Guiding the User : Redesign and Usability Improvement of a Student Thesis Publication Form

Abstract: Students struggle with publishing and uploading their thesis in DiVA - the Swedish digital archive for academic papers (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet). In a mixed methods usability test of the publication form with 7 users, it was shown that the overall usability was low. Three aspects of usability were tested using the following metrics: efficiency by total task time, effectiveness by task completion and satisfaction by PSSUQ and SUS. 22 usability problems were found and prioritised using a 0-4 severity rating. Concepts for a new form were brainstormed and evaluated using a variation of a Pugh chart. From the concepts, sketches were created using form design guidelines and were evaluated using Nielsen’s heuristics. Usability problems from the heuristic evaluation were solved and the sketches were translated into a computer prototype which was subsequently usability tested using a mixed methods approach with 6 users. Task completion increased, total time on task decreased significantly, and PSSUQ and SUS increased. Taken together with the qualitative results, the usability of the new prototype was higher than the current system. Important qualities that increase the usability in forms for publishing academic student papers included a wizard structure, explaining terminology and focus on guiding the user. Further studies should include usability studies of other publication types and further validating guidelines for form design.