StudentHanden - Services for students, by students : A study in how navigability is affected by the number of clicks on a web application where students can offer each other assistance in everyday services.

Abstract: A market survey conducted on students currently studying at different universities in Sweden showed that a majority of students either were in need or previously had been in need of a platform where solely students can buy and sell everyday services to each other. Furthermore, the survey showed that a majority of the students in question found it very important that a web application is easily navigated and that they can find what they are looking for with as few clicks as possible. The purpose of this study was to examine how different aspects of a web application intended for students in Sweden affects navigability in terms of the number of clicks needed to perform various tasks on said web application. This was done by iteratively developing and assessing a website based on research within the area, navigability measures as well as qualitative and quantitative feedback from user testing. The results suggest that a higher degree of navigability was obtained when the structure of the web application was made broader through more direct links to and from different nodes. It also seems to be of importance that users were certain of where a click of a button would take them in the overall structure, through effective labeling and placement.