Date: 9 July 2019

To: United States Geological Survey

From: Group B

Subject: Groundwater Usability Test Results

This report outlines the results of a usability test concerning your set of instructions for
obtaining historical groundwater. The instructions currently being provided lacks proper
illustrations that relate to the original site. The need for a revision of the original
instructions will help prevent future users from getting lost.

Test Objectives
To navigate through a series of visual instructions utilizing the USGS website to
obtain historical groundwater information. The overall objective is to determine the ease
of the instruction’s functionality and user-friendliness. The goal is the be mindful of the
visual design and clearness of the language for the set of instructions

Results

Areas of Strength

The visual size of the instructions would be the most frequent compliment the
instructions received. Headings were clear and easy to read. Illustrations helped
the users follow through the information. Step six illustrations helped the user to
narrow down exactly what the step was asking for because there is an
overwhelming amount of options.

Areas of Improvement

The instructions need improvements at step four of the illustrations as there is

more information on the picture than what the user needed. Also, step six would
become overwhelming for the user from the instructions to the actual webpage.
There is an unnecessary amount of information for the user to comprehend. The
user easily gets lost on the page when searching through the contents listed.
Therefore, we would recommend an updated set of the instructions for the site
because some steps do not look the same on the site when compared against
the instructions and the instructions could use some better highlighting to show
where the user should be navigating.

Questionnaire

Open-Ended Questions
 1. Is there anything we can improve?
 The test users were overwhelmed by the amount of information in some of
the visual aids. Most users became confused around step seven.
2. Did you have an easy time finding what you were looking?
 The users were unsure of what they were truly looking. The users would
just follow the illustrations from the instructions.
3. Were you confused about anything you found?
 There was confusion about the instructions after step seven. The user had
difficulty finding the next required part that was listed in the instructions
because unnecessary information for the user appears on the site's page.

Close-Ended Questions

1. Were the instructions clear?

 The test users thought the instructions were clear for the first half, but then
they were presented with too much information. The instructions used
plain language, which made it very clear. But, also confusing because
they were not easy to follow.
2. What features did you like in the instructions?
 The only feature in the instructions that the test users appreciated were
the photos of buttons.
3. Did the illustrations make it easier to navigate through the site?
 All of the users appreciated the illustrations. The user wants to keep how
the image was formatted on the instruction, but update the illustrations
more to match the current site.

Recommendations
The recommendations provided by the test users were quite useful. Some of the
illustrations shown in the current instructions are outdated from what the original site is
showing. A few users recommended changing step 7 because it indicates the region
and the type which are to be selected, but when reaching that step the set of
instructions have different information than what is on the site. The illustrations have not
been updated to match has been changed on the current website. One user wanted the
information in step 6 to be narrowed down, but it was not implemented because the
information given allows a user to check more than one option depending on the data
that he or she desired.