1.0 PURPOSE
The department of Industry Canada requires services to conduct usability evaluations of seven business facing websites. The services will be required for a period commencing from contract award to March 31, 2020.
2.0 TITLE OF PROJECT
Usability Evaluation Project for Service Delivery and Partnerships (SDP) Directorate Websites.
3.0 BACKGROUND
The Service Delivery and Partnerships (SDP) Directorate, Small Business Branch, Industry Canada is responsible for a number of websites and applications targeted to the business community. These include:
1. Canada Business Network (CBN) website
2. Financial Performance Data
3. Trade Data Online
4. Canadian Industry Statistics
5. Canadian Company Capabilities
6. Canadian Importers Database
7. BizPaL
Each of these sites/apps is unique in its purpose, design and content. However, they all have the same objective; to help people start or grow a business.
All the sites/apps have been tested for usability in the past, but with the implementation of the accessibility functions, and some new features added to the sites/apps, usability testing is required.
4.0 PROJECT REQUIREMENTS/OBJECTIVES
The SDP Directorate has the need of a firm specializing in Web client experience to conduct usability testing of the web sites it manages with Canadian businesses. The testing will focus primarily on task completion but will also touch upon different aspects of each site as applicable, for example, the user interface design, navigation paths, the information architecture, etc. The data collected will identify areas within each site where improvements are needed.
5.0 SCOPE OF WORK
The main goal of this project is to acquire solid, research based information about the usability of the SDP websites which will lead to improving the client-centricity of these sites. The objectives include:
1. Assess the ability of the user to complete tasks that correspond to the most popular information users look for on each website
2. Assess the ease of navigation of the website. Is it clear to users how to navigate the site and are they able to do so quickly and easily?
3. Ascertain whether the layout and flow of the information presented is logical and easy to follow.
4. Assess specific difficulties with wording, labeling, images that could limit clear understanding of the website by consumers/users.
5. Identify and analyze common usability issues
6. Determine which areas of the site need improvements
7. Set baselines to use against future improvements
The seeking of opinions or subjective input from participating testers is considered Public Opinion Research (POR).
Deliverables:
Usability test results/findings will be documented in separate reports for each of the seven websites/applications listed above and containing, but not limited to, the methodology, the metrics for task completion rate, disaster rate, completion time, tasks completed successfully, and a prioritized list of usability issues with annotated screenshots and video clips along with potential solution options and recommendations. The report may need to be divided into two or more separate reports by website or application as required by the Project Team.
The Contractor will also be expected to deliver verbal presentations of the report to the Project Team and/or other relevant stakeholders.
6.0 PROJECT DETAILS
6.1 Methodology
The contractor will conduct two rounds of usability testing, including these activities:
- The contractor will analyze and prioritize user tasks for each website;
- The contractor will conduct remote interviews between the moderator and a participant using remote testing technology;
- Three rounds of testing with 12 participants in each round (a round is a complete set of test related activities for one or more products);
- Each round will include 2-3 French speaking individuals;
- Participants will be instructed to complete a series of tasks (scenarios) aimed at addressing the objectives of the evaluation;
- The participants will be instructed to describe out-loud what they are doing as they go through each task. For analysis purposes, their dialogue will be recorded and their activities on the computer will be captured using the latest hardware and software for usability testing;
- Participants will be offered an incentive to participate in the study ($100.00 per participant);
- The contractor will capture metrics for tasks and participants such as:
1. Task completion rate: Number of successful attempts to solve the task
2. Disaster rate: Failed attempts to complete a task
3. Completion time
4. The number of tasks competed successfully by each participant
- Each test session could involve testing more than one website.
6.2 Number of Tasks, Specific Requirements and Timeframes by Website
Table
- Where time permits in individual usability tests, and where sufficient baseline task data has been gathered, the Contractor may take the opportunity (with the agreement of the Project Team) to capture comparative figures for the Industry Canada and/or Canada.ca platform.
