iSchool Mobile
Research Project by Yier Cao, Ruiyang Ma, Yinuo Jing, Siran Pang
Designed and Prototyped by Yier Cao
iSchool Mobile looks into the information architecture and usability of the official website of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information, and takes insights into the redesign of the iSchool website.
Background Information
University of Toronto Faculty of Information (iSchool) was established on the bedrock of library science and information studies. Initially launched to provide a digital gateway for the students and faculty, its website has evolved to become an interdisciplinary platform.
Challenges & Goals
Based on secondary research, the main challenges our users face are difficulty with navigation, information retrieval, and a cluttered presentation. Our objective is to enhance the user experience by creating a user-friendly, easy-to-use, and visually appealing website.
Measure of Success
For the scope of this project, we will focus on using tree testing to gain insight into our users’ experience and improve our information architecture and navigation design accordingly.
Intended Audience
Prospective Student
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Retrieve available programs and resources
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Access application information and portal
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Learn about financial information
Alumni
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Look for ways of connecting and giving
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Explore resources and opportunities for alumni
Current Student
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Retrieve academic resources and opportunities
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Look for community engagement
- Explore career opportunities and resources
Researcher
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Explore research opportunities and resources
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Keep updated with research news
Faculty
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Retrieve open faculty positions
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Explore updates on school news and events
Parent
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Assess whether iSchool is a good fit for their children
Content Inventory & Assessment
With DYNO MAPPER,
we crawl the website,
and get raw data items.
After cleaning up the erroneous and repetitive pages,
we end up with good pages.
We select most useful and potentially confusing pages
for card sorting sessions.
We access the card sorting content on the iSchool website
based on the following standards:
Audience
Readability
Actionability
Redundancy
Key Message
Recency
Findings
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Content that defines our audience, displays relevant information, and allows them to accomplish their objectives should be prioritized.
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Redundant and erroneous content needs to be removed, whereas stale content needs to be maintained regularly.
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Content with low readability needs to be improved in navigation redesign.
We have eight participants and card-sorting sessions in total. Our card pool contains 51 cards, with each representing a category, subcategory, and/or a part of the information hierarchy in the iSchool website’s navigation. Content cards are entered into OptimalSort. A link will be provided to each participant, where observation and facilitation by our coordinators will take place. Facilitation includes asking the participants to describe the groups they make, why they are grouped, and which items they have trouble grouping.
High Agreement Items
“Careers”
“Job Shadowing”
“Writing Support”
“Part-Time Student Resources”
“Mission & Values”
“Apply to Faculty of Information”
Low Agreement Items
“Money Matter”
“Academic Regulations”
“Accessibility”
“Grants & Awards”
“Hire MI Co-op Students”
“Giving”
High Agreement Categories
“Careers”
“Academic Resources”
“About Us”
“Admissions”
High Agreement Categories
“Future Students”
“Current Students”
“Prospective Students”
“Programs & Research”
Ambiguous Item Labels
Participants reported that some items could have multiple meanings, making it difficult to pinpoint where they belong. “Hire MI Co-op Students”, for instance, could mean iSchool is hiring, or it is helping students to get hired. Some ambiguous labels could instead be subcategories; “Money matter” could mean tuition, living expenses, financial aid, etc, it serves its purpose best as an umbrella for them.
Jargons
Participants did not know what some items meant. For instance: “iSkill workshop”, “Technology Loan”, “Collaborate Specialization”, “Practicum”, etc.
While some terms have no better naming alternatives and are meant to be learned (i.e., “Practicum”, “Co-op”), others could benefit from more clarity. Based on its content, “Governance & accountability” incurs the least confusion when it is named as “iSchool Council”.
Some Content Can Exist Under More Than One Categories
Some items can belong to more than one category. While “Courses” and “Programs” apply to prospective and current students, “Part-Time Student Resources” and “Writing Support” could belong to “Academics” and “Career”. “Institutes & Labs” could also exist under both “Research” and “Academic Resources”.
Participant Recommendations
Participants often expressed the need for sub-categorization. For some labels, they recommended directly addressing the target audience. Moreover, adding a brief description to some of the “unavoidable” jargon could help inform the audiences. Take “Practicum” for example, add an ℹ (“information”) within its clickable area and provide a pop-out window that contains a brief description.
