Ecommerce Usability Testing

Find out what your users’ experience is with:

• Search—What strategies do users use?
  
• Homepage—Do they trust your site from the homepage? Is it attractive, compelling? Can they tell you in 5 seconds what the site is about?
  
• Navigation—Does the top-level navigation make sense to users? Do they understand it? Can they follow the “scent of information” to get closer to their goal?
  
• Product pages—Do users find what they need on product category pages, listing pages? Can they compare products?
  
• Registration—When should you require this, and how can you motivate users to register?
  
• Messaging—Are your transactional emails and other messaging techniques hitting the mark?
  
• Mobile—Is your mobile site effective, and can users transition from mobile to computer and back?
  
• Competitors’ sites—How does your site compare to your competition? Do users prefer elements of your competitors’ sites to yours? What will you discover in a “competitive shoot out” that can make your site better?

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Learn 3 proven ecommerce research techniques to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates!

Our client was in the early stages of redesigning its website for buyers and sellers of used camera equipment. They wanted to build user experience into the design of the website, so they asked UX Firm to conduct a remote moderated usability study of their current customers, which included a mix of amateur and professional photographers.

The study focused on the users’ experience doing typical tasks on the prototype website on two platforms: computer/laptop and smartphone.

The study took participants from setting up an account through finding a specific camera to buy and putting it into the shopping cart. Participants then went through the process of posting a camera to sell.

Key research questions for both computer and smartphone interaction

How do users rate:

• Ease of finding what they’re looking for
• Comparing the camera to others to make a choice
• Ease of finding warranty information and return policy
• Ease of purchasing a camera
• Ease of selling a camera

Testing scope and methodology

• 10 participants (combination of amateur and professional photographers)
• Remote moderated usability testing sessions of 1-hour, conducted in Zoom
• Started study at desktop; switched to smartphone for second part of the study

Results

The responses to the redesigned website were largely positive with some areas that needed improvement. All participants liked the persistence of the shopping cart throughout their time on the site. All commented on the usefulness and helpfulness of the images of the cameras and accessories.

The System Usability Scale rating of 84.75 (scale rating from 0 – 100) was significantly higher than the “average” rating of 68 attained from other studies using this popular usability rating scale.

The key areas in need of further research were around inadequacies in Search and the need for filters to support browsing.

The client was able to use these findings and apply them to both the continuing development of the new website and the marketing messages that were planned to support the advertising and marketing campaign. The redesigned website increased customer satisfaction and sales, both for returning and new customers.

CX vs UX

If a company has customer experience research in place, the question is whether UX – user experience – is a part of CX research in understanding the user’s experience in the customer journey.

5 Users is Enough For Usability Testing

This video explains how 5 users can be sufficient for usability testing.