User Experience: usability analysis of the e-Campo virtual learning environment (EMBRAPA)

Alencar, Danila Fernandes; Martins, Paulo George Miranda; Rodas, Cecílio Merlotti; Sant’Ana, Ricardo César Gonçalves

doi:10.20396/rdbci.v20i00.8671313/32073

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RDBCI: Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação

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Article • RDBCI : Rev. Digit. Bibl. e Cienc. Inf. 21 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.20396/rdbci.v20i00.8671313/32073 copy

User Experience: usability analysis of the e-Campo virtual learning environment (EMBRAPA)

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Users of digital environments have specific characteristics that differ from their social context and the degree of usability of Information and Communication Technologies for access to the most diverse informational platforms, in which such particularities must be considered to meet the informational needs of these individuals and provide a better experience in digital environments. A discipline that proposes to investigate aspects related to user experience in digital environments is User Experience (UX) and, from the application of usability techniques, it is possible to identify barriers that can affect user interaction.

Objective:

The present study aims to analyze the usability of the e-Campo portal, from Embrapa, based on Nielsen's heuristic.

Methodology:

The methodology adopted in this research is characterized as a bibliographical, qualitative and exploratory analysis. Results: In the 10 steps identified, 10 usability problems were found, with the violation of heuristic 4 (Consistency and standards) being the most recurrent.

Conclusion:

Aspects related to usability were verified, which may hinder access to the content available on the portal. Thus, the relevance of the user in the context of studies in the area of Information Science is verified so that the construction of more interactive systems that allow a satisfactory user experience can be proposed.

KEYWORDS:
User experience; Usability; Virtual learning environment; e-Campo portal

Heuristics	Description	Goals
1. Visibility of system status	The design should always keep users informed about what is going on through appropriate feedback within a reasonable period of time.	Allows the user to know the system's status through more consistent and predictable interactions
2. Correspondence between the system and the real world	The design should use the users' language, such as familiar words, phrases, and concepts. Follow real-world conventions by making information appear in a natural and logical order.	Allows the user to make correlations with real-world facts, icons and images, promoting an intuitive interface
3. User control and autonomy	The design establishes an "emergency exit" so the user can leave an unwanted action when acting by mistake without going through a lengthy process.	Allows the user the freedom to quit a process without being frustrated
4. Consistency and standards	The design should follow platform and industry conventions so users can understand if different words, situations, or actions have the same meaning.	It allows users to gain confidence by using products they already know about and expect
5. Error prevention	The design should carefully prevent problems from occurring, eliminating error-prone conditions by presenting users with a confirmation option before committing to the action.	Allows errors or mistakes that occur during use to be fixed quickly
6. Recognition instead of remembering	The design should minimize the user's memory load by making elements, actions, and options visible so that needed information is visible or easily retrievable when needed.	Allows users to recognize information on the interface when accessing digital environments from a pre-established standard
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use	The design should cater to both inexperienced and experienced users, allowing them to customize frequent actions through shortcuts, which can speed up the interaction with the environment.	Allows the user to use features or access shortcuts for smooth navigation
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design	The design should have an interface that does not contain irrelevant or rarely needed information.	Allows the user an interface focused on the essentials
9. Helps users to recognize, diagnose and recover from errors	The design should make it possible for error messages to be expressed in simple language, stating the problem and suggesting a solution in a constructive way.	Allows the user to identify an error and return to the previous step
10. Help and documentation	The design should allow access to documentation to help the user understand how to complete their tasks if they need any further explanation.	Allows quick and easy access to users' assistance documents

Stages	Description	Usability Issues	Heuristics Violations
1) Access to the e-Campo Virtual Learning Environment.	A tab titled "Courses and Events" is available on the Embrapa portal. When the user clicks it, they are redirected to a page that offers the following options: search the course by name, events by type (online courses, courses, congresses, field days), upcoming events, and news about events. The user must click on the online courses option and will then be redirected to the e-Campo portal.	(H3) There are no arrows or indicators to help the user return to the previous page. (H4) When the user accesses the e-Campo portal, the interface design differs from the previous page, which may confuse the user.	3 and 4.
2) Selection of the course.	Courses with open registration, courses on continuous offer, and courses with closed registration.	(H4) Does not appear on the home screen if the course is free or paid. (H7) There is no place to search courses by name or filter-free and paid courses. (H8) Too much information and an extended page.	4, 7 and 8.
3) Registration.	The "Learn More" button must be selected for the user to formalize the registration, opening the course page with the option "Enroll now". The enrollment procedure depends on the course chosen. In certain courses, especially paid courses, the user is redirected to the institution's portal promoting the course.	(H4) Redirection to another institution's site may confuse the user since there is no previous information warning about this redirection.	4
4) Registering for free courses - Embrapa Virtual Learning Environment	For the user to be able to take the courses, it is necessary to create an account and provide some personal information such as E-mail, First Name, Last Name, State, Country, and Security Number. After registering, it is necessary to confirm this via e-mail by clicking on the link that redirects to the portal.	(H4) The Terms of Use and Privacy Notice are presented extensively before reaching the identification page. To identify the mandatory information in the registration form, an exclamation symbol in red is used, and the explanation of the symbol can only be found at the end of the form.	4
5) Introduction, terms of use, and participant profile.	After the registration stage, the page is updated with course information and content. The user's awareness of the terms and conditions of use is collected, and it is also compulsory to fill out the questionnaire entitled "Participant Profile", whose objective is to identify the characteristics of the users taking the course. In some courses, a participant's guide instructs the student on navigating through the content available in the environment.	No usability barrier has been identified.	-
6) Access to the Virtual Learning Environment.	The Tour contains explanations of the following blocks: recently accessed courses, course summary, use of the block filters, course summary, and changing the course viewing option.	(H10) There are no explanations about the functionality of the functions available on the right tab (Dashboard, Calendar, Private Files, My courses and My Certificates) and also the functions that are in the upper right corner of the screen (Dashboard, Profile, Notes, Messages, Preferences and My Certificates) are not presented.	10
7) Access to Content.	For specific courses, a multimedia player with interactive text and images is available. In other courses, a narrated video with images and text is linked on the page below the video. Supplementary material in Portable Document Format (PDF) is available for download.	(H2) For courses with multimedia playback, it is not possible to use the accessibility feature (VLIBRAS).	2
8) Learning evaluation.	At the end of the course, a learning evaluation questionnaire is made available, whose number of questions is defined according to the specifics of each course. In the "Survey Navigation" option, located in the upper right corner, it is possible to view the status of each question and the progress in completing the form.	No usability barrier has been identified.	-
9) Satisfaction Evaluation.	In order to improve the courses offered, it is requested to fill out the "Satisfaction Evaluation", with questions grouped into dimensions about the content and structure, graphic interface, applicability, and institutional and logistical support.	No usability barrier has been identified.	-
10) Issuance of the Certificate of Completion.	To issue the certificate, the user must select the option "Get certificate", then it will be available for printing and/or downloading in PDF format.	No usability barrier has been identified.	-

Universidade Estadual de Campinas Rua Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, 421 - 1º andar Biblioteca Central César Lattes - Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz - CEP: 13083-859 , Tel: +55 19 3521-6729 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rdbci@unicamp.br

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[1] Conflicts of interest:

Authors certify that they have no commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in relation to the manuscript.