Ux White Paper

Usability Testing of
Note Taking
Programs
A COMPARISON OF EVERNOTE AND MICROSOFT ONENOTE
Brady Fraser
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Methodology................................................................................................................................................. 2
Equipment and Environment .................................................................................................................... 2
Tasks .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Evaluative Criteria ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Create a note............................................................................................................................................. 3
Create a new notebook ............................................................................................................................. 4
Attach a file to a note ................................................................................................................................ 4
Clip a web document to a note ................................................................................................................. 5
Annotate a note created from a web document ...................................................................................... 7
create a table of contents ......................................................................................................................... 8
Link a note to another note ...................................................................................................................... 8
Share a note by e-mail .............................................................................................................................. 9
Create a note reminder and mark it complete ....................................................................................... 10
Create a bulleted list with a bold heading. ............................................................................................. 11
Overall Results......................................................................................................................................... 12
Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................................ 12
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 13
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 1

2
INTRODUCTION
Two popular programs for keeping, sharing, and organizing informal notes, both for businesses
and individuals, are Evernote and Microsoft OneNote. This white paper presents and examines
the results of a comparative usability test between the two, scoring them on ten different
tasks with 5 separate scoring criteria. These tasks are designed to evaluate features of the
programs that a first-time user would be likely to require. Though the user is expected to have
no experience with either note-taking program, it is expected that they have a general
understanding of computers as well as basic knowledge of word processing programs and web
browsers.
METHODOLOGY
EQUIPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT
This test was conducted on a 2015 model HP Envy running Windows 10. All testing was done
with each app’s respective desktop program, with one task requiring use of google chrome
and the app’s chrome plugin.
All data was recorded in a pre-composed evaluation form in Microsoft Word.
The typical user of note-taking software could be anyone in any environment, but it is
assumed for the purpose of this test that because we are testing the desktop program, the
user is likely in a relatively quiet work environment. The test environment was designed to
mimic this, with testing being done entirely at a library.
TASKS
For this test ten tasks were selected. These are tasks are ones which the average first-time
user would likely need to be able to accomplish without too much difficulty. They are as
follows:
1. Create a note and add a tag
2. Create a new notebook
3. Attach a file to a note
4. Clip a web document to a note
5. Annotate a note created from a web document
6. Create a table of contents
7. Link a note to another note
8. Share a note by e-mail
9. Create a note reminder and mark it complete
10. Format note text with a bulleted list and bold heading
EVALUATIVE CRITERIA
Each task will be evaluated on the basis of five different criteria. They are as follows:

3
Effective: I was able to successfully complete the task.

Efficient: I was able to complete the task in a reasonable amount of time.
Engaging: The user interface enhanced the product experience.
Error-tolerant: The product made errors easy to correct without changing anything
further than necessary
Easy to Learn: The tools required to complete the task were easy to learn.
Each test metric will be evaluated on a five-point Likert Scale arranged from left to right, with
Strongly Disagree being a 1 and Strongly Agree being a 5. The Likert Scale used is shown below.
Strongly Neutral Strongly
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
RESULTS
CREATE A NOTE
On opening Evernote, there is a sidebar with the option to create a new note, as shown below.
This allows for very easy note creation. There is no save option because notes do not need to
be saved, and are kept and updated automatically, adding to ease of use.
FIGURE 1, NEW NOTE IN EVERNOTE

On opening OneNote there is a sidebar on the right which allows you to create a new note
(called a “page” in OneNote). For first time users a new untitled page is already open. This task
is equally easy in both applications, which is to be expected as it is their core feature.
FIGURE 2, NEW NOTE IN ONENOTE

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CREATE A NEW NOTEBOOK

The process for creating a new notebook in Evernote is similar to a word processor in that it is
accessed from the file tab. This is intuitive if the user is familiar with word processors in
general, which for the purposes of this test it is assumed that they are.
FIGURE 3, NEW NOTEBOOK IN EVERNOTE

Creating a new notebook in OneNote (called a “section”) is easier than in Evernote because it
is created by just adding a new tab in a similar way to any web browser (shown below), and it
is expected that the user is familiar with web browsing. Additionally, editing the name of the
section can be done by clicking anywhere in the text on the created tab, and the tabbed
interface makes switching sections easy.
FIGURE 4, TABBED SECTIONS IN ONENOTE
FIGURE 5, NEW NOTEBOOK IN ONENOTE

ATTACH A FILE TO A NOTE
Attaching a file in Evernote was very simple. It can be done by simply clicking the paperclip icon
in the toolbar of a note. There are also options for attaching files from Google Drive, recording
audio, or snapping a picture.
FIGURE 6, EVERNOTE FILE ATTACHMENT

5
FIGURE 7, EVERNOTE FILE ATTACHMENT (2)

Attaching a file in OneNote is similar to inserting things in Word or any other Microsoft
product. The button to attach a file is under the insert tab at the top of the page (shown
below). The fact that the layout is similar to Word makes navigation easy.
FIGURE 8, ATTACHMENTS IN ONENOTE

CLIP A WEB DOCUMENT TO A NOTE
For a first time user of Evernote, there are suggestions for how to get to know Evernote. One
of these is a link to clip a web document to a note for the first time. Tis involves downloading a
browser extension which is available for all major browsers. The installation process is as easy
as the click of a button, as shown below.
FIGURE 9, EVERNOTE CLIPPER EXTENSION DOWNLOAD

After finding the desired article, all you have to do is click the Evernote logo in the top right
corner of the browser. This instruction is given upon downloading the extension, making this a
very easy process to learn.
FIGURE 10, EVERNOTE CLIPPER LOGO

6
As this figure shows, there are plenty of options when clipping a web document including
taking just the article, the article without any ads, or the entire page. The button to save the
clip is prominent and clicking it is all that is necessary to save the document as a note.
FIGURE 11, EVERNOTE CLIPPER OPTIONS

In OneNote, the process is very similar, but to find the clipper I had to Google search it as
there was no link to it within the OneNote program. If you know the clipper exists this is not a
problem, but this feature could go unused by many since it is not obviously available.
FIGURE 12, ONENOTE CLIPPER EXTENSION

There are also multiple options for the OneNote clipper extension, though there aren’t as
many as in Evernote. Saving is also easy in OneNote, as shown below.

7
FIGURE 13, ONENOTE CLIPPER TOOL

ANNOTATE A NOTE CREATED FROM A WEB DOCUMENT
In Evernote there are two ways to annotate things. When a webpage is clipped, it becomes part of the
note and is editable. You can therefore use the toolbar to format the webpage in any way you would
regular text, including highlighting.
FIGURE 14, ANNOTATION TOOLS

Another way is to create a Skitch image and annotate it using multiple tools for annotation
including highlighting, drawing arrows and adding stamps or text boxes. This was an option
shown in the help center but it was not immediately obvious how to do it. I went back to clip
the article from the web page again and chose the option to save as a screenshot. Once I
clicked that, I was given a range of annotation options shown below.
FIGURE 15, ANNOTATION TOOLS (2)

Each icon is a different annotation option, and all are very simple and effective to use. Shown
below is the article before and after annotation.

8
When an article is clipped to a note in OneNote it is automatically saved as an image, so the

text can’t be edited. There were no specific annotation tools that I could find, but there is a
Draw tab with plenty of tools that would work for annotation. Text boxes can also be added
from the insert tab.
FIGURE 16, ONENOTE ANNOTATION TOOLS

CREATE A TABLE OF CONTENTS
Creating a table of contents in Evernote doesn’t immediately present itself as an option, but if
you start to select notes then you are presented with an option to create a table of contents
not, as shown below. The newly created table of contents then has links to each note selected.
You can add links manually to extend the table.
FIGURE 17, TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTE EVERNOTE

OneNote makes a table of contents harder than Evernote. It has to be done manually by
adding links to a new page. Adding links is described in another task.
LINK A NOTE TO ANOTHER NOTE
Linking a note to another note took some looking, but it was easy enough to find just by
looking through the tabs at the top of the screen. The option is “copy internal link,” which

9
might be confusing for someone unfamiliar with technical terms of that kind, but I though it
seemed clear enough. This copied a link to the note that was open. To add the link to any
other note I had to use the paste shortcut (or right-click and click paste).
FIGURE 18, INTERNAL LINK IN EVERNOTE

In OneNote adding an internal link is done in the opposite direction. I went to the note where I
wanted a link, and used the insert link option on the insert tab, which is very intuitive. This led
to a link options box where you can insert a link from the web or search for the note which
you want to link to. This is ultimately faster than Evernote if you will be adding many links.
FIGURE 19, INTERNAL LINK IN ONENOTE

SHARE A NOTE BY E-MAIL
Most things are done in Evernote through the tabs at the top, but there was no option to
share a note there. I then right-clicked on the note I wanted to share and there was a share
option. There are then multiple sharing options. The top option, “share note” allows you to
send the note as an e-mail to any address you want.

10
FIGURE 20, SHARE A NOTE IN EVERNOTE

Sharing a note in OneNote is done from the home tab. There is only the option to “e-mail
page,” so there are less sharing options than in Evernote. It is easier to do in OneNote though
because the option is shown prominently.
FIGURE 21, SHARE A NOTE IN ONENOTE

CREATE A NOTE REMINDER AND MARK IT COMPLETE
In Evernote there is a small arrow at the top right of the note with options, one of which is the
reminder option. It took some time to find this because the arrow is so small and not obvious.
When selected, this adds a reminder to the note immediately. There is then an option to add a
date to the reminder. Marking it complete is very easy, as there is a checkbox next to the
reminder in the notes section.
FIGURE 22, COMPLETE REMINDER

11
FIGURE 23, REMINDER OPTION

In OneNote it seems the best way to create a reminder is by adding a “to-do tag”, which allows
you to create a reminder with a check box next to the item. It is then easy to complete the
reminder just by clicking the check box.
FIGURE 24, TO-DO TAG

CREATE A BULLETED LIST WITH A BOLD HEADING.
In Evernote this task is very easy, with all the formatting tools being at the top of the note
page. These tools include all of the major word processing abilities.
FIGURE 25, FORMATTING OPTIONS

In OneNote it is also easy and made easier by the fact that it has the same style as Microsoft Word.
FIGURE 26, ONENOTE FORMAT OPTIONS

12
OVERALL RESULTS
Task Scores
10
9
8
Task Number
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Score out of 25
Above are the scores for individual tasks, with orange being OneNote Scores and blue being
Evernote scores. Overall OneNote performed better in general, but Evernote has more
features that add to its usability. It has a clunky interface, however, and it suffers from the fact
that it is a standalone application whereas OneNote is part of Microsoft Office. This means
that people will be more familiar with many of the tools in OneNote. Evernote has many of the
same tools, but they are not labeled as well and the interface is not particularly engaging.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
After conducting usability tests on both programs, I would recommend OneNote for the
average user. This is because most people will be familiar with it and its more engaging
interface makes up for its slight lack of features.
OneNote also gives access to all of its features for free even without and office subscription.
Evernote has multiple levels of subscription, but its value is approximately the same as
OneNote. There are some premium features, such as extra cloud storage, that some people
might need, but OneNote is the better choice for the average person.

13
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Evernote. (2018). Retrieved from https://evernote.com/
Microsoft OneNote. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.onenote.com/?public=1&wdorigin=ondcauth2&wdorigin=ondc

14
APPENDIX
Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote
Task 1 Create a note and add a tag
Effective I was able to successfully complete the task.
Strongly Neutral Strongly Strongly Neutral Strongly
Disagree Agree Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Efficient I was able to complete the task in a reasonable amount of time.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Engaging The user interface enhanced the product experience.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Error- The product made errors easy to correct without changing anything further than
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Easy to The tools required to complete the task were easy to learn.
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Very easy with a visually pleasing interface Very easy, interface is bland but functional

15

Task 2 Create a new notebook
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Accessed from file tab. If you know any word Sort of a “new tab” feature similar to browsers,
processor this should make sense. Very easy works well and easy to edit title at any time

16

Task 3 Attach a file to a note
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 45 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Easy but the icons are really small. Not a Very easy, exactly like inserting something in
problem for me but I could see it being word. UI is pleasing
slightly hard to find. UI issue

17

Task 4 Clip a web document to a note
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Super easy because it suggests the clipper tool Easy but had to search for it, one click
in the program. One click download, many download a few good options for clipping
options for clipping

18

Task 5 Annotate a note created from a web document
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Good tools for annotating with the skitch Only saves as image, good drawing tools, easy
image, also drawing tools and editing article to use but not as many options
text

19

Task 6 Create a table of contents
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4
5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4
5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* **
Notes Just have to select notes to get toc option, not Have to add links manually, inefficent
obvious that’s how you do it though

20

Task 7 Link a note to another note
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Easy but had to look around for a while Opposite way as evernote, more efficient
through the tabs

21

Task 8 Share a note by e-mail
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Had to click around a little bit before right Shown in home tab with an e-mail icon,
clicking on the note to find the share option engaging and easy

22

Task 9 Create a note reminder and mark it complete
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Hard to find the reminder option. Easy to find Hard to find how to make it a reminder but
once you know it is there but it could be more easy to complete
obvious

23

Task 10 Format note text with a bulleted list and a bold heading
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
tolerant necessary.
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Learn
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
* *
Notes Easy but the icons are small and not labeled Easy and engaging, helps that it’s the same as
word

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Usability Testing of

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 1

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 2

Effective: I was able to successfully complete the task.

FIGURE 1, NEW NOTE IN EVERNOTE

FIGURE 2, NEW NOTE IN ONENOTE

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 3

CREATE A NEW NOTEBOOK

FIGURE 3, NEW NOTEBOOK IN EVERNOTE

FIGURE 4, TABBED SECTIONS IN ONENOTE

FIGURE 5, NEW NOTEBOOK IN ONENOTE

FIGURE 6, EVERNOTE FILE ATTACHMENT

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 4

FIGURE 7, EVERNOTE FILE ATTACHMENT (2)

FIGURE 8, ATTACHMENTS IN ONENOTE

FIGURE 9, EVERNOTE CLIPPER EXTENSION DOWNLOAD

FIGURE 10, EVERNOTE CLIPPER LOGO

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 5

FIGURE 11, EVERNOTE CLIPPER OPTIONS

FIGURE 12, ONENOTE CLIPPER EXTENSION

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 6

FIGURE 13, ONENOTE CLIPPER TOOL

FIGURE 14, ANNOTATION TOOLS

FIGURE 15, ANNOTATION TOOLS (2)

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 7

When an article is clipped to a note in OneNote it is automatically saved as an image, so the

FIGURE 16, ONENOTE ANNOTATION TOOLS

FIGURE 17, TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTE EVERNOTE

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 8

FIGURE 18, INTERNAL LINK IN EVERNOTE

FIGURE 19, INTERNAL LINK IN ONENOTE

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FIGURE 20, SHARE A NOTE IN EVERNOTE

FIGURE 21, SHARE A NOTE IN ONENOTE

FIGURE 22, COMPLETE REMINDER

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FIGURE 23, REMINDER OPTION

FIGURE 24, TO-DO TAG

FIGURE 25, FORMATTING OPTIONS

FIGURE 26, ONENOTE FORMAT OPTIONS

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 11

4/12/2018 Usability Testing of Note Taking Programs 12

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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Product Evernote Microsoft OneNote

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