Information Users and Usability in the Digital Age

Citation

Nazari, M. (2012), "Information Users and Usability in the Digital Age", Online Information Review, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 768-769. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521211276037

With the emergence of the internet, online information services have witnessed, and continue to witness, profound change; they should be designed not for a particular group with specified characteristics but any group of potential users of online resources with diverse abilities and needs. This challenge becomes a dilemma when mobile phones and other digital devises constitute a new, and more popular, form of information access among users. Altogether these expose information professionals to challenging questions on how to design information products and services that address such evolving diversity.

This book has been motivated by the recognition of such transition in the research and practice of information use and usability of information services in the digital world. In ten chapters the authors discuss major issues and studies of information users and the usability of information services around the globe.

The first chapter describes the need for this work; in so doing the authors provide general information about usability and user needs studies and provide some examples of online information products and services. Chapters 2 and 3 present a general background to usability and user studies in information science. Chapter 2 describes the nature and types of information needs and the challenging nature of research on the topic, including techniques and methods for gathering information about users, their information needs and information behaviour. Chapter 3 offers an overview of various information behaviour and information‐seeking and retrieval models.

Chapters 4‐6 discuss basic skills for conducting usability research in information science. Chapters 4 and 5 show how to design a usability study, choose study participants, collect data and so on. Chapter 6 discusses some basic quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques necessary for statistical interpretation of usability data.

Chapters 7 and 8 introduce readers to various web and digital library usability studies in order to provide an insight into different methods, techniques and tools that researchers have employed in conducting usability studies in specific contexts. Chapter 9 provides a broader context for usability research, giving a broad overview of contemporary issues and challenges associated with web and ICT environments and access and usage barriers. This chapter also discusses the concept and challenges of the digital divide. Reading this chapter in conjunction with the rest of the book provides considerable insight into conducting usability research appropriate for different sections of today's information society.

Chapter 10 concludes the book with a brief discussion of the various issues and trends of usability research. It includes discussion of major recent developments in the online information world resulting from activities by such major players as Google, Amazon, Apple and Sony, all of which have had considerable impact on access to, and usability of, online information products.

The comprehensive coverage of the book, both in topics and citations to key publications, and simplicity in the presentation and visualisation of the issues makes the book a great source for information science researchers, practitioners, students and lecturers who want an overall view of usability and user studies or who want to build/expand knowledge in the field of design and evaluation of digital information systems and services.