Ways to improve the user experience in digital humanities interfaces 

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This workshop will demonstrate cost-effective tools, methodologies and analytics that can be used to improve the user experience in digital humanities interfaces.

Aim of workshop

If you have a user interface (i.e. a website) for your project, and you have questions like:

• Are users interacting with the website?
• Are users finding what they’re looking for when using the navigation?
• Are users finding what they’re looking for when using the search function on the website?
• Is this big feature on the homepage an effective use of space?
• In order to secure more funding, I have to increase engagement on the website. How do I do this?
• I have to make my website more accessible to users on a mobile device. How do I do this?

These questions and more can be answered using user experience (UX) tools and analytics. Participants will be guided to run through hands-on exercises using software, as well as paper-based testing. Demonstrations of recommended tools will also be given.

Workshop format

Each participant will receive a hard copy of the lab exercises, notes, and detailed lab instructions for the exercises.

• Workshop will take place in networked computer-lab facilities
• Software to be used is web-based, so no installation will be required
• The presenter will provide user logins (trial only)
• There is limited space available for only 20 participants

Participants

This workshop is designed for digital humanities educators who are interested in improving engagement with their projects. While participants may benefit by having basic Google Analytics knowledge, it is not necessary.

Specific topics that will be covered:

• A brief introduction on Google Analytics (a free analytics tool offered by Google)
• Key metrics in Google Analytics to report on
• How to use Google Analytics to optimise the search function on your website
• How to set up and use funnels in Google Analytics to track conversion, and see where people are dropping out of your funnel
• How to conduct card sorts for your navigation using an online tool
• How to conduct paper-based card sorts for your navigation
• Recommended tools to use for measuring in-page engagement (such as heat maps)
• Recommended tools to use for A/B testing

Each participant will receive a hard copy of the lab exercises, notes, and detailed lab instructions for the exercises. 


Outcomes of the workshop include

Participants will gain hands-on experience on how to use cost-effective tools, methodologies and analytics in order to improve engagement with their projects.