Usability Testing Summon on the USC Libraries Home Page
Felicia Palsson · Advances in library and information science (ALIS) book series · 2012
This chapter describes the situational context and strategic goals at the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries that led to implementation of a discovery layer interface on the home page. User testing of the library website pointed to the need for unified and intuitive access to library holdings. Summon™ was introduced as a single access point, and usability testing was conducted on the website both pre- and post-Summon™ implementation. Results indicated that success rates for basic tasks improved after Summon™ became the default search box on the library home page. The objectives of the testing, methodology, demographics of test subjects, findings, and test instruments are described and shared.