Background
MGoBlog, one of the oldest team-specific sports blogs has made a massive overhaul to both infrastructure and layout. While structural usability has improved, many users have become frustrated with buggy or missing features, difficulty navigating, and complicated design.
Opportunities/Challenges
Opportunities:
1.Increase user engagement (posts, visits, comments, ad views)
2.Improve transition from old version (improve user perceptions and make them feel heard)
Challenges:
1.Increase user engagement (posts, visits, comments, ad views)
2.Improve transition from old version (improve user perceptions and make them feel heard)
Challenges:
- Dispersed user base.
- Group known for fierce loyalty and focus on tradition.
Approach
Sampling
I recruited participants for usability testing to match personas based on user data. I would have utilized remote user testing to access breadth of user base due to distributed nature of user base in an ecologically valid context—however, I did not have the infrastructure in-place to do so. Therefore, I utilized a primarily unmoderated, natural approach.
Ideally, I would have utilized user data to select representative users, but given limited access to user data, I recruited users who represented a variety of age and cultural demographics.
Methods
For this study, I utilized a primarily qualitative approach given user behaviors were already established within an existing user base. Users were encouraged to use the website as they had previously and identify issues, sticking points, missing features, and bugs.
I recruited participants for usability testing to match personas based on user data. I would have utilized remote user testing to access breadth of user base due to distributed nature of user base in an ecologically valid context—however, I did not have the infrastructure in-place to do so. Therefore, I utilized a primarily unmoderated, natural approach.
Ideally, I would have utilized user data to select representative users, but given limited access to user data, I recruited users who represented a variety of age and cultural demographics.
Methods
For this study, I utilized a primarily qualitative approach given user behaviors were already established within an existing user base. Users were encouraged to use the website as they had previously and identify issues, sticking points, missing features, and bugs.
Skills Used
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Personas
In order to convey user-types and describe site utilization, I developed personas based on a number of “types” of users. These personas allowed me to convey user needs/wants, and better understand how users interacted with the site. I then recruited members matching these personas to ensure a variety of users were selected with different avenues/types/frequencies of use. Surveys I developed a number of surveys that were distributed to users to measure their satisfaction with the redesign, These surveys allowed us to get a larger snapshot of the website users and understand general sentiments about the redesign. Clickstream Analysis I performed a clickstream analysis to see how people navigated the site, both in a moderated and unmoderated approach. I viewed how people interacted with the site both in casual usage and assigned tasks. Areas for improvement were identified and recommendations developed. |
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