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South Dakota Online Exhibit: The Dakota Experience
Pilot Module Summative Evaluation
April 24 & 25, 2004
Prepared by Minda Borun, Museum Solutions
Introduction
The Dakota Experience will be a comprehensive web site associated with the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center. The site will provide information and experiences about Dakota history for a broa
range of users. A summative test of the main menu grid and a pilot web module was arranged in order to provide specific feedback on these items and more general feedback to inform the development of the remaining modules.
Minda Borun, Museum Solutions, worked with David Schaller, Educational Web Adventures, to develop the testing instrument and procedures. Testing took place at the South Dakota Library in Pierre. Five computer stations
were used, with one observer and one subject per station. In addition to Borun and Schaller, three staff members from the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center served as observers. Testing took place on Saturday and Sunday,
April 24 and 25, 2004. Fifty-five subjects, ranging in age from 10 to adult, participated.
Executive Summary
The assessment focused on three main areas of the pilot module: the Big Picture Grid, Deadwood Illustrated, and the On-line Collection.
The Big Picture Grid emerged as a very successful and effective navigation device for a large body of information. Instead of the usual hierarchy of menus, people can choose topics and time periods on a
single visual plane and then roll over "buttons" to see pop-up pictures that give further clues to content. The grid makes exploration intuitive and attractive and avoids the "lost in the menu" problem.
Deadwood Illustrated is a lively, interactive way to learn history. It was enjoyed by children and adults. People especially liked the voices of the characters and their differing points of view.
The On-line Collection was also appealing. Participants particularly appreciated being able to zoom in and magnify images to see more detail. When users were given time for open-ended exploration,
many people took over half an hour and would have continued if they hadn't been interrupted by the testers' need to move them on.
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