Indiana FINDER

The Indiana Disability Resource Finder website (FINDER) was developed in 2018 to provide disabled individuals with 24/7 access to resources that can enhance their quality of life. We sought to gain a better understanding of potential usability concerns with the FINDER site.

Methods:

  • Conducted an Expert Evaluation (Heuristic Evaluation, NN/g standards) to receive broad usability feedback for usability testing

  • Semi-structured interview over Zoom

    • Consisted of a moderator, facilitator, and a potential user

    • Usability tasks for the three main user types

      • Ex.)"...Utilize Indiana Disability Resource Finder’s filters to find the best three therapy providers and resources for your situation."

    • Think-Aloud Protocol

Results:

Task one

Summary of Results:

  • Task One:

    • Average success rating of 2.75, indicating minor to major problems completing the task

    • Users had difficulty finding results via direct search

      • Unhelpful filter only allowing to sort by "random"

      • Had to sift through pages of content to find a specific listing

  • Task Two: 

    • Average success rating of 2, indicating minor problems completing the task

    • Lack of clarity of the tabs “Topics of Interest” and “Diagnosis”

    • Difficulty navigating when the screen is smaller

  • Task Three:

    • Average success rating of 4, indicating all users either failed the task or had to give up

    • Frequent "incorrect" clicks 

    • Difficulty understanding the filters 

    • Lack of relevant results

“It’s hard for me, this is not my area of experience…what should I have clicked to get the filter correct?”

“It seemed relatively straightforward [overall]...aside from collecting the diagnosis. It was just kind of hard to understand.”

“I expected [the listing] to show up as number one. If I search for Children’s Special Health Care, I would expect it to be number one.” 

Usability-based Recommendations

  • Alter the search results so they are automatically sorted by relevancy

  • Require word limits on listings

  • Recalibration of filter search tools 

  • General cosmetic concerns 

    • Website "jumps" when users are scrolling through the search results

    • Better utilized white space

  • IDRF should provide a small explanation below the search bar within a filter page