To Bento or Not to Bento? A usability study of prototypes of Oria and Bento Box
Fay Chen Mogensen · NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives · 2020
This study focuses on a usability test conducted on two prototypes of the websites — Norwegian Primo (Oria of the University of Oslo Library) and a Bento box (the Princeton University Library). I conducted a virtual face-to-face usability test using Zoom video meeting, with pre- and after- interviews to collect data. Eight undergraduate students participated one by one. The participants’ interactions with the prototypes were observed via Zoom “shared screen”. The purpose of this study is to investigate how academic library users experienced using a Bento box interface and to identify ways to improve Oria. Results indicated that users had a strong preference for Bento box over Oria; participants were satisfied with Oria’s user-friendly design and effectiveness. They liked a single search box and struggled with using faceted filters, while recognizing that faceted filters were more effective and discoverable. I also identified two major usability problems in terminology and facets menu design. The information collected about website navigation and searching practices provide insight into students’ search habits using discovery tools like Primo and experience using Bento box. Lessons learned may assist other organizations in developing better searching tools.