A STUDY ON THE USABILITY OF A UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR’S OFFICE WEBSITE THROUGH THE METHODS OF AUTHENTIC TASKS AND EYE-TRACKING

ABSTRACT

Universities are one of the most important institutions that offer online services. It is observed that one of the most used web pages by university students is the registrar’s office website, since students can access a great deal of information they need through this page. In this study, the usability of the registrar’s office website, which can be regarded as the most-used and most-needed website by students, will be examined. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the usability of Hacettepe University Registrar’s Office (HURO) website for students. To this end, researchers defined authentic tasks by considering situations that students use the most. The data were collected both using the data collection instrument developed by the researchers and the eye-tracker in a human-computer interaction laboratory. The usability of the website was tested through tasks performed in authentic or suitable environments with authentic users, problems related to usability were put forth, and solutions offered were presented. The results indicated that while none of the users reported problems in terms of content and up-to-dateness, the site could be improved in terms of its visual design and navigation.