Usability of a subscription-based book service : - How can a web application for a subscription-based book service be designed to reduce the number of clicks and improve subjective user experiences for given tasks in the aspect of usability?

Abstract: To increase the number of customers buying from a web application, theory states that the application needs to be easy to use. In this study, navigability and usability will be investigated and tested on a web-based book-subscription service. The purpose of this study is to come to new conclusions regarding what is important for navigability and usability for subscription services that target students. A web application was created for an online book club subscription service for students at Linköping University. It was created in two different iterations where each iteration was tested on 12 students, which according to theory is a sufficient number of testers. The first iteration was designed based on theory and the second was redesigned based on the input from the test users. Counting the number of clicks taken by the user was the main method used for evaluating navigability, while Concurrent Thinking Aloud, System Usability Scale and Retrospective Probing Procedure were the methods used to measure usability. The most considerable changes made between the two iterations were the updating of the filtering function on the find book club page and the implementation of a search function on the same page. This was also the page where the most improvement in the number of clicks was made. In line with the theory, the usability improved in the tests after changes had been made that test users had commented on. The number of clicks did mostly decrease in the second iteration but not in all categories. This result does not mean that the user experience was not improved since some requested functionality was implemented that required additional clicks.