Eng 317 - Project 4 Whitepaper

University of Idaho
Website Usability
Test
By: Jared Baltzer

Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Methodology...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Tasks..........................................................................................................................................................................3
Environment/Equipment............................................................................................................................................3
Metrics.......................................................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation..................................................................................................................................................................4
Results................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................................................4
Task 3.........................................................................................................................................................................5
Task 4.........................................................................................................................................................................6
Task 5.........................................................................................................................................................................6
Task 6.........................................................................................................................................................................7
Task 7.........................................................................................................................................................................7
Task 8.........................................................................................................................................................................9
Task 9.......................................................................................................................................................................10
Task 10.....................................................................................................................................................................11
Task 11.....................................................................................................................................................................12
Task 12.....................................................................................................................................................................13
Task 13.....................................................................................................................................................................14
Task 14.....................................................................................................................................................................15
Task 15.....................................................................................................................................................................16
Task 16.....................................................................................................................................................................16
Task 17.....................................................................................................................................................................17
Task 18.....................................................................................................................................................................18
Task 19.....................................................................................................................................................................18
Task 20.....................................................................................................................................................................19
Discussion/Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 19
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix.......................................................................................................................................................... 21
Introduction
The University of Idaho website is a source that current students, prospective students, parents,
and alumni can navigate to obtain a variety of information and learn what the university has to
offer. The knowledge of these users can range from very basic to very advanced depending on
how much they have visited the website. This white paper presents the results of a cognitive
walkthrough usability test of the tasks that a typical user would do in the five component
standards that define usability.
Methodology
Tasks
The University of Idaho website underwent the following twenty tasks:
1. Find how to apply to the university

2. Find how to apply for financial aid
3. Find how to register for Greek recruitment
4. Find how to sign up for on campus living such as the dorm rooms
5. Find University of Idaho address
6. Find campus interactive map
7. Find where college scholarship lists are located
8. Find the list of majors offered
9. Find the list of clubs offered
10. Find college deans list
11. Sign up for a campus tour
12. Find school year academic calendar
13. Find potential careers related to majors
14. Find degree audit for majors
15. Find how to login to VandalWeb
16. Find campus activities
17. Find COVID-19 guidelines and protocols
18. Find the University of Idaho Library website
19. Find information about health and wellness at the university
20. Find information about Moscow, Idaho for parents
Environment/Equipment
This test was completed on my Apple Macbook Air in my fraternity using the University of
Idaho wifi network on a Chrome browser on April 5th, 2021.
Metrics
Effective: The task was accomplished and the goals of the task were achieved.
Efficient: Extensive clicking was not needed and the task was completed in a reasonable
amount of time.
Engaging: The website style and appearance enhanced the task completion.
Error Tolerant: Errors made were corrected and error feedback and suggestions were
given.
Easy to Learn: The tasks were easy to learn and little difficulty was encountered.
Evaluation
The Likert scale below will be used to evaluate the five metrics of usability for each task
performed. This scale eliminates any midpoint bias a user may encounter while completing the
test.
Strongly Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Strongly

Disagree Disagree Agree Agree
1 2 3 4 4
o o o o o
Results
Task 1: Find how to apply to the university
Image 1: Task 1 Image 2: Task 1
Image 3: Task 1
Task 1 was fast and easy to complete. In the

top right corner of the university website,
the word “apply” is easily visible as seen in image 1. Clicking apply takes you to the page seen in
image 2 and if one is a first-year student, then clicking this will take you to the page seen in
image 3 where one would begin to start applying for the university. This task required 3 clicks
to complete.
Task 2: Find how to apply for financial aid
Image 4: Task 2
Image 5: Task 2
Task 2 also required 3 clicks to complete. On the main
university page under prospective students, you can “find financial aid” as seen in image 4.
Clicking on that will take you to the page seen in image 5 where applying for financial aid is
apart of applying for the university.
Task 3: Find how to register for Greek recruitment
Image 6: Task 3
Image 7: Task 3
Image 8: Task 3
Task 3 required 4 clicks to complete. In the top right corner of the university main website page,
there is an “A-Z” tab whereas seen in image 6. I clicked “G” and then clicked Greek life and
registering for Greek life was right there as seen in image 7. Image 8 is where clicking “Greek
Life” will take you and one can start the registration process immediately.
Task 4: Find how to sign up for on campus living such as the dorm rooms
Image 9: Task 4
Image 10: Task 4
Image 11: Task 4
Task 4 was similar to task 3. I clicked the “A-Z” tab as seen in image 9, clicked “H” in image 10,
and found “housing and residence life”. Clicking the “housing and residence life” tab in image
10 takes you to the page seen in image 11 where one can reserve a room right there. This task
took 4 clicks to complete.
Task 5: Find the University of Idaho address
The university address was found very fast. It Is located on

the bottom left corner of every link or page you are on. This
is very smart so anyone can find it immediately. This did not
require any clicks since it was on the all of the pages unless
you are not on the university page already.
Image 12: Task 5

Task 6: Find campus interactive map
Image 13: Task 6
Image 14: Task 6
Image 15: Task 6

Finding the campus interactive map was the hardest task yet because I had to specifically
search for it using the magnify glass “search” option seen in image 13. I clicked on the magnify
glass and searched “interactive map’ and it took me to a “top results” page with a lot of
different links on it seen in image 14. The university interactive map was the second link down
and clicking on it took me to the map instantly as seen in image 15.
Task 7: Find where college scholarship lists are located
Image 16: Task 7

Image 17: Task 7
Image 18: Task 7
Similar to task 6, I had to search scholarships in the search option up in the top right corner of
the website as seen in image 16. After searching, the top results page displayed links to
scholarships and the first link seen on image 17 took me to the page seen in image 18 and that
is where one would click on the scholarships that they are looking for depending on their
student status. This took 3 clicks to complete and was very straightforward.
Task 8: Find the list of majors offered
Image 19: Task 8
Image 20: Task 8
Image 21: Task 8
This task was very simple. Under the “prospective students” tab at the top of the website there
is a “find a major” link seen in image 19 and takes you to the page seen in image 2020. At this
page you can search, browse, or go through an index of majors and is shown in image 21. This
took 2 clicks to get to the page seen in image 21.
Task 9: Find the list of clubs offered

Image 22: Task 9
Image 23: Task 9
Image 24: Task 9

Image 25: Task 9
Clubs were a found with a few more clicks than usual but nothing to excessive. Under the
“Current students“ tab, there is a link for clubs and volunteer opportunities shown in image 22
and clicking that takes you to a club/volunteer sign up/welcome page as seen in image 23. At
the bottom there are 3 boxes with links associated with each and the farthest left box has a
yellow box that says “find clubs” which is shown in image 24. Clicking on that takes you to a
page that has a box to browse through the clubs offered at the university shown in image 25.
This took 3 clicks to complete the task but did take a little bit of looking.
Task 10: Find college dean’s list
Image 26: Task 10
Image 27: Task 10

This task was very easy to complete. I searched “dean’s list” in the search bar shown in image
26 and it took me to a top results page that had links to every colleges dean’s list shown in
image 27. This required 2 clicks to come to this page and it would require a third click
depending on what college dean’s list you are looking for.
Task 11: Sign up for a campus tour
Image 28: Task 11
Image 29: Task 11
Image 30: Task 11
There are two different options that one could take for this task. Either scroll through and listen
to the university virtual campus tour or sign up for a 75-minute on-campus tour. The virtual
tour was easy to find under the “prospective students” tab and clicking “explore now” as seen
in image 28 and image 29. That takes you to another page where you click “lets go” and the
tour begins as seen in image 29. This is very cool as it has audio that talks about everything on
campus and history associated with each building or location. This required 3 clicks to begin the
virtual tour.
Image 31: Task 11
Image 32: Task 11
Image 33: Task 11
Signing up for an on-campus tour was quite simple as well. Just searching “campus tour” in the
search bar shown in image 31 took me to a top results page and the first link on that page said
“visit Idaho” as seen in image 32. Clicking on that took me to another page where you click to
“schedule a visit” at the university shown in image 33. Once you click “schedule a visit”, you just
click on a day that you want to have your tour done. This took 3 clicks to get to scheduling page
and a forth click to choose the day to would like to visit.
Task 12: Find school year academic calendar
Image 34: Task 12
Image 35: Task 12

Image 36: Task 12
This task required 4 clicks to complete. Go to “A-Z” index on the main page as seen in image 34
click “A” and the academic calendar is the third link down as seen in image 35. This takes you to
a page with the full academic calendar on it or you can download a PDF version shown in image
36.
Task 13: Find potential careers related to majors
Image 37: Task 13
Image 38: Task 13
This was a fast, 2 click task. Under “prospective students” on the main website page, there is a
link for “discover a career” as seen in image 37 and this link takes you to a page where you can
take an assessment or browse careers that are related to certain majors shown in image 38.
Task 14: Find degree audit for majors
Image 39: Task 14
Image 40: Task 14
Image 41: Task 14
Image 42: Task 14
Image 43: Task 14
Image 44: Task 14
This task requires one to be accepted and registered for classes at the university. It is easy to
find the degree audit by searching “degree audit” in the top right corner of the main page
shown in image 39 and clicking on the first link in the top results page shown in image 40. This
link takes you to another page which requires you to click on another link called “VandalWeb”
shown in image 41 and this would then prompt you to sign into your university account. It takes
3 clicks to get to the “VandalWeb” link on the university website and then another 3 to get to
your degree audit once you have signed into your account on vandalweb itself as seen in
images 42, 43, and 44. This was an easy task to complete but it does take a little bit of time.
Task 15: Find how to login to VandalWeb
Image 45: Task 15
This task required only one click. Under the “current students” tab there is a box that says
“Login to VandalWeb” and clicking on that takes you to the VandalWeb login page as shown in
image 45. Very easy and accessible.
Task 16: Find campus activities

Image 46: Task 16
Image 47: Task 16
Image 48: Task 16 This task required 2 clicks to complete. On the main
university page there is a “student life” tab that one can see in image 46 and that takes you to a
page with a lot of different campus opportunities such as intramurals and events happening
seen in image 47. On this page there is an “Explore” tab that has a lot of these different events
and activities underneath it shown in image 48.
Task 17: Find COVID-19 guidelines and protocols
Image 49: Task 17
Image 50: Task 17

Image 51: Task 17
This task also required 2 clicks to complete. I searched “COVID-19” in the search bar shown in
image 49 and the third link down on the results page said “COVID-19 Protocols” as seen in
image 50. Clicking on that link took me to a page that displayed all of the university COVID-19
protocols pictured in image 51.
Task 18: Find the University of Idaho Library website
Image 53: Task 18

Image 52: Task 18
This took 1 click to complete. Under the “current students” tab on the university website there
was a direct link to the U of I library website as seen in image 52. Clicking on that took me
directly to the library website pictured in image 53.
Task 19: Find information about student health at the university

Image 54: Task 19
Image 55: Task 19
This task took 2 clicks to complete. Under the “current students” tab there was a health and
wellness link shown in image 54 and clicking on it takes you to a page with places that one can
go to seek physical and mental health such as counselling or the student health center as seen
in image 55.
Task 20: Find information about Moscow, Idaho for parents
Image 57: Task 20 Image 58: Task 20

Image 56: Task 20
This task required 2 clicks to complete. Under the “prospective students” tab there is a
“parents” link shown in image 56 and this link takes you to a page with multiple links to other
resources that parents might be interested in. On the left-hand size of this page there is a
“about Moscow” link shown in image 57 that one can click on and takes you to a page with
information about Moscow, Idaho which is pictured in image 58.
Discussion/Conclusion
This usability test that I completed for the University of Idaho website went very well. The
website is not only easy to navigate, but also understood and accessible. Out of the twenty
usability tasks that I completed for this test, each one went well. I did not come to any dead
ends or fail to complete any of the tasks in a timely manner. A couple of the tasks required a
little bit more clicking and searching than others, but this is because these tasks would be
completed if one were already attending the university such as myself. The figure below
displays the scores of each task that I completed and one can see that they all received above
average scores. Although a couple of them such as task 10 and task 14 scored lower than
others, they all passed the test easily. Overall, I do not have any suggestions for improvement
for the university website because everything was completed in a timely manner and was easy
to learn.
Figure 1: Tasks 1-20 on the x-axis displaying scores out of 25 on the y-axis.
Bibliography
University of Idaho. University of Idaho - Offering Top-Ranked Programs in the Northwest,
2021, www.uidaho.edu/
Appendix
Tasks University of Idaho Website
Task 1 Find how to apply to the university
Efficient Extensive clicking was not needed and the task was
completed in a reasonable amount of time.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Effective The task was accomplished and the goals of the task
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Engaging The website style and appearance enhanced the task

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Error Errors made were corrected and error feedback and

Tolerant suggestions were given.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Easy to Learn The tasks were easy to learn and little difficulty was
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Task was easily completed and little effort was needed.
Notes Applying to the university is very simple and easy to find in
the top right corner of the website.
25
Task 2 Find how to apply for financial aid
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Task was simple to complete and required little time and
Notes effort. Applying for financial aid is a part of applying for the
university so task 1 and task 2 are intermixed.
24
Task 3 Find how to register for Greek recruitment
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Finding the “A-Z” tab on the university page was the hardest
Notes part to complete for this task. Although it was very visible and
noticeable, thinking about using this A-Z search option may
not come to one’s mind right away.
22
Task 4 Find how to sign up for on campus living such as the
dorm rooms
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional This task was very similar to task 3, one must use the A-Z
Notes search function located in the top right corner of the website
and housing and residence life is located under “H”. Very easy
task.
22
Task 5 Find University of Idaho address
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional This was the easiest task to complete since the University of
Notes Idaho address is located on every page on the university
website.
25
Task 6 Find campus interactive map
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Easy task to complete by using the search function in the top
Notes right corner of the university website. Searching “interactive
map” gives you a link right to the map.
24
Task 7 Find where college scholarship lists are located
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Easily complete and no issues were encountered.

Notes
23
Task 8 Find the list of majors offered
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional University major lists was easily located and one could pick or
Notes read about any major they want.
25
Task 9 Find the list of clubs offered
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
4 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

4 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional This task took a little bit of digging under the “current
Notes students” tab but there was not a lot of difficulty associated
with this task. Just a few more clicks than usual.
20
Task 10 Find college dean’s list
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
3 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

3 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional One has to search “dean’s list” to complete this task and one
Notes must know what college they are looking for to complete this
task all the way. Lowest score because of the knowledge you
must have to complete this task.
18
Task 11 Sign up for a campus tour
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Easy task to complete and very cool how one can complete an
Notes online virtual tour or sign up for an in-person campus tour.
This task took little time to complete and no issues were
encountered.
25
Task 12 Find school year academic calendar
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Under “A” in the A-Z search index, the academic calendar
Notes was found immediately and little clicks and time was needed
to complete this task.
25
Task 13 Find potential careers related to majors
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional “Discover a career” was found under the prospective student’s

Notes tab and one can search and read through a large list of careers.
Very easy task to complete and no difficulty was encountered.
24
Task 14 Find degree audit for majors
3 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
3 1 2 3 4 5

4 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
3 1 2 3 4 5
Additional This task was one of the hardest due to the amount of clicking
Notes and steps that it took to complete. That being said, this task
requires one to be registered for the university to complete.
Searching “degree audit” allows one to complete the task but
18 it requires more clicking than all other tasks.
Task 15 Find how to login to VandalWeb
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Very simple and fast task to complete. Logging into

Notes VandalWeb is under the current students tab on the university
website and it takes you directly to the VandalWeb login page.
25
Task 16 Find campus activities
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Simple task to complete and little difficulty was encountered.

Notes I did have to look around for a little while but was able to find
the “student life” tab on the main webpage and it allowed me
to look through campus activities.
23
Task 17 Find COVID-19 guidelines and protocols
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
4 1 2 3 4 5

4 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
4 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Searching “COVID-19” took me to a results page with a link

Notes to the university COVID-19 guidelines and protocols page.
Easy task but did take a few clicks.
21
Task 18 Find the University of Idaho Library website
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional One of the easiest and quickest tasks to complete. No issues

Notes were encountered in this task.
25
Task 19 Find information about health and wellness at the
university
4 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional There is a link under the current students’ tab that takes you to
Notes a health and wellness page. Very quick and simple task to
complete.
24
Task 20 Find information about Moscow, Idaho for parents
5 1 2 3 4 5
were achieved.
5 1 2 3 4 5

completion.
5 1 2 3 4 5

5 1 2 3 4 5
encountered.
5 1 2 3 4 5
Additional Very simple and easy task. Required only 2 clicks to complete
Notes and was very accessible.
25
Total Score (out of 500) 463 (92.6%)

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University of Idaho

By: Jared Baltzer

1. Find how to apply to the university

Strongly Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Strongly

Task 1: Find how to apply to the university

Image 1: Task 1 Image 2: Task 1

Task 1 was fast and easy to complete. In the

Task 3: Find how to register for Greek recruitment

Image 10: Task 4

Image 11: Task 4

Task 5: Find the University of Idaho address

The university address was found very fast. It Is located on

Image 12: Task 5

Image 14: Task 6

Image 15: Task 6

Task 7: Find where college scholarship lists are located

Image 16: Task 7

Image 18: Task 7

Task 8: Find the list of majors offered

Image 19: Task 8

Image 20: Task 8

Image 21: Task 8

Task 9: Find the list of clubs offered

Image 23: Task 9

Image 24: Task 9

Task 10: Find college dean’s list

Image 26: Task 10

Image 27: Task 10

Task 11: Sign up for a campus tour

Image 28: Task 11

Image 29: Task 11

Image 30: Task 11

Image 32: Task 11

Image 33: Task 11

Task 12: Find school year academic calendar

Image 34: Task 12

Image 35: Task 12

Task 13: Find potential careers related to majors

Image 37: Task 13

Image 38: Task 13

Image 39: Task 14

Image 40: Task 14

Image 41: Task 14

Image 42: Task 14

Image 43: Task 14

Image 44: Task 14

Image 45: Task 15

Task 16: Find campus activities

Image 47: Task 16

Task 17: Find COVID-19 guidelines and protocols

Image 49: Task 17

Image 50: Task 17

Task 18: Find the University of Idaho Library website

Image 53: Task 18

Task 19: Find information about student health at the university

Image 55: Task 19

Task 20: Find information about Moscow, Idaho for parents

Image 57: Task 20 Image 58: Task 20

Engaging The website style and appearance enhanced the task

Error Errors made were corrected and error feedback and

Engaging The website style and appearance enhanced the task

Error Errors made were corrected and error feedback and