strongly Strongly
Easy to Learn Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
X
Notes: This task was very simple to complete, despite the back tracking. Contact information
on a webpage is usually all in the same place, however, I would have thought that
20
information about the editor in the magazine section would have had her email
address.
Suggestion: Place the Contact tab in the main header (next to 50th anniversary) for a
more visible link to Contact information. Because this website involves a lot of
conversation between the creators of the magazine and the people who submit, a
larger tab would be beneficial.
Score: 23
21
Task 2: Read the Featured Poem

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: This task was very simple to complete. The second module on the main page is the
featured poem and within the module there is a link to the full text. This module also
assisted in the completion of later tasks because it was an easily accessed poem.
However, I did not give this module complete marks because the text Browse Poems
Archive was very small and up until the creation of the white paper, days after the
test had been completed, I was under the impression that the only way to access the
entire poem archive was to go through the Poems tab and search in the yellow
module for specific poem or poets.
Suggestion: Remove Browse Poems Archive and create a separate link that is more
visible.
Score: 24
22
Task 3: Comment on a Poem

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Relatively straightforward task and required no backtracking. Archive was hard to
find, poem tab is misleading. Didnt catch the green image the first time and I had a
hard time trying to find out why not all poems were available for viewing.
Score: 22
23
Task 4: Subscribe to the Magazine

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Simplest task to complete. Several links available on the homepage to access the
subscription page which brought up a new tab and information about what the
subscription involves and an available check-out area.
Score: 25
24
Task 5: Subscribe to the Mailing List

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Available link on the homepage to subscribe to the eNewsletter, brings us to an sign-
up to enter an email to the newsletter
Score: 25
25
Task 6: Find a German Poem

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Learned from previous task on how to access the archive. Browsing poems has no
search button, it automatically goes to the list desired, cannot narrow down the search
if desired.
Score: 24
26
Task 7: Find a French Poets Most Recent Book

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Multiple French languages? Clicked on first author. No list of recent books but was
presented with a Wikipedia page where I was able to find a list of albums
Score: 24
27
Task 8: Search for a Poem and Determine Which Issue it was Featured in
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: From the French poem, a visible Issue link was on the side underneath other
information about the poem. Clicking on it brings the user to the information about
that issue, what number it was, and how to subscribe to the magazine
Score: 25
28
Task 9: Search for a Greek Poem using the Search Bar

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Most couldnt complete task through the parameters of the search bar. Search bar at
the top of each webpage doesnt search for anything like the Browse Poems Archive
links. Searched Greek, Featured Articles/Reviews/Poems. Doesnt search what I
expected. Unsure what the purpose of the search engine is for.
Score: 8
29
Task 10: Search for a Chinese Poem and find the name of the Translator
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Used other task experiences to find the Chinese poem. Each poem presents who the
translator is in the Poems Archive, dont have to open a poem to discover who
translated it
Score: 25
30
Task 11: Listen to a Podcast

Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Because the search engine doesnt search anything specific, I did this by trial and
error. Took forever. Finally found a SoundCloud link in Translate tab of a poem
read outloud in its original language. Scrolled down to find a podcast
Score: 13
31
Task 12: Listen to a Video of a Poem Read Out Loud

Strongly Strongly
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Previous task made it easy to complete this task since I found it in the previous task.
However, the formatting of the website still didnt make the task easy because there
was no visible link to find these kinds of videos. If I hadnt done the last task, I
wouldnt have found it as fast.
Score: 22
32
Task 13: Buy a Product from the Webpage

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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Shop link in the header, brings various items into view (magazine subscriptions and
single issues) available to purchase with green visible buttons to either buy a
subscription, buy a single issue or buy an E-book
Score: 25
33
Task 14: Submit a Translation of a Poem

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x
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x
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Very visible link in the header, emphasized with an exclaimation point. Gives
information on translating a poem and emphasizes that no one needs to be fluent
speakers of a language to translate a poem. Under versions is a small tab to submit
your own version which brings us down to the bottom of the page where you can
submit your information.
Score: 25
34
Task 15: Read a Blog

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x
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Assumed it would be under community, community is who participates in creating
the magazine. Backtracked and explored the homepage to find it at the bottom.
Score: 25
35
Task 16: Determine the Focus of the Most Recent Issue

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x
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x
Notes: Started from the homepage, clicked on Contents of the current issue. Module of Table
of Contents has a grey area of Issue highlights. First line is the focus of the issue
Score: 25
36
Task 17: Determine What Date the Next Issue Will be Released
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: No visible area at the top of webpage. Went to Magazine link to find information of
the magazine but no information of when the next issue comes out. Scrolled down to
find it. Module is outlined in black but doesnt have any other coloring to make it
stand out. Date is very vague (Spring 2017) which has already occurred, so it either
already came out and it hasnt been updated or it hasnt been released.
Score: 23
37
Task 18: Determine the Date that the Magazine Was Created
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x
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x
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1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: No history tab with the other tabs. Commonly, History information is presented at the
bottom of a webpage. Scrolled down to find an About button. Later realized there was
an About button that I should have noticed in the previous tasks.
Score: 23
38
Task 19: Share the Site on Facebook

Strongly Strongly
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Strongly Strongly
1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Share links are commonly on the bottom of a site. Found them in bright colors, along
with other sites that the page could be shared on.
Score: 25
39
Task 20: Donate to MPT

Strongly Strongly
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x
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x
Strongly Strongly
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x
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x
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1 2 3 4 5
x
Notes: Assumed a donate button would be paired with other tabs but it was on the side of the
page in bright orange.
Score: 23

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MPT Magazine Usability Test

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MPT Magazine

Usability Test of the Modern Poetry in Translation Website

Heather Young 11/19/17 Technical Writing

Figure 1: Top Menu Header

Figure 2: About the Magazine Module

Figure 3: Additional Links

Figure 4: Contact Information

Figure 5: Featured Poem Module

Figure 6: Browse Poems module

Figure 7: Browse Poems by Poets Name

Figure 8: The MPT Poems Archive

Figure 9: Adding a Comment

Figure 10: Top Menu Header Subscribe

Figure 11: Current Issue Module

Figure 12: Subscribe Button

Figure 13: eNewsletter Tab

Figure 14: Signing up for the Newsletter

Figure 15: Browse Poems by Language

Figure 16: MPT Archive by German Language

Figure 17: French Poet

Figure 18: Spanish Poem Issue

Figure 19: Search Bar

Figure 20: Search Bar Results

Figure 21: Chinese Poem Translator

Figure 22: SoundCloud Podcast

Figure 23: SoundCloud Poem

Figure 24: Purchasing an Item

Figure 25: Submitting a Translation

Figure 26: Blog Module

Figure 27: Issue Information

Figure 28: Next Issue Release Date

Figure 29: Quick Links

Figure 30: About Link

Figure 31: Share Website

Figure 32: Support MPT

Figure 33: Donation Links

Recommendations and Conclusion

Task 2: Read the Featured Poem

Task 3: Comment on a Poem

Task 4: Subscribe to the Magazine

Task 5: Subscribe to the Mailing List

Task 6: Find a German Poem

Task 7: Find a French Poets Most Recent Book

Task 9: Search for a Greek Poem using the Search Bar

Task 11: Listen to a Podcast

Task 12: Listen to a Video of a Poem Read Out Loud

Task 13: Buy a Product from the Webpage

Task 14: Submit a Translation of a Poem

Task 15: Read a Blog

Task 16: Determine the Focus of the Most Recent Issue

Task 19: Share the Site on Facebook

Task 20: Donate to MPT

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