{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T18:15:22Z","timestamp":1754158522352,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,6,1]],"date-time":"2015-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1433116800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,6,1]]},"abstract":"\n Purpose<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 The purpose of this paper is to add to the knowledge about how to design websites that are stress-free, easy to navigate and relevant to children\u2019s learning needs. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 This paper involves an observational study that reports the results of website usability among sixth-grade students in a private foreign school in Kuwait. The observation pertained to search performance, usability and navigation to find the needed information using the WebPath Express database. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Findings<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Most of the children navigated and searched the system without much prompting; they found the search box easily, as it was positioned at the top-centre of the page, and without keywords. Of the eight students, none used the narrow-down search option; they commonly performed searches using phrases, and consistency and simplicity aided the search process. Some gender differences were found. The boys got side-tracked easily and took a longer time to find the information they sought than the girls. User behaviour, generally, was influenced by the interface design. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Research about usability with different grade levels, with different languages and between genders needs to be conducted to provide more definitive conclusions. Sample size in observations can bring to light details that large samples cannot. The goal in observation is not statistical significance but small things that observations can bring to light. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Practical implications<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 Web designers need to take into consideration the research results in the areas of user interaction with computers and software. In designing educational tools for the young, several elements that research in general, including this one, emphasizes have to do with the location of search boxes, navigation interface and design elements, all of which can aid the learning process while providing a rewarding and fruitful educational experience. <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n \u2013 These findings shed light on implications for cooperation between librarians and teachers and on design elements for sites tailored to school children.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/el-12-2013-0216","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,5,27]],"date-time":"2015-05-27T10:08:41Z","timestamp":1432721321000},"page":"557-572","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Website usability: the case of Kuwaiti middle school students"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"33","author":[{"given":"Taghreed Mohammad","family":"Alqudsi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Reem Murdhi","family":"Alkhaledi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b1","unstructured":"Bilal, D.\n (2002), \u201cChildren design their interfaces for web search engines: a participatory approach\u201d, paper presented at CAIS\/ACSI, 30 May-1 June, Toronto, available at: www.cais-acsi.ca\/proceedings\/2002\/Bilal_2002.pdf (accessed 24 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bilal, D.\n (2005), \u201cChildren\u2019s information seeking and the design of digital interfaces in the affective paradigm\u201d, \n Library Trends\n , Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 197-208.","DOI":"10.1353\/lib.2006.0013"},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b3","unstructured":"Businessballs.com\n (2012), \u201cErikson\u2019s psychosocial development theory: Erik Erikson\u2019s psychosocial crisis life cycle model \u2013 the eight stages of human development\u201d, \n Businessballs.com\n , available at: www.businessballs.com\/erik_erikson_psychosocial_theory.htm (accessed 12 June 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b4","unstructured":"Cosgrove-Mather, B.\n (2000), \u201cFamily matters: kids prize web simplicity, reject complex interfaces\u201d, \n CBS News\n , 11 February, available at: www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2002\/04\/22\/scitech\/pcanswer\/main506912.shtml (accessed 20 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b5","unstructured":"Cullmann, C.\n (2010), \u201cThe 5 C\u2019s of web usability\u201d, \n Cullmann Design Blog\n , 14 March, available at: http:\/\/blog.cullmanndesign.com\/2010\/03\/5-rules-for-good-website-usability\/ (accessed 12 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b6","unstructured":"Follet Software Company\n (2012), \u201cDigital content subscriptions: WebPath Express\u201d, available at: www.follettsoftware.com\/webpath-express (accessed 10 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b7","unstructured":"Gray, A.\n (2007), \u201cConstructivist teaching and learning. SSTA Research Center report\u201d, available at: http:\/\/saskschoolboards.ca\/research\/instruction\/97-07.htm#Table of Contents (accessed 19 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b8","unstructured":"Hutchinson, H.\n , \n Bederson, B.\n and \n Druin, A.\n (2005), \u201cInterface design for children\u2019s searching and browsing\u201d, available at: http:\/\/ftp:\/\/ftp.cs.umd.edu\/pub\/hcil\/Reports-Abstracts-Bibliography\/2005-24html\/2005-24.htm (accessed 15 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b10","unstructured":"Kuniavsky, M.K.\n (2012), \n Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner\u2019s Guide to User Research\n , Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b11","unstructured":"Kwiatkowska, J.\n and \n Scherer, M.\n (1996), \u201cYoung customer in the internet and usability of web pages\u201d, available at: www.ptzp.org.pl\/files\/konferencje\/kzz\/artyk_pdf_2012\/e038.pdf (accessed 21 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Large, A.\n , \n Beheshti, J.\n and \n Rahman, T.\n (2002), \u201cDesign criteria for children\u2019s web portals: the users speak out\u201d, \n Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology\n , Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 79-94.","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.10012"},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b13","unstructured":"Naidu, S.\n (2005), \u201cEvaluating the usability of educational websites for children\u201d, \n Software Usability Research\n , Vol. 7 No. 2."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b14","unstructured":"Nielsen, J.\n (2010), \u201cChildren\u2019s websites: usability issues in designing for kids\u201d, Jakob Nielsen\u2019s Alertbox, available at: www.useit.com\/alertbox\/children.html (accessed 9 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b15","unstructured":"Owoh, B.\n (2010), \u201cFive simple but essential web usability tips\u201d, Six Revisions, available at: http:\/\/sixrevisions.com\/usabilityaccessibility\/five-simple-but-essential-web-usability-tips\/ (accessed 10 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_b16","unstructured":"Usability\n (2012), \u201cWebopedia\u201d, available at: www.webopedia.com\/TERM\/U\/usability.html (accessed 18 April 2012)."},{"key":"key2020122302580329500_frd1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Johnson, G.M.\n (2007), \u201cThe internet vocabulary test for children: preliminary development\u201d, \n Internet Research\n , Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 235-248.","DOI":"10.1108\/10662240710758902"}],"container-title":["The Electronic Library"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/EL-12-2013-0216","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-12-2013-0216\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-12-2013-0216\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T01:08:27Z","timestamp":1753405707000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/el\/article\/33\/3\/557-572\/39659"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,6,1]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,6,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/EL-12-2013-0216"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/el-12-2013-0216","relation":{},"ISSN":["0264-0473"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0264-0473"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,6,1]]}}}