The Purpose and Goal
The purpose of this evaluation is to collect feedback about how users within the United States use the website when shopping for a vehicle. The goal being to Identify problems that users encounter while using the website, and improvements that should be made as a result of these findings.
Process Summary
The Results
4 recommendations to address usability issues:
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The Process
Card Sort Activity
A remote unmoderated Card Sort activity was performed with 15 users to identify how users categorize information into an information architecture. This hybrid sort asked users to sort 36 cards, each with a navigation item from Chevrolet’s navigation bar, into the provided categories, the categories of navigation from Chevrolet’s navigation menu. Users also had the ability to create new categories whenever they felt this was necessary.
Quantitative User Test
The remote unmoderated quantitative user test was performed with 9 participants. The participants were asked to complete a series of tasks related to purchasing a vehicle, answering follow up questions after each task. Users were also asked follow-up questions about their experience using the website. By conducting this quantitative test, I identified issues that users encountered while using the site.
Qualitative User Test
The remote unmoderated qualitative user test was performed with 3 participants. The test asked the participants to imagine they were planning on purchasing a vehicle in the near future, asking them to complete a series of tasks related to shopping for a vehicle. Participants were asked to think out loud while they were completing tasks and answering follow up questions. This test provided answers to why users encountered each issue identified in the quantitative user test.
The Results
Overall Chevrolet.com tested well with users. Only one major issue was identified, as well as 2 minor issues and one cosmetic.
Positive Findings
Good Overall Usability
Users liked the website overall, finding it informative and easy to use.
7 out of 9 participants rated the information discovered on this website good or excellent.
6 out of 9 participants said it was somewhat easy or very easy to use the website.
Usable Navigation Menu
The top navigation menu is easy to find and use.
4 out of 9 participants said that the menu choices were easy to figure out
Vehicle Navigation
Users find the vehicles navigation easy to use and the vehicle detail pages informative.
7 out of 9 users found that it was easy to browse for a vehicle using the vehicle navigation.
Usability Issue Scale
For my analysis of Chevrolet.com’s usability issues I have rated each usability issue with the severity of the problem. The 4 step rating scale starts with cosmetic as the least severe and progresses in severity to catastrophic as the most severe. I have established the severity of each issue by determining the frequency of the issues occurrence, the impact of the problem on the user’s experience, and the persistence of the problem.
Build and Price Feature
Usability Issue Rating: Major
While the build and price feature is well liked by more advanced users, novice users find it intimidating and confusing.
5 out of 9 participants found the build and price feature very easy or somewhat easy to use, 2 out of 9 participants found it somewhat difficult or very difficult to use.
“An overwhelming amount of options and choices when building a car.”
Pop-Ups
Usability Issue Rating: Minor
Users found pop-ups such as request a quote aggravating and a turn off.
Customer Support
Usability Issue Rating: Minor
Users don’t expect the FAQ, Chat Now, and Contact Us navigation items to be located under the navigation term “search”. This makes these navigation items difficult for users to find.
60% of participants from the card sort activity created a new category group for FAQ, chat now, and contact us, labeling the category contact or customer support.
Dendrogram results from the card sort activity showed that users grouped FAQ, Chat Now, and Contact Us together with 60% agreement, calling the new grouping customer support.
Chat Window
Usability Issue Scale: Cosmetic
Users found the chat window to be unnoticeable.
