Published AthenaPlus D5.1 Report on the user needs and requirements
2013-08-01
Report on the user needs and requirements
This deliverable, coordinated by ICCU and PACKED, gathers information on user needs and requirements in relation to the creative applications for the (re)use of digital cultural heritage content that will be developed in the AthenaPlus WP5. The initial feedback was gathered through the use of personas. This methodology draws on classical search behaviour and information architecture research where each persona represents a unique individual; in our case, selected as examples of Europeana’s hypothetic stakeholders – schoolteachers, retired persons, tourist guides, specialists such as musicians, and historians or archaeologist; i.e. those harbouring a specific interest in cultural history.
A specific task was scripted and the volunteer who was playing the persona was asked to visit websites in a way that would be appropriate from the point of view of the specific personas they are playing, performing their tasks either on Europeana or through generic searches via Google. In total, 61 completed test reports were completed and processed and all the data were then documented and described in this document. While the user tests were set up to carry out a certain scenario by using pre-allocated online platforms, the input from the WP5 Working Group, composed of experts from several partners, was collected in a more open way. From the Description of Work WP5 had set a goal to evaluate an application environment that specifically focused on: virtual exhibitions, tourist routes and education. Therefore the WP5 Working group was asked to describe similar applications or online platforms that they felt represented inspiring examples; including the key components they felt would be appropriate to these kinds of applications (or those that were lacking these components); and to report on methodologies concerning online interaction or online usability. The results of this deliverable will inform the future deliverables in the following ways: a) D5.: Report on existing tools and devices related to narrative approaches and requirement functionalities, foreseen at month 6; b) D5.3 First release of the AthenaPlus tools, foreseen at month 11.
