Feature Requests: Users want more information on hotel 4/6 high amenities Mental Model: Users are confused as to whether or not they are 5/6 high required to input full Chinese name, or just family name Feedback: Loading screen has no progress bar. This confuses users 6/6 high as to whether or not their information is being processed Background We are the Chinese Holiday Inn Website usability group, a team of four Chinese students and two American students in SPSU’s Bachelor of Science in Technical Communication degree program. Dr. Carol Barnum, the professor of our usability testing and research course, suggested the idea of this usability test of the Chinese Holiday Inn website. Karen Bennett was interested in having the Chinese Holiday Inn website evaluated for usability questions and issues. In the initial meeting, she discussed the scope of the site and its typical users, as well as competitor sites. She also discussed what concerns she already had about the website going into testing; for example, she wanted to make sure that there were not any translation issues. From the information provided by the sponsor, the project team learned that the audience for the website is mostly domestic (mainland) Chinese. They book hotel rooms online for business and/or leisure purposes. Their ages span from the mid-twenties to the fifties. Most of them are not comfortable using computers. The majority of them do not speak or read English.
Feature Requests: Users want more information on hotel amenities 4/6 high Mental Model: Users are confused as to whether or not they are required to input full Chinese name, or just family name 5/6 high Feedback: Loading screen has no progress bar. This confuses users as to whether or not their information is being processed 6/6 high Background We are the Chinese Holiday Inn Website usability group, a team of four Chinese students and two American students in SPSU’s Bachelor of Science in Technical Communication degree program. Dr. Carol Barnum, the professor of our usability testing and research course, suggested the idea of this usability test of the Chinese Holiday Inn website. Karen Bennett was interested in having the Chinese Holiday Inn website evaluated for usability questions and issues. In the initial meeting, she discussed the scope of the site and its typical users, as well as competitor sites. She also discussed what concerns she already had about the website going into testing; for example, she wanted to make sure that there were not any translation issues. From the information provided by the sponsor, the project team learned that the audience for the website is mostly domestic (mainland) Chinese. They book hotel rooms online for business and/or leisure purposes. Their ages span from the mid-twenties to the fifties. Most of them are not comfortable using computers. The majority of them do not speak or read English.
03_Holiday_Inn_China_Website_Usability_Study_Final_Report_Ch._9.docx