Project
Improving the usability of NJ.com’s mobile website
Role
User testing and enhancing usability
Firm
Pratt Institute
Tool
Figma
Team
Anna Size, and Nicholas Scott
Project Goal
The goal of this usability evaluation study is to discover problem areas that user may encounter while using NJ.com mobile website as well as uncover opportunities to help people achieve their goal and optimize user experience.
Based on seven remote user testings, our evaluators found a total of five unique problems. These problems have been consolidated and addressed in the following actionable recommendations.
Background
Advance Local is a digital media, news, and marketing group headquartered in New York, NY, one of the largest media companies in the United States.
Our team of three members conducted remote usability testing using the mobile version of the NJ.com website, one of Advance’s local media markets.
Process
Preparing User Testing
Before the test, users were asked to complete a 5-question survey about their habits regarding their consumption of news media.
Our team aimed to discover if the website allows user to navigate the content efficiently by providing a clear menu structure and ensure delivering the best user experience in subscription service and reading experiences.
The following are the task we provided in the user testing:
Recruiting participants
For our user testing on news readership, we recruited participants from diverse backgrounds, including individuals from my personal network such as a software engineer, product designer, and graduate student majoring in Museums and Digital Culture.
A total of 7 participants were involved in the study, all of whom reported being regular news readers and primarily consuming news on mobile platforms. Across the board, participants reported reading the news at least weekly, with most reading on a daily basis.
Moderated User Testing
After completing the 5-question survey, users were asked to download the Lookback or Zoom app to facilitate the test.
Each user test required the users to complete 6 tasks, most of which were centered around navigation and content location. Users were asked to find certain pages and information using the navigation tools and headings on the site, and “think aloud” as they went through the process. In addition to the navigation-related tasks, the test also included a 2-part task regarding the subscription service. This task was included to provide some valuable insight to the client regarding what readers expect for the price of a subscription.
Data Analysis
The user tests revealed several usability issues with the interface that we noted and compiled once all of the tests were complete. We analyzed the data collected from each of the user tests to make a number of recommendations to the mobile NJ.com website in order to improve the reader experience.
Recommendations
What’s next?
The feedback for this study we received from the Senior Director of User Experience and Design at Advance Local was very positive, he was impressed with our usability problem findings and recommendations. For the next step, as the Senior Director suggested, our team got a chance to have another meeting with the Advance Local UX team in the following week to discuss further on our report.
If I were to continue working on the project, I believe conducting another user test based on our recommendation mockups will be the key to ensure it works and if the recommendations hit all the points user’s needs.