The Field Museum
August 2017 • Course Project for IX Design & Info Arch
Why: With its numerous exhibitions, events, and special programming the Field Museum has the ability to cater to the curiosity of individuals across many ages. Its website is therefore the hub of valuable information for its visitors (new and returning). With a variety of content items on the site, it's important that users are able to find what they are looking for.
Objective: keep all of the important information that is provided on the website but find better placement for the content to make it easier for users to find.
Method: Content Inventory, Card Sort & Treejack Study.
Tools: Excel, OptimalSort & draw.io
Types of Users
To improve upon the current structure of the Field Museum website, it was important to first identify the users.
Content Inventory
A content inventory was then conducted to map out the current layout of the site.
Card Sort
To determine the location and positions of the 8 categories and 43 subcategories a hybrid card sort was conducted through OptimalSort.
Results: The card sort results validated that additional structural changes needed to be conducted on the site.
100% of the participants agreed on the placement of ‘Become a Member’, ‘Copyright and Statements’, ‘Current Exhibitions’, ‘Member Benefits’, ‘Mission’, ‘Plan your Special Event’, and ‘Traveling Exhibitions’.
TreeJack Study
A Treejack study was then conducted to test out the new structure. The Treejack study consisted of three tasks which were all based off of the user personas and scenarios.
A total of 12 participants took part in the tree-jack study and they were recruited through means of email and the discussion board on D2L. Overall, the participants did not have trouble completing tasks
2 and 3 but did have some trouble with task 1.
Task 1: Locate Information about Free Admission Days
Results: There was a 75% success rate (58% direct / 17% indirect) and a 25% failure rate (17% direct / 8% indirect) failure with this task. Participants took an average of 16.6 seconds to
complete this task. The participants had a direct fail with this task, selected calendar of events instead of Free Admission Days within the Visit category. Granted, the free admission days are an item that can be on the calendar.
Task 2: Purchase a Museum Membership
Results: There was a 100% success rate (92% direct / 8% indirect). Participants took an average of 6.03 seconds to complete this task. The 8% had initially selected ‘Support the Museum’ but then went back to the correct path.
Task 3: Locate Information on Current Exhibitions
Results: There was a 100% success rate (100% direct). Participants took an average of 6.17 seconds to complete this task.
Overall, the results from the Treejack study reaffirmed the new structure of the Field Museum site. If time allotted, additional iterations would include tasks relating to other items such as the
Educational Resources and Research content.
Site Map & Key
The Field Museum sitemap was developed from the card sort results. The initial content inventory assisted with narrowing down the content into smaller groups and in distinguishing the main categories.
retrospective
If time allotted, I would have conducted an additional iteration, especially to bring up the 75% success rate for task 1.