Public Opinion Research

Web site Testing - July 2005

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Overview

This paper provides a summary of public opinion research conducted on websites. It is not meant to be a substitute for the pre-testing of materials, rather it is a collection of generalized findings intended to provide insight into the initial design of websites. Many research projects have been conducted on various websites and several trends have emerged throughout this research in areas such as:

Content

• The scope and content of any website should be made apparent to visitors right away, so that they can judge immediately if the site is something they are interested in or not.¹, ³, ⁸, ¹¹
• Canadians expect to find current health news, as well as information on specic diseases and conditions, new products, therapies and treatments on the health sites they visit.², ³, ¹² Generally, they appreciate health-related websites with Canadian content.¹²
• Canadians tend to prefer clear, concise content that is clearly relevant to them, as well as clearly organized.¹, ⁴, ⁵, ⁸, ¹¹, ¹², ¹³
• The ability to seek personalized information tends to go over well with Canadians.⁷, ¹³ They often go online seeking health information relevant to them personally.², ⁷
• Facts, statistics and testimonials are consistently well-received.⁴, ⁵, ⁸ In cases where such features are not present, Canadians frequently suggest they be added.¹, ⁴, ¹¹, ¹³
• Many Canadians offer positive comments about visiting a website and not finding any commercial affiliation on it (i.e. links, pop-ups or ads to a pharmaceutical company). This lends credibility to the information presented on the site, as it is seen to be unbiased.¹², ¹³

Format

• In general, Canadians are most receptive to simple websites that are free of clutter and have large, easy to read fonts.¹, ², ³, ⁹, ¹⁰, ¹¹, ¹³
• Across all age groups, the preference for short blocks of text, broken up by graphics and visuals, is clear.⁴, ⁸
• Canadians appreciate it when they do not have to do a lot of scrolling to read the content of a website. In many cases, they do not take the time to scroll through large amounts of text in order to read it all.⁴, ⁵

Navigation

• For many, it is important that key content areas are accessible from the homepage.⁴, ⁵, ⁶ Flexibility when navigating a website is also important (i.e. there should be more than one way to get to one particular area of the site).¹³
• Section titles and headings should be intuitive to the user. Headings and titles should clearly reflect the types of information that can be found in the section.², ³
• Websites should be easy to backtrack through, as often Canadians wish to return to a previous page to read or re-read information.³, ⁴, ⁵ A site map is often helpful in assisting website users with retracing their steps, and when one is not provided there are multiple suggestions to include one.⁵
• Search engines are seen as necessary for ease of navigation, as most Canadians rely on a website's search engine to find the information that they're looking for.¹², ¹³ Generally, search engines should be capable of dealing with common spelling mistakes and offer the same features as some of the more popular Internet search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google. Search results should be sorted by relevance to their search topic, as this is what Canadians are most familiar with.², ³

Features

• URLs for websites should be simple to remember. Things like hyphenation make a URL more difficult to remember.², ³
• Colours are important in shaping Canadians' opinions of websites. Here, the preference is for vibrant, eye-catching colours, colour schemes and fonts.², ³, ⁴, ⁵, ⁸, ⁹, ¹⁰, ¹¹
• Visuals are also an important aspect of websites. Canadians like to see information presented in writing and visually (i.e. in graphs, tables, charts, photos, etc.).¹³
• Interactive features of websites are much appreciated. Canadians enjoy websites which offer chat and discussion boards, quizzes, videos and e-cards.¹, ⁴, ⁶, ⁸, ⁹, ¹¹, ¹³
• Being able to submit questions and receive an answer from an "expert" is also important to Canadians, in the event that the information they seek is not included elsewhere on the website.³, ⁵, ⁶, ⁸, ¹³
• Links are important aspects of any website, however links should be maintained on a regular basis, as broken links are a source of frustration for site visitors.², ¹², ¹³

Language

• The text portions of any website should be carefully written for whatever group has been identified as the target audience (i.e. medical professionals, the general population, etc.). This includes language level and tone.¹, ², ³

Youth

• Youth generally have poorer reading skills, less sophisticated research strategies and dramatically lower levels of patience than adults do. Websites aimed at youth should bear this in mind.¹⁰
• Youth do not appreciate websites that use preachy, commanding or condescending language to communicate with them.⁴, ⁸, ⁹ Similarly, they do not appreciate sites that seem as though they are "trying too hard" to appeal to them.⁹
• Edgy, relevant websites that don't resort to scare tactics are generally well received by this group.⁸, ⁹, ¹⁰, ¹¹ On the other hand, overly glitzy sites are usually dismissed as being too complicated to use.⁸, ¹⁰ Sites that are slow or behave clumsily are not appreciated by this group.⁸, ¹⁰
• Photos on websites targeted at youth should avoid stereotypes and reflect sub-cultures as well as mainstream youth.⁴, ⁸, ⁹, ¹¹
• Youth consider information even a month old to be out-of-date.⁸
• Sites that try to cater to both children and youth are generally dismissed by youth as being too childish. Teens and children should each have their own section of a website in order to better serve the two groups' very different needs and preferences.¹⁰

If you have any questions about this research or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact Jane Hazel, Director, Public Opinion Research and Evaluation Division, Communications, Marketing and Consultation Directorate (CMCD) at (613) 957-0215 or via e-mail at jane_hazel@hc-sc.gc.ca.