Usability Test Exercise – Summer 2011 – Adjunct Professor Alisan Atvur

For this assignment, we were asked to create a usability test for our chosen company. For those of you who do not know, usability tests are a great investment. It's all about doing things right the first time, or tuning-up an already existing site, ultimately making the difference between a successful customer experience, or frustration and abandonment.  I chose the company Anthropologie, a unique chain of retail stores that sells women's apparel and accessories, home furnishings, found objects and an array of gifts and decorative items. My usability test involved a picture of Anthropologie's homepage where users were asked a series of three questions. Below is a link to my findings.

http://fivesecondtest.com/test/share/8Scg4osHoE9Fyxi1 

Part 1 – Remote Usability Testing

1.) What trends and anomalies did you notice in people's answers to question 1 (What is this website/application about)?

At the time the screen shot was taken, Anthropologie’s home page cycled through four display windows. One was titled “Rare Variatals” (which featured shopping for shoes - flats in particular), one was titled “The Finer Things in Life” (shopping for prints and art), another was “Flicker and Sparks” (for browsing the new August catalogue), and the final was “Pattern Call” (featuring six new apparel prints). I chose to take a randomly select when I would capture the screen, just as a user would when entering the website. It happened to capture the display window featuring the art. However, most people were still able to recognize that “clothes, art, home things, décor, furniture, antiques” could be purchased. Basically “shopping” in general. Which is an excellent finding. There were a few exceptions. Some people said “bunnies” and “rabbits”, but I believe they were being facetious, considering one of the shown prints was an ink drawing of a rabbit. A few said “no clue” or “hard to say”, which is understandable, since the store offers so much. With the large display clearly promoting art, but the other options above offering “clothing, shoes, accessories, etc.”, if could easily be overwhelming and confusing.

2.) What trends and anomalies did you notice in people's answers to question 2 (What would you do at this website/application)?

Majority of the people were able to determine that this was an online store where apparel, shoes, accessories, home décor etc. could be purchased. The most commonly entered words were “shop, buy, clothes, home, browse, buy clothes, look for shoes, home décor,” etc. I personally loved one user’s response, “buy things that cold make my home more aesthetically pleasing”. This person went above and beyond, and could perhaps already be familiar with Anthropologie and its website. One anomaly was “post my art work”. This is very understandable considering other companies that allow web users to do so. However, no where on the display screen did the words “post, sell, or your” appear, only “shop, browse and buy”. While Anthropologie’s style is similar to websites such as Etsy, it does not allow customers to post, advertise or sell their individual work…this could be a neat thing for Anthropologie to look into though…

3.) What trends and anomalies did you notice in people's answers to question 3 (Who would use this website/application)?

With out a doubt, Anthropologie caters to the female. And majority of the test takers were easily able to notice and comment on it. Some people went even further to say:  “young, artistic, people interested in fashion, urban, and natural”. Which all are very true, and relatively easy to gather based on the images, type face, and people featured on the homepage. One user even said “a trendy Anthropologie type shopper”. I’m curious to know whether or not this person was familiar with the website and knew it was Anthropologie. The anomalies in this case were people who said, “I wouldn’t”. I’m assuming this person was either male, impatient with the user test, or just plain rude. 

Part 2 – Observational Usability Testing

4.) Name 3 behaviors or interactions you noticed in at least 3/5 users

I asked my participants where they would click to shop for clothes. Since the 4 cycling display screens change about every 5 seconds, responses varied. Two users were able to utilize the featured display “Flicker and Sparks” and simply click “BROWSE our August catalogue and SHOP what’s new”. These two people happened to be young females whom I assume to have shopped or at least browsed for apparel online before. The other three did an excellent job. They paused for a second, scanning the screen, then clicked the “Clothes” link. 

5.) Name at least one behavior or interaction that one of the users performed differently.

My father, a forty something man, who is very impatient but savvy with the world wide web, paused for a couple seconds, scanned the screen, then went to the search engine and typed in clothes. 

6). For your answer to question (5), indicate why you think that user may have performed that behavior differently.

There are a lot of components to Anthropologie’s homepage, but it is still pretty straightforward and easy to navigate. I can guarantee you that my father has never been to Anthropologie’s webpage before, nor would he ever care too. He is the most impatient person I know and hates shopping for clothes, why would he want to waste time browsing the many options when a search engine can direct him to exactly what he is looking for?