Bus Stop Mamas
Bus Stop Mamas helps individuals with children re-enter the job market and connect directly with employers offering flexible opportunities. Four colleagues and I carried out a usability evaluation on their website over four days to generate a recommendations and findings report. This is what happened.
Role: co-lead, researcher, and designer.
Tools: Sketch, InVision, Google Sheets, Keynote, Trello, QuickTime, and Otter.
Methods: Usability review, heuristic analysis, remote usability testing, and affinity diagrams.
Deliverables: Findings & Recommendations Report.
Heuristic Analyses
Each team member performed a different heuristic analysis on the site (e. g., 8 Golden Rules, 10 Cognitive Engineering Principles, N/Ng 10, etc.). Analyses were compared using an affinity diagram to identify potential pain points and to guide our research goals.
Research
Goals
Goal 1: Evaluate the user flow for key tasks to improve the site’s efficiency.
Goal 2: Determine the extent to which the user’s mental model of an employment website matches Bus Stop Mamas’.
Goal 3: Gain insights as to how users interpret the intent of the Bus Stop Mamas’ website.
Data & Analysis
Data was collected using pens, QuickTime, Otter, and Zoom recordings.
Data was transferred into Trello, where it was color-coded for initial analysis.
Finally, data was recorded onto post-its in a digital whiteboard for affinity diagraming to encourage pattern recognition and synthesis.
Methods
A think-aloud protocol was used to evaluate participant experiences.
Sessions took place over 30-minute Zoom Calls.
Each participant was given a scenario in which they had to complete three tasks on the website.
Create a new profile
Perform job search
Navigate to the list of jobs applied for
Participant Population: 10
Opportunity Areas
Users found the copy on the website difficult to interpret prior to knowing that it was an employment site
Users couldn’t identify the main call to action in the registration process due to its size and confusing copy
The site lacks representation for people of color and males, which results in some users feeling alienated
The site must foster a greater sense of trust and security to encourage the discloser of sensitive information
Users found the copy on the new website challenging to interpret even after being informed that it was an employment site
Findings & Recommendations Report
Note: Client reports were completed individually rather than as a team.
Conclusions
Usability is of paramount importance, and it can be challenging to deliver hard news from good research unless we keep something in mind: every problem presents us with the opportunity to find solutions that level up a product. Bus Stop Mamas requires some renovations, but that's good news. UX helps us identify where we are ready to grow, and as long as we are humble enough to embrace it, we may reach heights we never thought possible.