Risk communication and usability case study: implications for Web site design

Few evaluation or research studies have demonstrated the impact of Web site use on users´ information levels, attitudes, intended behaviors, or actual behaviors. The article reports on an evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency´s Pesticide and Foods Web site designed to inform grocery store shoppers about pesticide residues and what they can do to reduce their exposures to them. Overall our preliminary analyses found that participants (n=24, about 37% had children living at home) rated the EPA Pesticides and Food Web site as easy to use, reported the site as interesting, understandable, well-written and presented in a straightforward manner. More than 75% of the participants successfully completed six of the eleven tasks, and spent, depending on the task, between 64 and 222 seconds locating information on the Web site. The article then provides eight guidelines for Web developers to enhance their Web sites