CARRIE BENGSTON
UX DESIGN | CONTENT
Tasmanian TRB website evaluation
The Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania has an important regulatory role in the state's education system.
The context
In Australia's southernmost state, the Tasmania's Teachers' Registration Board (TRB) plays an important role regulating the teaching profession for schools and TasTAFE. The TRB's website is a major online destination for over 11,000 Tasmanian teachers, 1,000+ trainee teachers, 200+ schools, and Australian universities. But how well does it cater for their needs? I wanted to assess the site's usability, and suggest improvements.
“Our job is to determine who should be and stay a teacher in Tasmania so we get the best teachers for the state’s students”
- TRB Registrar
The challenge
The TasTRB website is a resource for Tasmanian teachers, schools and trainee teachers. The site provides information about teaching in Tasmania and gives access to the 'TRB Online' portal which allows teachers to manage their registration and do other tasks.
The TRB registers teachers in Tasmanian schools and TasTAFE colleges and accredits universities' initial teacher education (‘ITE’) courses, establishing standards and codes of conduct, providing information about legal responsibilities, administering registration, conducting disciplinary matters and more. Stakeholders include the Tasmanian Department of Education, University of Tasmania, TasTAFE and the public and private schools sector, students and parents, and national education authorities.
With many diverse users and stakeholders and few staff, and with aspects of the site’s functionality determined by the Department of Education, the agency’s capacity to enhance the website is limited. As a side-project, I did a heuristic evaluation of the site's usability and identified some improvements with the goal to show how TRB could enhance users' experience of its site.
“Our website has to fit in with the Department of Education’s site”
- TRB website manager
The process
The Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania premises in suburban Hobart.
Contextual inquiry - I conducted a contextual inquiry to gain insights into the TRB. I visited the Board’s offices and spoke informally with staff. I also attended a guest lecture by the TRB registrar to University of Tasmania (UTas) students about the Board’s role and teachers' rights and responsibilities. Afterwards I spoke informally to the registrar and several UTas education academics.
Heurtistic evaluation - I conducted a heurisitic evaluation of the TRB website (but not the TRB Online portal which required a log-in) to assess the site's usability. I chose the LEMErS framework for my evaluation - assessing Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Error prevention and management, Satisfaction. This subset of the classic Nielsen's 10 heurisitics was feasible in the time available. I evaluated the website in the context of a task - a trainee teacher applying for a Student Good Character Determination (SGCD), mandatory to teach in schools. An SGCD application is often the first touchpoint in a teacher’s user journey with the TRB.
Trainee teachers in Tasmania must apply for and receive a Student Good Character Determination to teach in Tasmanian schools.
The findings
The TRB home page features appealing images of classroom scenes, offers clear navigation and prominent access to the registration portal, TRB Online.
Findings from the Contextual Inquiry included:
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the TRB has few resources for the scale and importance of its role
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TRB website management is part of one person's job, and the site design and functionality must comply with Tasmanian Department of Education requirements
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the TRB enjoys strong relationships with University of Tasmania education academics and students (trainee teachers) who engage positively with the TRB.
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Tasmania is unique among Australian states in formally assessing trainee teachers' suitability and 'good character' during their teacher education courses.
SGCD submenu item links to pdf factsheet rather than webpage
Finding the right submenu item was easy for applying for a SGCD. However it goes to a downloadable factsheet, potentially taking users out of the task flow. Much of the site's content is in pdfs.
Findings from the Heuristic Evaluation are that, while some minor fixes (‘quick wins’) would improve the TRB website, the site would benefit from a more substantial redevelopment to improve and update the site's usability and design, and increase user satisfaction. This could reduce the load on TRB staff longer term. Issues identified using the LEMErS framework included:
Learnability - The top menu is clear and the carousel images are similar to those on the Department of Education site, showing teachers interacting positively with students. Menu top level categories may need testing as there is some overlap.
Efficiency - General information about SGCDs on the website is limited. Most site content is presented in pdf factsheets and some webpages are document lists. Navigating pdfs takes users out of the task flow, potentially disorienting them (the site's global navigation is lost) and making the task difficult. Providing information on webpages, (eg. about SGCD process) instead would likely improve user flow and reduce friction. Factsheet content may need reworking to support this.
Memorability - The site's callouts direct people to TRB Online to administer their records, with minimal contextual information provided upfront. To showcase the site's informational content and encourage browsing, I'd suggest moving the TRB Online log-in to the top right of the screen where utilities are conventionally located.
Error prevention and management - The FAQs factsheets showed users were making common errors in TRB Online, eg selecting wrong registration type, requiring them to contact the TRB to manually amend their record. Such errors are frustrating for the user and time-consuming for TRB staff. Errors could likely be prevented through, for example, provision of clear, contextual information about/throughout the process, and better form design, and managed through, for example, an editable confirmation screen that allows users to check their data before submission.
Satisfaction - While the home page images are appealing, the site overall is somewhat outdated and clunky. It uses an older document-management style Content Management System (CMS) which restricts the site's usability, functionality and satisfaction. A seamless and satisfying online experience would build users' confidence and goodwill in the TRB. I suggested clarifying Department of Education requirements for the site and exploring opportunities to improve the user experience.
Some webpages on the site, like this, are simple document lists. This FAQs page links to pdfs addressing common questions on topics like applying for a Student Good Character Determination and changing registration category. This content would be expected on webpages in the relevant submenu areas.
I provided recommendations to the TRB based on my evaluation. I created an issues prioritisation matrix based on the effort required to address issues and the potential impact - with the caveat that the prioritisation was mine and may not reflect the TRB’s reality and goals.
Issue prioritisation matrix giving my take on the relative value and ease of fixing the issues identified in the heuristic evaluation but is subjective.
The TRB valued a fresh look at their website. For me, this was a great opportunity to apply my analytical skills in evaluating a website. With more time, I would:
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explore another heuristic framework such a Nielsen’s classic 10 heuristics
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evaluate the forms used in TRB Online and suggest improvements
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compare the site to those of teachers' registration boards in other states and overseas.
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conduct usability testing with actual users, eg education students.