Some Strengths Emerge: Obama Site's Superior First Impression, McCain
Site's Straightforward Organization
Study Highlights Still-Evolving Nature of Campaign Web Design, Despite
Massive Attention, Resources
NEW YORK, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Catalyst Group released the
results of a usability study conducted on June 26-27. The study --
conducted with undecided voters who had little or no exposure to the
Presidential Candidates' websites -- revealed that the "look" of Barack
Obama's site was preferred to McCain's but most users thought that McCain's
site overall was easier to use.
"With battle-tested sites, substantial resources and four months left
in the election, we wondered which campaign site made it easiest for the
average voter to donate funds, communicate positions, and organize
supporters," said Catalyst Group CEO, Nick Gould. "The surprise was that
both candidates' web platforms appear to have made unnecessary compromises
that leave voters confused and raise questions about the fundamental
function of such sites."
Top-Line Results
A full report on Catalyst's usability research is available at:
http://www.catalystgroupdesign.com/cofactors/?p=248
Barack Obama's site made a much better first impression than John
McCain's site, mainly due to the Obama site's visual design (particularly
the homepage). Participants also immediately felt that the Obama site was
more "youthful" and "modern" than McCain's site, which was deemed too
"boxy," dark and crowded. Eye Tracking data further showed that users were
confused by the visual appearance and layout of the McCain homepage. By
contrast, Eye Tracking on the Obama homepage demonstrated that the test
participants were likely to quickly focus on the same high-priority
functions, such as the Issues menu, the main content "Flipper" and the Make
a Difference functions.
However, once test participants moved past their initial reactions to
the two sites, they began to "warm up" to the McCain site -- particularly
the more straightforward navigation and clear labeling. When asked to
accomplish a variety of core site tasks, most users found the tasks much
easier to complete on the McCain site.
In the end, a clear majority of users preferred McCain's site to
Obama's. Of the 15 users tested, 11 (5 Democrats, 6 Republicans) favored
John McCain's site while 4 favored Barack Obama's (2 Democrats, 2
Republicans).
Methodology Overview
Catalyst recruited 15 "undecided" voters with a mixture of demographic
characteristics and an even split of Republican / Democrat voting history.
Test Participants were interviewed, one at a time, according to a
pre-determined script which focused on a set of core site tasks on both
sites. The site tasks were:
-- Initial Homepage and overall site design impressions
-- Locate the Candidates' biographical information
-- Find the details of the Candidates' tax plans
-- Make a campaign donation
-- Get the latest campaign news
-- Sign up for future campaign news via email
-- Locate an event where the candidate will be appearing in-person
-- Volunteer / get involved with the campaign
Finally, we captured and analyzed participant Eye Tracking data during
participants' initial explorations of the two candidate homepages.
About Catalyst Group
Founded in 1998, Catalyst Group (http://www.catalystnyc.com) improves websites
and software applications through insights into and testing of key audience
behavior. The firm specializes in user-centered research and design that
extends from core interface architecture into visual design and branding
strategy.
|
