Evaluating the Usability of the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College Business Office Website

In today’s high-tech society, there is great demand for a University website to provide guidance and direction for visitors, faculty, staff, and current student stakeholders. Similarly, the University of Hawaii Maui College (UHMC) Business Office website is sought after to provide valuable information required for success and smooth operation of day to day services needed by the entire campus community. In particular, there is a need for easy management and clear direction for fiscal transactions such as procurement process and forms, payment protocol, and travel services. Currently, the website for UHMC Business Office is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated and unorganized with little or no information. To address these issues, a mock-up Google Sites was created. Two rounds of usability studies were conducted with staff from various departments in order to evaluate the website’s usefulness, ease of navigation and accessibility to resources and links. The study revealed great feedback and excitement, such as “Can I use it now?”, and great suggestions such as: simplifying information, menu bar locations and American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance in the area of color requirements. There was favorable response indicating a great appreciation for an accessible and useful website presence. Many updates and improvements were made from the suggestions received, leading to enhancement and upgrade from the original website. This paper will compare the design changes implemented from the original to the updated resource website, and discuss the theoretical frameworks and design models that guided design choices.