UX Design
Range Solutions
The Brief
In partners, conduct a usability test on a digital product or prototype. Write a report on your findings.
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For the usability testing report you can make sure you include:
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Scenarios/tasks undertaken by participants
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Tasks Completed (Successful/Not Successful)
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Number of errors (and how to fix them)
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Time to complete
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Notes/Observations
It would be advantageous to include details of the digital project tested and provide a few designed solutions to some of the usability issues found.
The Product
In the current Translink system, the user must have the current Translink Journey Planner app to plan their journey and to take them to an external website to find and pay for their fare. In order to receive a digital copy of their ticket, they also must have the mLink app.
Standard Usability Test and Think Aloud Protocol
We used the Standard Usability Test and Think Aloud Protocol to inform our judgment about the Translink Journey Planner app. In the Standard Usability Test, we measured efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction to determine the usability of this product, specifically, to identify design flaws in the product. The Think Aloud Protocol informed our usability test as it allowed us to prompt users to verbalise their thoughts while using the product.
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To determine the usability of this product, we evaluated:
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how easy/difficult it was for participants to plan their journey;
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how easy/difficult it was for participants to pay for their ticket; and
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how easy/difficult it was to adjust their transport preferences.
Method
We gave participants three scenarios in the form of a task list. We created a script from which we prompted participants to respond. One of us was a facilitator who interacted with the participant while the other was an observer who took notes during the study. We recorded items like task completion, errors, time to complete the task, and the participant’s overall satisfaction with the product. We documented the usability tests using a screen and voice recorder while the participants conducted a task.
Participants
Note that all participants were UX and Service Design MA students at Ulster University, Belfast campus.
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Participant 1: age 24, place of work: Mackles (Retail)
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Participant 2: age 28, place of work: Tailored Image (Fashion)
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Participant 3: age 26, place of work: Ikea (Retail)
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Participants were asked to complete 3 tasks to determine the usability of the product.
Task 1
You’re at Ulster University (Belfast Campus) and you’re meeting a friend for lunch at Town Square on Botanic Avenue at noon. Which train do you take? How long will your journey be?
TASK 2
You’re trying to purchase a return ticket from Botanic Train station to Portstewart. How do you do this?
TASK 3
You are travelling to the Ulster University campus in Coleraine from your current location. You no longer want to take the train when travelling. Can you update your journey to reflect this?
The Results
Participants 1 and 2 took significantly longer to complete Task 1 than Participant 3 because they had slightly less prior experience with the Translink Journey Planner app. The time between Task 1 and Task 3 decreased among all participants as they became more comfortable with the app. For instance, once Participant 1 and Participant 2 realized that the Planner was the key page from which to start their search, the time decreased significantly.
Participants 1 and 2 struggled to complete tasks more than Participant 3 because Participant 3 had more experience using the Translink Journey Planner app. Participant 1 did not complete Task 1 because, although they found the appropriate transportation to get from A to B, they did not plan the journey to arrive at the location for noon (which was specified in the brief). This is likely due to the frustration that Participant 1 experienced while completing Task 1.
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The first two participants marked similar System Usability Scale (SUS) scores. The third participant gave a mark twice as high as the other two participants - this participant was more experienced with the app and used it regularly, therefore, more comfortable navigating through the app. The overall SUS score was 21.7, this is compared to a ‘standard’ SUS score of 68+ which is the benchmark for a good digital product.
We found design problems that went against several of Neilsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design; however, the most frequently broken design heuristic was number 3, namely “User control and freedom.” One of the main problems with the current Translink Journey Planner is that it does not allow users to recover from mistakes easily. Currently, users are unable to adjust their trips plans easily and intuitively; rather they are forced to correct their mistakes by undergoing several complicated or repetitive tasks that require pre-existing knowledge of the app. This ultimately creates frustration in the users.
Design Recommendations
In the redesign, we kept the user’s main goals front and centre: how to easily plan their journey and how to easily pay for their fare.
We recommend building the ability to search and suggest place names (rather than just train/ bus stations) into the app's search function. We knew users would already be familiar with Google Maps' design for search solutions, so we took what we knew users would already know and incorporated familiarity into the app.
We also made it easy for users to adjust what they searched for by including an edit button to change the relevant fields, saving them from going back tot he previous Plan your trip page.
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Rather than needing to know how to navigate through the app to change app transport preferences, we integrated the preferences function into the Search results page using 3 toggles. Now users can adjust their search results without being forced to make additional clicks.
We added the Account page for users to easily add funds to the app (called "top-ups") to make easy in-app purchases. We made what is most important to the user front and centre: the amount of money available for purchasing future tickets on the app as well as the ability to add more funds easily.
Users now receive their tickets instantly and without having to download external apps when they click on the My Tickets tab. This page was designed to reflect users' existing knowledge of products such as Apple Wallet. Each digital ticket is a card that contains key details about the type of journey and a QR code that can be scanned to authenticate the purchase.