Kylie Heiland

Scenario 1

Bellamy is a college senior and has concluded that he wants to try new things before he gets his diploma in the spring. During high school, Bellamy had the chance to play football and basketball, but after playing them for many years, Bellamy became bored and quit playing to focus more on his studies.

Albeit being a 4.0 student was time-consuming, Bellamy used the bit of free time that he had to read more. While he was always a fan of reading fantasy and adventure books growing up, his love for them grew with every page he turned.

Scrolling through TikTok one day, Bellamy saw a clip resembling Harry Potter's Quidditch, albeit a human version. He was instantly enthralled, as he always imagined that Quidditch would be an entertaining sport to play in the Wizarding World. Excited that Bellamy may get to participate in a similar sport alongside other Harry Potter fans, when he returned home that night, he got on his desktop and began searching furiously for this sport and how he could get involved.

Tasks

  • Bellamy first wants to find out when quadball was first created.
  • He then wants to find out who the board of directors are, specifically the board chair.
  • Then, he watches a video on how to play quadball.
  • After watching, he checks the rulebook to see if glasses can be worn while playing.
  • Then, Bellamy wants to know if a team exists for his college, Boston University, for the 2023-24 season.
  • He remembers that his employer matches donations during the holiday season; he wonders if US Quadball allows such a thing as matching gifts.
  • Bellamy wonders if there is a US Quadball sponsorship deck that he can send to his employer; they may want to help sponsor US Quadball.
  • If Bellamy does get on a team, he needs to have a membership to play in tournaments, which can be found by clicking a link that takes him to the membership registration page on an external website.
  • Bellamy has a nephew who has recently been reading Harry Potter, so Bellamy thinks the perfect birthday gift would be to hire a youth quadball instructor for his nephew's 8th birthday party, but he needs to find a way to reach the instructor.
  • After finding a team to play on and applying for a membership, Bellamy realizes that he filled in the membership application incorrectly; he put his parents' address instead of his address at college. He needs to find a form to fill out to inform US Quadball of his mistake.

Scenario 2

Clarisse is a 72-year-old Retired English Teacher who has a daughter she adores. Although the two live thousands of miles away, their relationship is stronger than ever. Clarisse supports her daughter in all her endeavors, as shown by her numerous airline points. For the past couple of years, Clarisse's daughter has gotten into playing quadball, yet Clarisse has never seen her play before.

Now that she is retired, Clarisse has a great deal of time on her hands. While she spends most of her time reading, cooking, and calling her daughter, she wants to see how her daughter does in her quadball matches and support her as much as possible.

Although she struggles with using technology, she has recently taken a liking to go to the library and have the librarians assist her in navigating the interweb. Her daughter recently told her about a website that is all things quadball so she can be more knowledgeable about this sport and truly understand how the game works. Tomorrow, Clarisse plans to go to the library early in the morning to look at the website with the librarians' help if she needs it. Her main goal is to use this site in any way that can benefit her daughter and find out more information about the US Quadball Cup so she can surprise her daughter there!

Tasks

  • Realizing that US Quadball is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Clarisse wonders what their most recent financial report looks like and whether US Quadball's revenue outweighed the expenses.
  • After viewing the report, she decides to donate to support her daughter and finds the donation link.
  • When she does try to donate, she realizes that filling out the credit card information is too complicated, and she only uses cash and credit cards. She decides that she will instead mail a check to US Quadball, but now needs to find the address.
  • Now that she is retired, Clarisse has a lot of time on her hands. She wants to see what email she needs to reach out to for year-round volunteering opportunities.
  • Her daughter plays on the club team called Earth Wake, so Clarisse wants to see how many times her daughter has won in the 2023-24 season.
  • Clarisse knows that supporting US Quadball will also support her daughter, so she wants to ensure she does everything possible to help. She knows many organizations have sponsors, which helps keep the money flowing, so she wants to see if any sponsors sell products she is interested in. The only issue is that she usually finds out about an organization's sponsors through pamphlets.
  • Planning to surprise her daughter and cheer her on at the US Quadball Cup, Clarisse wants to book a hotel as close as possible to the complex, so she searches the website for the event's address.
  • To surprise her daughter, she also wants to show up wearing an official US Quadball hoodie that she will customize when it gets sent to her. She wants to find an online shop and pick out a size small.
  • It turns out that her daughter was featured in an image in the August 30th news article. She wants to see it so she can print it off and frame it.
  • Curious about why this sport is called quadball and not Quidditch, she wants to see if the site addresses a trademark regarding J.K. Rowling or is merely called quadball for some other reason.

Goals

  • We want to ensure that the navigation bar is navigable so that users of any technological experience can easily access pages.
  • Our team map should be displayed so quadball teams can be found quickly and efficiently.
  • We also want to determine whether the users can successfully interact with the team map to find the name of the quadball team.
  • Will the users find the quadball teams through the team map or a different method, such as the season standings?
  • Which of the two contact forums on this website is found more quickly?
  • Is the address of US Quadball challenging to find, considering this is a popular form of receiving donations?
  • Can the users determine who to contact to volunteer year-round?
  • Will the cart in the navigation bar confuse users, considering there is no place on this site where users can add items to the cart?
  • Will the users find the 'Shop' link in the website's footer?
  • Will the users need clarification about which shopping page to click, considering two shopping pages are under the 'Shop' dropdown menu in the navigation bar?
  • The website is popularly used for retrieving the USQ Rulebook so quadball teams and players play fairly during games. Our goal is for the Rulebook to be displayed in a way that does not require the users to ask where to find it.
  • Users interested in playing quadball likely need to learn how to play, so we want to ensure the tutorial video is easily found.
  • Donations play an integral role in making the US Quadball run. Is the donation link easily found?
  • Multiple donation links are found throughout the website, with two in the navigation bar. Which donation link will the users find first?
  • Getting sponsorships is also integral for US Quadball. We want to ensure that prospecting brands can find the sponsorship deck to learn about sponsoring with us.
  • To play quadball officially, they must become a member. We have a separate website specifically for our members. We want to know how many clicks it takes for the users to find the link that sends them to the membership registration page of that website.
  • We want to make sure our sponsors are all highlighted. Can the users determine who our sponsors are?
  • We want to ensure that our events are displayed in a way that makes logical sense. Will the users understand that the events are shown in ascending order?
  • Does it cause the users to pause when trying to find the address of the US Quadball Cup event? It is displayed differently than the other events.
  • Can the users efficiently find the page displaying all our policies and documents?
  • Is there any confusion when finding a specific document with how the records are displayed on the page?
  • Given their time spent on the website, will the users be able to find the August 30, 2023 news article in 1 click, assuming they are already on the 'News' page?
  • We want to ensure that critical information, such as the year quadball was created, is placed in the website's most logical location.
  • Levio Learning is our significant sponsor, so we want to ensure that it is prominently displayed for users so they can understand that children can learn quadball through it. Is the link 'YOUTH' displayed in the navigation bar easy for users to realize that children can play quadball, too?
  • Is the Matching Gift section prominently displayed so that it is easy for users to notice?
  • Finally, we must ensure that users know that quadball is not associated with Quidditch. Is the disclaimer very noticeable?
  • Can the users quickly understand that the club and collegiate teams' standings are located in different places on the page?
  • Find out if the website's aesthetic negatively impacted users from completing tasks.

Scope

Three users with a 45-minute session.

Tasks/Scenarios

  • TASK #1 -

    Find the year quadball was created

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Play Quadball.' The year quadball was created can be seen in the first sentence of the page's body.

  • TASK #2 -

    Find who the board chair is on the board of directors

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'About' dropdown menu, click 'Leadership & Staff.' The board chair is the first name listed on the page.

  • TASK #3 -

    Find the video on how to play quadball

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'About' dropdown menu, click 'What is Quadball?' The video is at the bottom of this page.

  • TASK #4 -

    Find quadball's Rulebook

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Play Quadball.' Then click the large blue button labeled 'Rulebook 2022.'

  • TASK #5 -

    See if Boston University is listed on the 2023-24 season

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the '2023-24' dropdown menu, click 'All Teams.' Using the interactive map, zoom in on Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston University pinpoint is located North of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

  • TASK #6 -

    See if US Quadball allows matching gifts

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Support USQ.' Matching gifts is discussed in the middle of the page.

  • TASK #7 -

    Find the US Quadball sponsorship deck

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Support USQ.' Click the bottom button in the body labeled '2023-24 Season Sponsorship Deck.'

  • TASK #8 -

    Find the link that takes the user to the 'Membership Registration' page on US Quadball's membership site

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Membership.'

  • TASK #9 -

    Find a way to contact a quadball instructor from Levio Learning

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Youth.' Click on the blue button labeled 'Contact Levio Learning.

  • TASK #10 -

    Find the contact form

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'About' dropdown menu, click 'Contact.' The contact form is positioned on the right side of the page.

  • TASK #11 -

    Find US Quadball's most recent financial report

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the '2023-24 Season' dropdown menu, click 'Documents and Policies,' then, under the 'USQ Financial Reports,' click the hyperlink labeled '2021-22 990.'

  • TASK #12 -

    Find the donation link

    DIRECTION -

    Under the 'About' dropdown menu in the navigation menu, click 'Donate,' then click 'Donate to US Quadball Today!'

  • TASK #13 -

    Find US Quadball's address

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation menu, under the 'About' dropdown menu, click 'Contact.' The address will be on the left side of the page.

  • TASK #14 -

    Find out who to contact for year-round volunteering opportunities

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation menu, under the 'Get Involved' dropdown menu, click 'Volunteer & Jobs,' the email to reach out to is under the text header, 'Volunteer Year-Roun with USQ.'

  • TASK #15 -

    Find how many games the club team, Earth Wake, has won during the 2023-24 season

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the '2023-24 Season' dropdown menu, click 'Standings and Results,' scroll down to the spreadsheet labeled 'Club Division,' then find 'Earth Wake' and value in the corresponding 'W' column within that spreadsheet, .

  • TASK #16 -

    Find the list of US Quadball's sponsors for the 2023-24 season

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'About' dropdown menu, click 'Sponsors,' then see the list of sponsors at the top of the page's body.

  • TASK #17 -

    Find the address for the US Quadball Cup event

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, click 'Events,' scroll down and click 'US Quadball Cup 2024.' Then, on this page, click '(map),' located under the text, 'Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.'

  • TASK #18 -

    Find the link to the online shop that sells official US Quadball hoodies

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, under the 'Shop' dropdown menu, click 'USQ Official Merchandise.'

  • TASK #19 -

    Look at the image that is in the August 30th news article

    DIRECTION -

    In the navigation bar, click 'News,' scroll to the article 'USNT Program to Implement Three Max Policy in All Future Competitions,' click that.

  • TASK #20 -

    Find out whether the website addresses a trademark regarding J.K. Rowling

    DIRECTION -

    On any page, scroll down to the footer and see the paragraph under the text labeled 'Disclaimer.'

Pre-Test Questionnaire

  • Question #1 - Have you heard of quadball?
  • Question #2 - If yes, have you used this website before?
  • Question #3 - Do you prefer websites with more pages and less content on each page or fewer pages with more content on each page?
  • Question #4 - Say you were looking for a brand's contact form on their website that you have never used before. Do you try to find the form without assistance or use the website's search bar?
  • Question #5 - When visiting a new website, do you usually start by exploring the main menu or scroll through the homepage?
  • Question #6 - Do you prefer buttons or underlined/colored/formatted text to indicate a link?
  • Question #7 - Have you ever used an interactive map on a website before?
  • Question #8 - Does a website's (lack of) aesthetic affect your overall opinion of a website and its function?
  • Question #9 - If a website contains multimedia content such as videos, do you typically engage with it?
  • Question #10 - How comfortable are you with clicking links that redirect you to external pages or different websites when navigating a website?
  • Question #11 - Do you expect all links in a website's navigation bar to only link to internal pages? Or external pages, too?

Post-Test Questionnaire

  • Question #1 - How easy was it to find specific information about quadball, such as its origins or rulebook?
  • Question #2 - Were you easily able to navigate to the section about quadball teams and find specific teams like Boston University?
  • Question #3 - How intuitive did you find the process of locating and using the contact forms?
  • Question #4 - Were you able to locate the financial reports and donation options easily? Or was their any frustration with that?
  • Question #5 - Were the volunteering opportunities difficult to find, in your opinion?
  • Question #6 - How did you feel about the external links, specifically on the navigation bar?