Project brief
Conduct UX research to discover current user experience, pain points, UI and content improvement for their future redesigned website.
Research strategy
Review website statistics provided by ACC.
Discover the association’s goals.
Map out the current site map.
Interview 5-7 users of various groups: members, non-members, and prospective members on current website for feedback.
Collect and review my findings to discover user goals, pain points, and a new direction.
Create pragmatic personas based on the interviewees.
Map out user journeys to stay in perspective when designing solutions.
Build UX Research documentation.
External interviews
Each type of user walked me through their emotions and experience while going through the current website. Below are my findings.
INSIGHTS:
Viewers liked the 3 quick links on the homepage (Calendar, Join ACC, Leadership Program). It was easy to identify and immediately brought them to their goal. Although, the most important call to action: Join Us, may need a separate identity.
Google Calendar is tolerable but users find it can be presented nicer. Too much empty space and scrolling through descriptions in a pop-up box make the website look archaic.
Homepage, not a lot of “inviting” descriptive content.
No search field available for the entire website to search for specific content.
“They cram too much onto one thing... it gets truncated... It looks like admin. Not using space effectively. Dead real-estate everywhere. Would like to see graphics of the events if possible.”
5 USER GOALS:
New website needs to be mobile friendly.
Make content friendly towards new members (how to become a leader, what is Bon Echo, how and what events are there to volunteer for?
Have better steps to purchase a new membership and to renew memberships.
A blog for members to submit their trip experiences and share to the community.
Better display for calendar events and their descriptions/info and how leaders can post their events.
“Right now this section is targeted to people who have been to Bon Echo trips. It’s not targeted to people who don’t know what Bon Echo is.”
5 USER PROBLEMS:
1) Unable to immediately identify what the club is about and what they do.
2) Unable to understand some of the content from a newcomer’s point of view.
3) Text is too heavy to keep a reader engaged and desire to read through.
4) Unable to differentiate what Newsletter and Climb-on is.
“I remember thinking I had a hard time navigating. There’s no info as to what can I actually do? Where can I do this? What kind of program do you have that I can enter into the leadership part of the chapter?... How do I actually go about doing this?”
“ This [leadership page] doesn’t tell me anything. I don’t want to look at your manual. I don’t even know how to lead a trip yet.”
SUMMARY:
Have the website flexible across all devices (mobile, tablet, desktop).
Re-jig content strategy to suit towards ACC’s targeted audiences.
Have a better user experience and usability throughout the website (aesthetics, functionality and interaction/reaction between content).
Pragmatic personas
Persona 1: Kathryn the keener
CONTACT:
Already a member of the social club, Kathryn hears through a fellow member about ACC pub nights every second Thursdays of the month. While attending, she hears an announcement for a need of more trip leaders. She goes home and peruses the ACC website for more information about leading a trip.
ABOUT KATHRYN:
Kathryn loves skiing and snowboarding. A 9-5 office worker who yearns for the slopes during the winter months. She puts forth an effort to set off for the ski hills every weekend.
She is very A-type and likes to make sure everything is organized for a day trip so her friends can fully enjoy themselves. She especially likes bringing people who are enthusiastic novices.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Easy and direct steps on the website for “Members Only” on how to bring Kathryn into the leadership chapter.
Keep essential but concise information to let her know what is needed and what she can expect. Try to mitigate external links and downloads unless absolutely helpful to keep the steps simple, direct and comprehensible.
Easy access or direct contact to get her trip listed on the Events Calendar page. Perhaps some advertisement on ACC’s social media.
Persona 2: Calvin the newbie
Information in UX Research Document.
Persona 3: Jamie the avid outdoor enthusiast
Information in UX Research Document.
User journeys
Mapping out each persona’s context, progression, device, functionality and emotion.
Kathryn the keener
Calvin the newbie & Jamie the outdoor enthusiast
