Usability Evaluation and Site Redesign
Challenge 3 of prework as a UX / UI student at Ironhack Berlin
In this challenge, we should choose a type of audience and use a travel application, test it with our users and observe where they had problems. Choose the negative points of the experience, think and create a prototype with solutions to the problems.
User Type
I chose the young couple as my audience.
Young couple — 20–40 years old
You and your partner decide to go to a special place next summer. You realize you have both saved enough for the tickets and are planning to save as much as possible for the next 6 months to do this trip. You want to be efficient and have everything you need organized to enjoy at 100% while there. Even if you’re young, you want to have special moments to celebrate being together.
Destination Research
Our destination should be chosen among the Seven Wonders of the New Millennium, I chose The Taj Mahal which is in the city of Agra, India.
Location: Agra, India
Most convenient airport: Agra Airport
Currency: Indian Rupee (₹1 = €0,011)
Medical needs: yellow fever and malaria are mandatory, but hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, polio measles, mumps, rubella tuberculosis and tetanus-diphtheria vaccines are recommended.
Visa: 30 days visa obtained online (60 dollars)
Wardrobe recommendations: Comfortable and light clothes, without necklines and shorts. In respect to the culture, cover arms and legs covered during the visitation.
Days need to visit attraction: 1–2 days
Benchmarking
To choose the best travel app among Kayak, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor and Hopper, the challenge now was to conduct a Heuristic Evaluation of Usability with the Nielsen Principles comparing these apps.
In User Interface design, heuristics help us go through our designs to make sure we are not missing any important functionality. We can use them as a “checklist” to make sure we are creating a great experience for our users.
10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design by Jakob Nielsen
One of my user's tasks is to book a flight to Agra in the app, so I used this task to compare the apps. Based on my audience, I conducted Nielsen’s Heuristics and selected a few points about each of the app’s options:
Kayak
- It is possible to edit the flight options in the results screen, just use the down arrow on the top bar and then you can modify dates, location and passengers very easily, so you do not need to go back to the previous page to do a new search.
- In the menu icon, you can easily change the language and currency.
Skyscanner
- There is an orange bar on the search screen that indicates how much time is left before the search is complete.
- The price of a ticket for one passenger is shown on the results screen and the price for two passengers is shown just below the price for one, so the user knows exactly how much it will cost for one or two people.
Tripadvisor
- On the home screen, you just need to write your destination and it is already possible to explore several options, such as hotels, things to do, restaurants, vacation rentals, flights and travel forums.
- It is possible to change the destination, dates and passengers on the results page.
Hopper
- When selecting the dates, the system indicates the available days with the best price in green, the average price in yellow/orange and the most expensive in red, making it easier for the user to choose.
- Hopper has a “Price Freeze” button, the user can make a deposit and pay seven days later for the same price as the day he made the deposit.
Chosen app
After comparing the four apps, I decided that the best option based on my user is the Tripadvisor app, as I noticed that it presents more search possibilities to my audience.
Testing
In the testing section, I interviewed 5 participants who suited my type of user.
5 seconds test — How does this test work?
- users have five seconds to view a project/design;
- after 5 seconds, cover the screen;
- and then they answer some simple questions about what they saw and felt.
In this test I show my interviewees the main screen of the Tripadvisor mobile app for 5 seconds and ask a few questions about the image:
What did you see?
The main elements remembered were hotels, restaurants, flights, icons in the bottom navigation.
What can this tool do for you?
All participants clearly realized that the main objective of this app is travel.
Where would you search for a flight?
All participants responded in the airplane icon.
Tasks & Interview
I created some tasks for the user to follow in the application, so I was able to follow the path that the user chooses to obtain the information:
- Search for a round-trip to Agra (India) for 4-6 days for your trip;
- Search for a stay of 4-6 nights in Agra (India);
- Find a place to eat nearby.
As soon as users finished their tasks, I asked a few more questions to identify their main needs in relation to the app.
- Do you often use an app to plan your trip?
- What is your preference in relation to accommodation?
- How do you get around in the city you are visiting?
- What did you like most and least like about the Tripadvisor app?
Insights
After analyzing all the interviews, I realized that all of the interviewees are used to planning their trip with the help of apps. Observing the behavior of my users when performing the tasks in the tests, I prioritized some problematic points that prevented the participants from having good results and reaching their expectations:
- Price indications;
- Price results;
- Filter pattern.
Pain Points & Redesign Wireframes
1. Price indications
- Users had a hard time comparing the best prices. As a possible solution, I separated the dates by colors (cheaper prices in green and more expensive prices in red), so it will be easier for users to make their choices;
2. Price results
- Users find that on the results screen prices are confusing when looking for a flight. As a solution, I made it clearer how many people the price is, so they won’t have any unpleasant surprises when finalizing their purchase.
3. Filter pattern
- Users have noticed that there is no pattern in the filters between the flight interface and the hotel interface, as in the flight results the filter selection is performed at the top of the screen, and in the hotel results the filter selection is performed at the bottom of the screen. As a solution, I left both in the same place, so it avoids confusion in the user’s experience.
Conclusion
The biggest difficulty, in the beginning, was the choice of the application. Choosing the best for our user is a very important task in the process.
I found it very interesting to do the usability test to better understand the user experience within the app. Analyzing how each user acts and thinks at the time of doing the tasks was the part that I liked most of the whole challenge. Even with similar thoughts, each user follows a different path to reach the same goal. It is very gratifying to know the whole process, listen to the user, discover the problems and try to solve them in the best possible way.
The course hasn’t even started yet and I’ve learned a lot from the exercises and challenges. I am very excited about the learning I will have in the course.
