Abstract

Archives should provide a web-based archival information service with good usability based on the understanding of users’ needs. Thus, this study analyzed the usability of the National Archives of Korea (NAK) website’s search service through expert and usability evaluations for various users and suggested improvement plans. A literature review, heuristic evaluation, one of the usability expert evaluation methods, and usability evaluation for users were performed. As a result of expert evaluation, the severity rating for the usability problem was highest regarding a match between the system and real world and the lowest in error prevention. In the usability evaluation, it was assumed that the user’s background and whether the website’s help was provided is associated with usability. Usability evaluation was conducted for 22 participants, including those majoring in records management, web/application developers, and people without such backgrounds. Furthermore, a presurvey, a five-second test, and search tasks were conducted in a row. The analysis based on usability components in ISO 9241-11: 2018, i.e., effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, showed that web/application developers had the highest search effectiveness, and those majoring in records management showed high effectiveness only in the search for archival content services. Background factors did not affect efficiency, and the more familiar with the finding aids, the better the efficiency. Moreover, providing the website’s help was found to be positively associated with effectiveness and satisfaction. This study suggests that the NAK website will offer a user-friendly interface and search function, expand help support, and display a consistent web interface.