Design for Findability

Findability is an aspect of usability. Findability basically focuses on making things easy to locate for users. A few ideas to help you focus on findability are presented on this page.

1. Design from the student's point of view

Instructors have their own perspective on their course content. They have the privilege of knowing the entire scope and sequence of the course. Students, on the other hand, approach course content in an immediate fashion: What do I need to do this week? So if an instructor groups all of their handouts for the entire course in a single folder and expects students to visit that folder each week, this is an instructor-centric approach. Yes, students are capable of finding the handouts. However, if the instructor placed each week's handout within the corresponding weekly lesson folder, the students would not need to locate the handout.

2. Name items wisely

It is sometimes tempting to "customize" the look and feel of our online courses. But remember that one person's customization is another person's source of confusion. For example, the accessible course template for Blackboard provided by Online Learning includes modules titled Module 1, Module 2, and so on. Changing these names to "Leopard Unit," "Gorilla Unit," and so forth might not seem like a big deal. But while the original system had numeric order included in the module names, the new system disposes of order and seems to be an array of random topics. (Remember, students do not grasp the content the way an instructor does.)

A happy medium exists, of course. The modules could be name Module 1 - Leopards, Module 2 - Gorillas, and so on. Now the module names are meaningful in terms of content and sequence. Alternatively, the module name could be left alone and a short description of the module can be added below the name.

Use consistent naming conventions for modules and any files students will be accessing by name (including downloaded files). Names like "Chapter 1" for a presentation or reading only work when they are in the context of a course. But students might be downloading "Chapter 1" files from any number of courses -- all ending up in the same downloads folder.

Add details to your file names so students can identify them easily. For example, you could label a file "ENG101-Chapter1-Reading." Anyone can figure out what this file is without needing to open it.

3. Keep content near the surface

No one likes to drill down through a series of links to get to the content they need. Use direct links when possible. Organize files and content to avoid creating a labyrinth for students to navigate.

4. Use formatting consistently and appropriately

Several simple formatting principles help to make your content more findable.

• The proper use of headers and sub-headers is key to accessibility and also findability. Headers serve as navigational signposts.
• Bulleted lists and numbered lists also organize information for students.
• White space on a web page is also crucial to making content findable. Remember that people scan and skim perhaps more than they read. White space and "texture" on the page create landmarks and cues for the eye. One way to leverage white space is by not typing out lengthy paragraphs. The space between paragraphs is sufficient white space to aid the reader.
• Use special formatting judiciously. Consider the use of bold font on this page, for example. If there were bold font, colored font, various colors of font, italicized font, and so on, the emphasis the writer intended would be lost in a sea of competing visual stimuli.

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