Usability Report
Design Human Computer Interaction
Fauzi Akbar – u3097985

Table of Contents
Table of Contents2
Introduction3
Evaluation4
Background4
User and User Task4
Currency5
Consistency6
Page Layout7
Security8

Instrument9
Background9
Design and Process Evaluation9
Optimizing User Experience9
Accessibility9
Currency9 Page Layout9
Navigation10
Consistency10 Security10 Conclusion10

Reference List11

Introduction Process of Evaluation This report is the evaluation of the Gumtree website at http://www.gumtree.com.au/ The usability report represents the process of developing an evaluation instrument specifically for the evaluation of the Gumtree at http://www.gumtree.co.au/. The evaluation was directed to determine the quality of the website using the instrument that was made base on HHS guidelines. The data was collected from the website using an evaluation instrument that was developed (see document 1). HHS guidelines and WCAG 2.0 guidelines were used to create a set of criteria for the evaluation instrument (see document 1). The instrument was used to determine and describe data about: * The users of the website * Who are they? * What tasks they need to do? * The Positive and Negative of the website * What can be improved? * What can be maintained? * Is the website trustworthy and safe? * Is the website easy to navigate? * The user experience The quality of the website can be determined after assessing all the data to the criteria drawn from HCI standards and conventions. Some suggestions for improvements are also developed in this report that was based on the instrument data.

Evaluation Evaluation of The Website Background Gumtree is an Australian base website which is designed to connect people as a local classified and community site. Gumtree was officially launched in 2007, which aims to give Australians a simple easy-to-use tool for looking up items that they need. In this report, Gumtree website is being assessed using HCI standards and conventions and furthermore appropriate suggestions can be develop. Some of the evaluations are: User and User Tasks

| | | Type of User | 1 | Buyer - People who are looking for second hand/new items | | 2 | Seller - People who are selling for second hand/new items | | 3 | Job Seeker - People who are looking for job vacancy | | 4 | Job Recruiters - People who are looking for people to work for them | | 5 | Advertisement Brand | | 6 | Government - Watch all the items in Gumtree (not illegal) | | | | User Task | 1 | Buyer | | | Finding the items they are looking for by searching their items in the search bar | | | Finding the items they are looking for from the categories available | | | Contact the seller that are selling the items they are looking for by eMail or Phone | | | Having agreement with the seller about the payment | | | Give the website feedback | | 2 | Seller | | | Putting information about the items that they are selling | | | Putting information about the seller contact information for the user | | | Answering all the questions from the buyer | | | Having agreement with the buyer about the payment | | | Give the website feedback | | 3 | Job Seeker | | | Finding jobs that suits their choice | | | Contacting the job Recruiters | | | Give the website feedback | | 4 | Job Recruiters | | | Putting information of the job they are looking for | | | Answering all the questions from the job seeker | | | Give the website feedback | | 5 | Government | | | Releasing all the regulation | | | Be the watchdog of the website | | | Give the website feedback | The instrument was developed with criteria based on the type of users and the tasks they would do with the website. Below are some of the main problems from the evaluation results:

1. Currency Figure 2 Figure 2 Figure 1 Figure 1
Currency is used to determine the currency of a website or when the page was last updated. It also looks to see if there are broken links, missing links, and expired links (sold items in this case). From the Figure 1, it shows a case where an old advertisement from 2013 is still up while the actual item has been sold although in the term of use, it says that ad duration is 30 days long (some exception occurs) See Figure 2. This shows that the website has not really keeping all ad up to date. Therefore the currency of the website is not really up to date. Although the developer of the website has been keeping up to date with the technology It shows that the layout of the old version of Gumtree is not as great as the newest one (see Figure 3 & 4). It means that the actual website is has always been updated while they have no control of the advertisement, in this case an old advertisement.

Figure 4

Figure 4

Figure 3

Figure 3

2. Consistency Consistency is used to determine how consistent the website in terms of the information in the website and the layout of the website. In this case it was found the inconsistent information in the website. Figure 5 shows that the same advertisement has been released more than one at the same time. Consistency is important for the users, it makes the sites easier to use and in this case the user does not have to scroll down more to look for another ad, while if the same ad has been put up more than one at the same time it will take more time for the users to look for other items. Website should be consistent, in saying that the website should have standards and conventions that should be established and applied throughout the entire website. For example, a user would be having problems if the developer moves the “search” bar for different pages. In this case the layout of the Gumtree website is very consistent as throughout the website has the same layout See Figure 6, 7, and 8.

Figure 5

Figure 5

Figure 8

Figure 8

Figure 7

Figure 7

Figure 6

Figure 6

3. Page Layout The online appearance of the website is an important aspect of the website, and accessibility is a key of the website aesthetics that has to be integrated. Proper layout makes the website more appealing to the customers. The primary role of web design is the layout of the website because the layout creates the website to be attractive and in some cases the website that does not have graphics can be attractive if they have a good layout design. Assessing Gumtree layout, it is very attractive and it has very consistent layout throughout the website. The website has to maintain this great layout consistency and attractiveness in order to keep the user interested in the website. The Gumtree website has moderate white space of the side of the page (See Figure 9) which is good to improve website readability and website performance. White space is also an important aspect of the website design and Gumtree has done well in order to improve website readability. Although Gumtree has a good understanding of the web design purpose, it was found a small problem in the website. Figure 10 shows that when the size of the browser is resized to be half size, the logo and the help title page are on top of each other which causes decrease of website readability. Therefore by fixing the problem it would help the website to be even better in terms of website readability.

Figure 10

Figure 10

Figure 9

Figure 9

4. Security Customer is concerned with the security of the website. For a business website such as Gumtree, eBay, and etc. the security of the website is the number one reason for customer to shop/use that particular website, in saying that making sure that the website is doing all they can to ensure and provide a safe site for the customers and user is essential. Assessing Gumtree level of safety, Gumtree is not a safe website for the user to put their information as seen in Figure 11, that anyone can see seller’s contact details. This causes the high number of spammers that can defraud the seller. Although Gumtree help page releases some articles about avoiding all the spammers, in this case that is not the answer to this problem. One suggestion would be by not letting random people to get seller’s information, in order to get the seller’s information users have to log in to their account to get the seller’s information and the website could track the people that get the seller information. Therefore the website could track down for any defraud transaction.

Figure 11

Figure 11

Instrument The Quality of the Instrument The instrument that was implemented in Document 1 was developed in correspondence to the guidelines and regulations of the HCI model. HHS guidelines and WCAG 2.0 guidelines was used to create a set of criteria for the evaluation instrument (see document 1). The quality of the instrument that was used to assess the Gumtree website determines the final result of this report. The quality of the instrument that was used to evaluate Gumtree website was basic, simple and served its purpose. The purpose of the instrument that was develop was to rate the quality of Gumtree website using a criteria that would be important to the users. The instrument was broken into different section of criteria. 1. Design Process and Evaluation Design process and evaluation was used to assess the website to find out some of the process and evaluation of the website such as “does the website has set and state goals?” Basically this criteria focus on the process of the making/upgrading of the website then evaluate what has been changed, improved, and implemented. From the evaluation, the website will know the result of the changes that has been done, therefore the website can keep improving. This is good for the website to check whether the changes that has been done is efficient or better than the version before or it makes the version worse than the version before. This process would be repeated for many of times to find out the best answer of the problem that website had before. 2. Optimizing The User Experience A good user experience is essential to a successful internet marketing strategy. For a business website, Gumtree has to keep testing and refining that experience can help significantly increase conversions and drive sales. User experience involves balancing the needs for users with the business objectives and resolving any conflict between the two. In this case, it was found that Gumtree has some points that is not good for the user experience, such as not providing the user with printing options and not giving the users the warn of the ‘Time Out’. However, Gumtree has done well with some other aspects of the user experience for example providing assistance to user, providing feedback from user for better user experience, and not displaying unsolicited windows or graphics. Therefore the user experience criteria for assessing a website is an important aspect and is crucial to a successfulness of the website. 3. Accessibility Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can comprehend, use, and interact with website, therefore they would be able to contribute to the web. We accessibility criteria is important because in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities, it is essential that the web is accessible for them. Therefore using this criteria to assess Gumtree can find whether Gumtree website is accessible for people with disabilities. 4. Currency Currency of a website suggests to how current or up to date the website is. Many website states the last update or modify in their page and it is usually visibly at the bottom of the page. Currency is important, as the user cannot really rely on any information contained on the website where the currency of the information of the website is not stated or cannot be verified. Because a website that regularly maintain and update is much more likely to contain more accurate information than the one that is not well maintained. 5. Page layout
Page layout is one of the most important things that need to be consider when thinking about making the website. That is because the website the users will judge the website by the design and content. The layout of the page should be consistent and logical. The types of users should be able to understand the structure of the page and why relevant information is where it is.

6. Navigation
Navigation is one of the most important elements of website design. If a website is lacking in effective navigation, it is not working the way the business wants it to be. One of the example would be well organizing the website, because it helps the site visitors find what they need, with as little effort as possible. The users should be able to navigate through the site naturally without having to adjust the browsing habits to suit the website. The criteria in the instrument outline the types of expectations users may have. 7. Consistency Consistency of any website is one of the key sings of website is developed or designed by professional. Ensuring the website is consistent throughout the pages gives the website a unified feel, improving the user experience and increasing the conversion rates. Consistency of a website is not just about the consistency of the color scheme or similar set of fonts, it also focuses on the website behavior is consistent. 8. Security Website security where the users feel safe is vital to the website’s success. In recent times, cyber crime has shaken up the world’s largest organization. The security of the website also determine the site reputation, and why risk damaging the site reputation when maintaining website is very simple and effective. There are some tools already develop to prevent any cyber crime. Therefore this criteria was chosen to assess the Gumtree website. Conclusion The instrument was an effective tool in evaluating and assessing Gumtree website. Gumtree needed some improvement its security dramatically, based on the results. The seller’s contact details are supposed to be safe from cyber crime. There are some other aspects that can be improved from the Gumtree website, and by improving all the problems can result in attracting more users and drive up sales of the site.

Reference List Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources . 2014. Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources . [ONLINE] Available at: https://unfccc.int/essential_background/library/items/1420.php [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Free Local Classifieds Ads from all over Australia - Gumtree. 2014. Free Local Classifieds Ads from all over Australia - Gumtree. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gumtree.com.au/ [Accessed 18 March 2014]. HHS.gov Web Standards. 2014. HHS.gov Web Standards. [ONLINE] Available at: http://webstandards.hhs.gov/search/results?utf8=%E2%9C%93&classifications%5B%5D=standard&classifications%5B%5D=guideline&q=&categories=&x=47&y=7 [Accessed 20 March 2014]. Introduction to Web Accessibility. 2014. Introduction to Web Accessibility. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php [Accessed 21 March 2014]. The importance of attractive website layout | Jet Peppers. 2014. The importance of attractive website layout | Jet Peppers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jetpeppers.com/the-importance-of-attractive-website-layout/ [Accessed 20 March 2014]. Website Security Is Important. 2014. Website Security Is Important. [ONLINE] Available at: http://webverification.hubpages.com/hub/importance-of-website-security [Accessed 21 March 2014]. Whitespace in Web Design: What It Is and Why You Should Use It. 2014. Whitespace in Web Design: What It Is and Why You Should Use It. [ONLINE] Available at: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/white-space-in-web-design-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it [Accessed 21 March 2014].