(For the full report, please click here.)

Executive Summary

For my final INFO-644 Usability Theory and Practice project, three classmates and I carried out moderated user testing research for the mobile version of the website PackitGourmet.com. The company sells dehydrated trail meals and related gear. As a team, we evaluated the usability of the website by observing and talking to participants while they navigated four tasks that were presented to them in a randomized order:

1. “You are shopping for a friend who has an intolerance to gluten. Add one of the best-selling gluten-free items to your cart.”

2. “Find a vegetarian breakfast item that appeals to you. Add enough to feed 3 people.”

3. “You want to cook some beans. Find the ingredients and gear that will help you do that, and add them to the cart.”

4. “Purchase the items in your cart.”

After analyzing our findings as a team, we identified issues that limit the user's interaction with the website and hinder successful task completion. The results pointed to three key usability problems with the website:

1. The filters and sort options are difficult to find and use.

2. The login icon is difficult to identify.

3. Important information is buried in the product pages.

Once the topline problems were decided, simple design change recommendations were identified for the mobile site:

• Recommendation 1: Make the “Sort by” and “Filter” options clear call-to-action buttons and create an accordion-style filter popup.

• Recommendation 2: Replace the tent icon with an account icon that matches industry standards and is familiar to users.

• Recommendation 3: List out topline item information near the top of the product page, and include a pop-up info icon next to words or phrases needing explanation.

Incorporating these recommendations will help establish a more concise task flow for the users by ensuring that the website is consistent with the user's mental model and will improve the overall usability of the packitgourmet.com mobile interface.

Tools

• Figma (to create prototypes)

• Miro (to compile and communicate findings amongst the team)

• Tableau (to create data visualizations)

• Zoom (to interview participants)

Method

The project was completed in four steps: Prepare, Test, Analyze and Report. Four usability experts came together to conduct eight remote usability tests. First, participants were collected using a screening questionnaire, filtering for users that may or already do use the site. The method used was Moderated User Testing, a type of user research that allows a moderator to observe participants completing specific tasks on a website or app. Along with task completion, participants were also asked to describe the experience and rate the difficulty of the tasks themselves. After testing, our team of usability experts analyzed and synthesized the data from testing to come up with three key usability problems with the website (mentioned above). Once the topline problems were decided, three simple design recommendations were made for the mobile site (also mentioned above).