Project Overview
Course: ISM 360 – User-Centered Evaluation
Role: Evaluator
Evaluation Goals:
- To evaluate the usability of the Groupon website
- To reveal positive findings and any usability problems
- To provide suggestions for the system’s improvement
Methods
This was an individual evaluation project. The two expert methods I used were heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
As an evaluator, I analyzed Groupon’s main features to determine how well the features followed each heuristic principle. I listed the problems I found, stated which heuristic was violated, rated the severity of the problem, and then noted a recommendation for improvement. After that, I compared and discussed my results with another person’s individual heuristic evaluation of the Groupon site. We combined our data and summarized our analysis.
COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH
As an evaluator, I selected one common task that users perform on the Groupon website. Next, I defined a scenario to set the context and then created a list of actions, or a “happy path”, needed to complete the task. I then followed each action sequence while answering and commenting on the analysis questions for each step.
Results
| Problem | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| When I type something on the search bar and I hit the magnifying glass next to it, I would assume it would do the search once I click on the magnifying glass. However, nothing happens and it seems broken. The search only works if I hit the enter key. | Fix the magnifying glass so the user can click on it and be able to do a search instead of just hitting the ENTER key. |
| Looking at deals, the picture can seem big and it takes up space. Scrolling down, it makes it overwhelming even with the filtering option which causes frustration and takes up time. Also for some deals, they are just random pictures and not an official company picture. | Make the boxes a little smaller so the user can view the titles more, or organize it in a way that a user can have the option on how they prefer to view the deals (like show the items in a list, or in columns, etc). |
| If I see a deal that I might want to view again later, or I see something that I’m thinking of purchasing, I want to be able to save it or retrieve it faster next time I log in. | Add a wish list option or “heart” an item option so a user can go back to it later faster. |
REFLECTION:
I learned to evaluate a website’s usability by studying and utilizing the two expert methods. I found the value of my analysis and findings so I can make recommendations for improving the interaction between the system and the user.
Tools / methods used:
heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, Groupon website
