User Experience and Usability Evaluation - Case Study Example

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com usability evaluation Introduction http://www.carphonewarehouse.com offers a platform where consumers not only purchase phone and other electronics but also choose and make tariff subscriptions for data, mail and voice chats. Typically, it fits context of a B2C electronic website. With the rise of electronic commerce, website usability is extremely important to consumers and organizations. Several such websites do not meet the minimum usability requirements and require better human interaction interfaces. E-commerce websites are designed to offer products/services to interested clients. Nonetheless, ease or difficulty with which clients interact with the e-commerce applications is pivotal to their failure or success. Conventionally, any website must not just be designed to sell or convey information but must go beyond to ensure the needs of the would-be web visitors are adequately met. E-commerce has undergone extensive and remarkable growth in the recent past to supersede human expectations. Today, e-commerce is the largest form of business operation, communication, as well as R & D. Increased acceptance of internet and the move towards globalization as also affected e-commerce trends to a large extent. As a matter of fact, e-commerce marketing and sales have come to occupy a central point in the global economy. 2013 global e-commerce rates have reflected a significant shift in the manner people manage their businesses. The great internet potential has seen many corporations come up with new ways to avail products and services to consumers. In general, global e-commerce trends of 2013 have seen more focus on more personal websites to make shopping more mobile and increase channels. Additionally, global e-commerce 2013 trends reveal that additions to online businesses has raised traffic ratio for store fronts and further boosted online leads/sales. E-commerce websites further offer a platform through which business can globalize their brands and products/services they offer. Overall Problem As already mentioned, http://www.carphonewarehouse.com provides a platform for consumers to purchase electronics and subscriptions for data, voice and messaging services. The paper seeks to assess the website usability issues. General information shared by consumers online with retailers help in application personalization. All factors including age, lifestyle, contacts, friends and family, geography and social status are included during the personalization and play a helpful role in offering relevant and valuable shopping experience for consumers. Global e-commerce trends include the adoption of real time and personalized facilities for everyone who approaches the online market across the globe. Personalization has never been a new concept in this case, but the increasing popularity of personalization shows it is the most widely accepted trend in the global e-commerce 2013 values. Businesses and enterprises – big or small have made it easy and simple for the masses to obtain a personalized, simplified or complex technology in the sectors such as finance, travel, media and many more. The other global e-commerce trend includes incorporating mobility among the online shoppers. Making your website mobile friendly or developing an application for an android or an iPhone shall no longer be enough. The year 2013 has further opened up avenues to offer advanced facilities. Consumers who have turned entirely towards mobile phone and tablets want newer and better shopping experience with geo-specific or ‘multi-lingual’ content. They expect special offers, various other platform-specific elements and much more to harmonize and add to overall life style of the consumers. The global e-commerce 2013 scenario has witnessed an even higher increase in online consumers, than what it saw when the first Apple product was launched in the global market. Current website interaction and arising usability issues The website is an e-commerce website and is meant to provide visitors with an avenue to buy mobile devices and also purchase subscriptions for the same. In conventional shopping, interaction between users and physical shop helps in determination of the impression users have with respect to the shop. Nonetheless, in electronic shopping, the web site can be considered a ‘window’ through which users experience initial interaction with the shop (Zhang & von Dran, 2002) and a design of which users are presented with the shop’s comprehensive image. In other words, websites formulate a working environment of e-commerce shops, and hence it is extremely critical its working environment be user-friendly. Usability evaluation of the website is therefore of paramount importance and can offer concrete prescriptions for development of user-centered e-commerce shops which might be expected to raise user uptake as well as the sales volume achievable through user needs alignment. The web page selected for evaluation is http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.com/SelfHelp/request.do?view%28%29=c{f0022f20-041a-11df-f38f-000000000000} which is primarily about the terms and conditions of the website. A screenshot of the web page is provided below, Figure 1: Terms and conditions web page The page describes the terms and conditions visitors to the website are expected to adhere to. As a matter of fact, the page describes the terms guiding user conduct in all aspects relating to the entire website. The page, just like other pages of the websites has a number of icons to help in navigation to other parts of the website, a search icon, an option to navigate back to the previous page, feedback icons, and social media sharing options, store finder and a basket to facilitate purchasing of items offered in the website. This is in addition to the info, that is, a listing of the terms and conditions. Figure 2: Search Icon The circled area shows the search area from where users can input their search keywords and get results without having to navigate through the entire website. On the other hand, users who simply want to browse the website and see the items on offer can use the navigation buttons provide at the top. These are illustrated below, Figure 3: Navigation Icon The circled area represents the navigation icons to aid users who simply want to navigate through the website. The navigation buttons are cursor sensitive and opens up a range of options wen cursor is passed over it. An example is provided below, Figure 4: Using navigation buttons Usability issues to be evaluated A number of issues are expected to arise from website’s usability evaluation. Amongst these areas will be intuitive navigation, content clarity, information accessibility challenges, loading speeds as well as prominent search mechanisms. Aims The aim of the project is to research on the usability of http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.com/SelfHelp/request.do?view%28%29=c{f0022f20-041a-11df-f38f-000000000000} and hence its ability to help achieve its e-commerce objectives. Analysis Personas Conventionally, visitor segmentation is entirely unique to each and every site. Variables, behavioral cues as well as segmentation types are non-standard and there are no specific rules. Nearly all the targeted visitors to the website come to the site in search of phones and other mobile devices as well as persons interested in purchasing data, message, and voice call tariffs. Such visitors are either looking to purchase the items for themselves or for other people. User Journey and Context of Use In analytics, usability and monitoring terms "user journey" makes reference to the path followed for one to attain a specific objective such as making a purchase or for completion of a specific purpose as opposed to random browsing. Purchase process of e-commerce websites Merchandise purchase process flow is shown in the figure below, whereby a potential client shows interest in a good/service. He then enters the e-commerce website. For starters, he browses through the entire catalog, searches for the goods/services he wants, compares and makes a decision which of the good/service is suitable for his/her immediate needs. Secondly, he contacts the sales person on the website or simply uses the automated purchasing system, choosing an option which can provide him/her with the preferred price. The system then confirms the merchandise’s status. Lastly, the client enters details into the registration form to make certain that goods purchased are delivered to the right address. It is the responsibility of the website administrators to ensure that client privacy is protected. Lastly, the client selects the preferred payment option. Clients should monitor delivery information. Task Analysis Human factors techniques such as Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) are an important means of improving product usability through user-centered analysis and design. The goal driven nature of HTA is examined in the context of a Human Computer Interaction module in a higher education environment. Some work is done in analysis of user behavior with respect to the e-commerce website. O'Keefe and McEachern (1998) suggest a consumer model with five processes including need recognition, information search, evaluation, purchase, and after- purchase evaluation. The task in question is split up into two distinct phases, as depicted in the figure below, Figure 6: Purchase tasks Look, See and Decide (LSD): This stage is conventionally to look review available products, make comparisons and decide whether or not to buy the products. This can be done one or more times for as long as the consumer is still looking for a product which satisfies his or her needs. This phase is intensely user-driven because the user is looking at and assimilating information continuously. It has these sub-stages which can be iteratively traversed and in varying sequences: Welcome; Search; Browse; Choose. Checkout: When this stage is triggered by users, they will have made a choice of products/service to purchase. They are then compelled to avail certain information including their addresses and credit card details or any other accepted and convenient payment method. The stage is system-driven and alters the interaction process paradigm from user initiative to system. Feedback at this stage is quite important (Ravden & Johnson, 1989). Users feeling to lost control can leave the site without embarrassment, unlike users who find themselves in a traditional supermarket check-out line. The steps included in this stage include the following, User? → Where? → How? → Payment? → Sure? → Done. Objects This involves the classification of graphical user interface objects according to their user preferences. It determines the roles of the objects in the improvement of the usability of the website. The objects include the color usage, the use of visual controls such as buttons, tables, Textboxes, pictures and animations. Imagery and animation are used to direct consumer attention to specific places required of them taking into consideration the fact that some persons lack preferences for graphical interfaces while others show textual interface Color combination is also a tricky affair. This problem can at times be solved by creating room for customization whereby the websites can be adjusted to meet the color preferences for individual autistic persons. Other analysis necessary for your topic Figure 7: Conventional scenario is accomplishment of tasks Study method Ease-of- Navigation Speed Interactivity Agarwal & Venkatesh (2002) Y Y Barnes & Vidgen (2001) Y Y Lewis (1995) Y Loiacono, Watson, & Goodhue (2002) Y Y Nielsen (1999) Y Palmer (2002) Y Y Y Raquel (2001) Y Y Tilson, Dong, Martin, & Kiele (1998) Y Y Venkatesh & Ramesh (2006) Y Y Venkatesh & Agarwal (2006) Y Y Table 1: Usability Metrics Used in Prior Research It is befitting for the two phases described to have varying evaluation metrics which befit their different paradigms and needs and that the metrics be weighted in accordance with their impact on usability. Renaud et al. (2001) reported a set of suitable web evaluation metrics for measurement of feedback-related usability of E-Commerce websites. He prioritized basis of occurrence frequency of usability problems with the scale varying from 0=Not a usability problem; 1 = Cosmetic; 2 = Minor; 3=Major; to 4 = Catastrophic problem. Additionally, he produced a list of usability violations, which covered both frequency as well as severity of information. Later, Nielsen (2001) developed a guideline for severity ratings on basis of this same scale, but expanded it noting that severity of usability problem is a combination of four factors including the frequency with which the problem occurs, impact of the problem on users if it occurs, persistence of the problem, finally, market or product popularity impact of the problem. Bastien and Scapin (1992) on the other hand in making reference to the amount and importance of usability problems established introduced technique based strength of evidence scale to a set of evaluation criteria. The criterion was based on the type as well as number of research experiments which supported or discounted a given criterion. Web page quality is assessable using various ways. To date, web researches have placed emphasis on website functionality as well as website usability. A system is considered functional when it offers functions required by users to undertake tasks (Goodwin, 1987). A website can be evaluated on basis of the presence or absence of various functions or on performance of the functions. However, past research has found that users’ system acceptance is contingent not just on functionality but also on its usability (Davis, 1986; Goodwin, 1987). The concept of usability is defined as “how well and how easily a user, without formal training, can interact with an information system of a website” (Benbunan-Fich, 2001). Bernard et al. (1981) suggested that a “truly usable system must be compatible not only with the characteristics of human perception and action, but, most critically, with users’ cognitive skills in communication, understanding, memory, and problem solving.” A usability evaluation consequently assesses the ease of use of a website functions and how well they enable users to perform their tasks efficiently. Thus, usability is a more inclusive construct than functionality. A variety of alternative approaches to usability evaluation have been proposed in prior work. Melody et al. (2001) identify five distinct approaches: testing, inspection, inquiry, analytical modeling, and simulation. Among these approaches, one common characteristic of usability evaluation methods is their dependence on subjective assessments in the form of user judgments. Thus, usability is not intrinsically objective in nature, but rather is closely intertwined with an evaluator’s personal interpretation of the artifact and his or her interaction with it (Agarwal & Venkatesh, 2002). Although self-reported measures are commonly used, research shows that perceived ease of use of a system is strongly correlated to subjective system usage measures, but weakly correlated to objective system usage measures. Questionnaire design The questionnaires are structured based on the Likert scale ranging from strongly disagrees to strongly agree on a scale of 1-5. Each answer will bear a weight corresponding to its scale weighting. Other than Likert based questionnaires, there will be provisions for the users to give their general opinion on the web page’s usability. Designing every web page requires a comprehensive analysis of the website’s use and directing focus towards achieving maximum functionality (Beck, 1997). It’s important to mention that no typical behavior is associated with web page visitors. Factors like age and intelligence play a crucial role in determining the behavior of web visitors. While behavior differs externally, science has proven that people have a similar ways of processing information internally (Manzi et al., 2008). Accessibility is therefore important to the development of computer applications. Website quality is defined on basis of different principles. The principles will form the basis for evaluation of the website. These principles include (Beck, 1997): Website interface usability Value of informational content availed in the website System design According to Barakova, Gillessen, & Feijis (2009) design of websites must take into consideration cognitive as well as perceptual differences exhibited the people. A good web page addresses the needs of web visitors and entrench their needs. The areas considered include: Imagery and animation: Research indicates that while some people lack preferences for graphical interfaces others have a preference for textual-based interfaces (Barakova, Gillessen, & Feijis, 2009). However, a majority of people content with either. This justifies their inclusion in the web page. Color combinations: Color combination is often a tricky affair. This problem can be solved by providing room for customization whereby the websites can be adjusted to meet the color preferences for individual persons. However, this is not incorporated in the web page. Page content structure: some people have a slow pace of understanding. The page structure presented simplifies the process by keeping textual content on a single subject on one page. The page is further should be broken into small components rather than lengthy unbroken text blocks. Background: background is an important element in design of web pages. Strong solid backgrounds are preferred for websites (Beck, 1997). Interestingly, even slight background pattern could make the page to interfere with a person’s perceptual view. The page presented offers varying backgrounds. Customization: it’s never easy to differentiate between general preferences and personal preferences when it comes to web pages. People have unique traits and as such the website should allow for customization in order to suit the different needs. This is however not incorporated in the website. Line length: The web page presents short and easy The results and more especially the approach adopted which involved prioritization of certain criteria over another set tailors the metrics to the nature of the task proved workable. On an intuitive level, it was clearly evident that repetition of a task make the task more important ( increase its weight); the level of interaction required further increase its weight; and that task duration should increase its weight; and so is the level of knowledge required for task to be completed. These contribute to the website’s overall usability score. Conclusion E-commerce websites are conventionally strongly task-oriented, goal-directed, Web-based interactions, thus they lend themselves to the use of structured task analysis approaches. This chapter offers additional perspectives on Web-based tasks, and also introduces a way of using task-analysis to improve Web-based usability. A task-based weighting scheme for evaluating these sites is proposed. This extended evaluation metric scheme and provides a more finely tuned mechanism for assisting developers to improve usability of E-Commerce websites, since the user's task is included in the formulation of the guidelines. Our mechanism makes use of a novel usability metric prioritizing scheme to yield information which can be used during both the design and maintenance phases. The prioritizing scheme yields values which can be noticeably different from more commonly applied unadjusted values References Agarwal, R., & Venkatesh, V. (2002). Assessing a firm’s Web presence: a heuristic evaluation procedure for the measurement of usability. Information System Research, 13, 168-186. Barakova, E., Gillessen, J., & Feijis, L. (2009). Social training of autistic children with interactive intelligent agents. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 8(1), 23-34. Bastien, J. C. & Scapin, D. L. (1992). A Validation of Ergonomic Criteria for the Evaluation of Human-Computer Interfaces. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. 4(2), pp. 234-241. Beck, S. (1997). Evaluation criteria: the good, the bad & the ugly; or why it's a good idea to evaluate Web sources. Retrieved 21 June, 2004, from Davis, F. D. 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(2001) A Mechanism for Evaluating Feedback of E- Commerce Sites. The first IFIP conference on E-Commerce, E-Business, E-Government. I3E. Zurich, Switzerland, 4-5 October. Read More