Comments on: Why Reinvent The Wheel http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/ Blogging by and for academic and research librarians Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:07:41 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: LIS Website Project » Usability Study http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/comment-page-1/#comment-135908 LIS Website Project » Usability Study Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:46:19 +0000 http://acrlog.org/?p=1828#comment-135908 [...] A usability report - shared by Mike Lynch. http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel [...] [...] A usability report – shared by Mike Lynch. http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel [...]

]]> By: stevenb http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/comment-page-1/#comment-135171 stevenb Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:09:27 +0000 http://acrlog.org/?p=1828#comment-135171 Most people are "predictably irrational" and since they act irrationally we can help them by providing defaults that will help them to make the right choice (lesson learned from Dan Ariely when he presented to ACRL). And you are right in that 99% will just go with the default - so no matter which it was - basic or advanced - they'd just use it. With the OPAC, advance might lead to some problems. Databases - yes - we also have a number that default to the advanced screen. But watch the students. You'll rarely see them do anything other than type a bunch of stuff on the first line of the search interface. They don't know what the other lines or boolean prompts are for. At least that is my experience. However, if the search is set to relevance - which is more often the case in the OPAC than the database, setting it to basic would typically work in favor of the user. Most people are “predictably irrational” and since they act irrationally we can help them by providing defaults that will help them to make the right choice (lesson learned from Dan Ariely when he presented to ACRL). And you are right in that 99% will just go with the default – so no matter which it was – basic or advanced – they’d just use it. With the OPAC, advance might lead to some problems. Databases – yes – we also have a number that default to the advanced screen. But watch the students. You’ll rarely see them do anything other than type a bunch of stuff on the first line of the search interface. They don’t know what the other lines or boolean prompts are for. At least that is my experience. However, if the search is set to relevance – which is more often the case in the OPAC than the database, setting it to basic would typically work in favor of the user.

]]> By: Mark Notess http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/comment-page-1/#comment-135033 Mark Notess Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:26:16 +0000 http://acrlog.org/?p=1828#comment-135033 I agree that the OCLC WorldCat Local usability study summary is really useful. Thanks to OCLC for sharing! Regarding Barbara's comment, in our own user studies of basic/advanced search in our Variations digital music library tool, we found that the few users who did choose the advanced search form ended up specifying searches that were basic anyhow. But you are right that people do tend to stick with the defaults we give them. I agree that the OCLC WorldCat Local usability study summary is really useful. Thanks to OCLC for sharing!

Regarding Barbara’s comment, in our own user studies of basic/advanced search in our Variations digital music library tool, we found that the few users who did choose the advanced search form ended up specifying searches that were basic anyhow. But you are right that people do tend to stick with the defaults we give them.

]]> By: Mark http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/comment-page-1/#comment-135009 Mark Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:04:51 +0000 http://acrlog.org/?p=1828#comment-135009 And I just adore the rhetoric of "Only half of participants ever used the advanced search screen, ...." That statement could (and probably should) be phrased the other way. I find it extremely significant that half of the users used advanced search, especially in the age of "All users want a Google-like simple search box" claims by so many. And I just adore the rhetoric of “Only half of participants ever used the advanced search screen, ….” That statement could (and probably should) be phrased the other way. I find it extremely significant that half of the users used advanced search, especially in the age of “All users want a Google-like simple search box” claims by so many.

]]> By: Barbara http://acrlog.org/2009/08/14/why-reinvent-the-wheel/comment-page-1/#comment-134983 Barbara Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:16:38 +0000 http://acrlog.org/?p=1828#comment-134983 If the advanced search were the default, would users prefer it? Just wondering how much preference was based on whatever was in front of them. We've set our database defaults to advanced search and I don't think I've ever seen anyone choose the alternative. If the advanced search were the default, would users prefer it? Just wondering how much preference was based on whatever was in front of them.

We’ve set our database defaults to advanced search and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone choose the alternative.

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