Usability Testing of a Web-Scale Discovery System at an Academic Library

Abstract

Many academic libraries have either implemented or are considering a Web-scale discovery system, but few usability studies have been published in the library literature. This article describes the usability testing performed at Tulane University on the Primo discovery system. Several usability challenges were identified, particularly with the least experienced users; however, there is strong evidence that users adapt quickly to the new interface. Most usability challenges can be alleviated with simple terminology changes. Also, despite some struggles in the testing, users typically rated the system highly in both usability and quality of results.