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Usability
Analysis of eToy.com Website
Development
of tasks which test usability:
The following tasks are designed to test the usability of the eToy Website.
1.
Determine the top 10 selling games for Nintendo 64. 2. List three toys
recommended by eToys, which cost under $20, for
a five year old.
3. Find the price of the second book in Rowling's Harry Potter
series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
4. Determine the return policy for eToys; how is an item returned
to eToys, how long after an item has been received
may it still be returned? Note - The potential problem
here is that the user must choose the hyperlink
labeled "Help" at the bottom left side of the homepage.
There is no indication that this link will take
the user to return policy information.
Evaluation
of the Website effectiveness:
The
eToy Website is intended for shoppers and browsers. The eToy name is intended
to attract shoppers and browsers interested in toys. The site offers toys,
books, videos, software and music appropriate for children and teenagers,
"carrying over 100,000 items." Therefore, the specific audiences intended
for the Website are shoppers or browsers interested in toys, books, videos,
software or music appropriate for children or teenagers. The site uses
Webpages with many links. The user can easily reach a desired product
or information with three clicks or less. Navigation is enhanced by the
organization of content in different categories, such as age level, price
and brand name. Successful use of simple graphics and layout also makes
navigation easier. The site uses relatively few graphics. Further, the
graphics are small, which helps to optimize load time while providing
visual enhancement to the text of the page. Overall, the Website is very
effective at providing the user with online shopping for toys and items
appropriate for children and teenagers. One area where improvement is
needed is noted below under usability.
Analysis:
Usability:
The site provides usability through an effective design model. This design
model makes use of visible links. The text links follow the cultural constraint
of highlighting with blue and underlining, which has come to mean "hyperlink".
The organization of the products offered to the users of eToys, also enhances
usability of the Website, making it easy for the shopper to find the desired
product or to browse by a topic or category. Usability could be enhanced
in the customer information section.
One
area of improvement might be in the area of "customer service". These
links are at the bottom of the eToy homepage, making them somewhat less
visible as the user must scroll down to find these options. This is a
logical choice as the intention of the Website is to sell toys. However,
the site could be improved by adding visibility to the "shipping and returns"
page. To find this information, the user must first select "Help" under
the "need info?" section at the bottom of the homepage. There is nothing
to indicate to the user that choosing "help" might take them to a page
where return information can be found. As it is a logical conclusion that
eToy shoppers will want to know the return policy if the purchased product
is unsatisfactory or defective, the site could add a hyperlink in the
"need info?" section titled "returns.
Therefore,
the site is relatively successful at providing usability. However, as
visibility is not provided to returns and return policy, which is a major
concern for shoppers, the site ranks a 4.0 for usability.
Navigation:
Navigation of the eToy Website can be described as broad and shallow.
All of the usability tests above can be completed in three clicks or less.
This makes navigation effective, as the user can obtain desired information
quickly. Navigation is enhanced by effective use of text links to the
various toy categories. Navigation is also enhanced by an effective search
engine window that is close to the top left hand corner of each page in
the web site. This placement is significant because this is the position
on the web page that is most likely to be viewed regardless of the web
browser size and configuration. Navigation ranks a 5.0.
Graphic
design:
Overall,
the graphic design of the Website is simple. Few graphics are used, leaving
room for many text links. This allows the screens to be broad offering
the user many link choices. It also conserves on download time. The layout
of the Website is consistent from screen to screen, using a "file tab
like" layout at the top of the screen for selecting different categories
such as toys, book, videos, or music. Alignment is used to create grid
patterns, which focus the user's attention. Graphic design ranks a 5.0.
Content:
eToys boasts of "carrying more than 100,000 competitively priced items".
This content is categorized by type, such as toys, books, videos, etc.
The content is also categorized by age, brand name, and "toy categories"
which includes categories such as action figures, dolls, and games. eToys
offers a picture and description of each of these toys. Where applicable,
the company also includes an evaluation from an adult purchaser, and/or
a child user. In addition, eToys offers advice and recommendations, much
as a shopper would get from a sales representative in a brick and mortar
toy store. This includes information such as the "Parents Helper" section
in the video game store, which describes the each of the various gaming
platforms and their respective pros and cons. Content ranks a 5.0.
Load
time:
Load time is
acceptable on a 56K modem connected at 28K. eToys has used a layout with
relatively few graphics, offering most selections as text based links.
The graphics used are small, also helping load time. It is interesting
to note that of over twelve graphics used in the Website, the compression
format used on all is GIF. Compression with the JPEG format is more applicable
to photographs or images that are similar to photographs. A combination
use of the JPEG and GIF formats might further improve load time. Load
time ranks a 5.0.
Functionality
and overall effectiveness:
The eToy Website successfully provides usability by making choices
visible. The visibility of the links and the organization of the content
allow the user to easily navigate the Website. Graphic design is kept
simple which helps to minimize load time. In addition, the graphics used,
such as the file tab graphic at the top of each page helps the user understand
the content organization. The site offers significant content with over
100,000 items available and pictures of the items as well as ratings on
the products and recommendations. Load time of this content is kept reasonable
through the use of limited graphics, with most links being text. This
combination provides a Website that is very functional and overall very
effective at providing purchasing options to the toy shopper. Overall,
the site ranks a 4.8. The most significant recommended improvement is
to make the return policy information more visible from the homepage,
by adding a text titled "return policy" from the homepage.
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