Grocery Prime - Usability Test

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This project was... funny. Usability Tests can be a laughing matter. Grocery Prime, the same supermarket from Research of a Grocery Store App built a prototype of their app and asked me to test it with real users. So I looked for users to help me to make a Usability Test. I recorded them to see carefully their body language and the words used to see where frustrations might take place. Usability Tests were awkward but I got my results at the end of the day.

Because of this project, I learned to interact with users without biasing them with leading questions or opinions. I increased my analysis skills from the previous Grocery Prime project, and I feel more confident to be able to solve any experience problem that might arise.

Project's Problem

My objective in this project was to test the prototype created by grocery prime, It's a grocery shopping app that allows users to select and buy products to be delivered to their houses. I had to test it with real users to see the efficiency, pain points and changes that need to be made.

Project's Audience

This project had the same audience as the previous project: Grocery Prime Usability Research, we would have to focus on customers that make grocery shopping at least twice a month, own a smartphone, and have little time to make groceries because they have a full time occupation such as study or work. People like this would be workers, college students and parents, who can go from 20 to 45 years old.

My Process

The first thing that I did was using the prototype myself, seeing how it works and how to proceed to the objective defined by Grocery Prime: purchasing yellow bananas. Users would have to get to this point for the app to be "successful". Likewise, usability tests require a lot of attention so I had to prepare software for video and screen recording.

Then, I wrote a script to follow when explaining the test to the participants, if I had no guideline, I could rephrase things differently to each user and this would lead to inaccurate answers with no reference to the question, I could make different questions altogether! You can see my script here.

The script is made in a way that helps the users feel comfortable and gives them a clear direction of what they have to do, without how to do it. If we told the users how to proceed to the objective, then the results wouldn't be clear and we would not know what needs to be changed.

So I had the software and the script ready, all I needed was the participants. I decided to reach directly to my contacts to help me since I require them to do something, not just answers questions. My first participant came and I decided to make a "warm up session" for myself, since it's my first time doing such test. For my surprise, the first test was fast, easy and efficient; but most importantly, I got user insights that could help reshape the app we are building. You can see the prototype here.

After that, it was just repeating steps: welcoming the participant, making some background questions, explaining the task, observing, asking questions, and finishing. The main technique that I used was asking the participants to "Talk your thoughts out loud", this means, saying everything that comes to mind as they progress through the app; this technique helps get (almost literally) in the heads of the user to see their frustrations and joys related to the product.

I wrote down my observations as soon as I finished interacting with each participant.

My notes:

Participant 1: The homescreen was easy to use since it showed all the products and you can search. P1 thinks is cool to show how much of a product you want but got confused at the fact that the quantity of product is measured in dollars instead of number of products (in this case, for example, 3 bananas). P1 says that doesn’t understand what it means to “Save” a product and “If I click on view cart will it save the product or do I have to click the save button first?”. P1 noticed that “Paiment” is misspelled at the checkout page. Overall, P1 like the layout because is “organized and understandable”.

Participant 2: Didn’t use the search button, went directly to the bananas, got a little confused about the Save Button, when asked “What do you think the save button would do” P2 said that it probably would take you to the homescreen to see other products. Checkout was easy and clear and P2 knew what to do. P2 said that he likes the “linearity” of the app, how he went from the bananas to the payment without much thinking. P2 also said that there wasn’t anything frustrating about the app. P2 arrived to the order button but got confused that it didn’t show any feedback.

Participant 3: Started by clicking the yellow bananas, then said “Bananas should be measured in weight and not money”, then went to the checkout and asked how to change the address. Finally, P3 placed the order but got confused at the lack of feedback on the order button saying “is it over?”. Overall, P3 was very fast and didn’t ask any questions.

Participant 4: Entered the first screen and selected the bananas, felt confused about how many bananas is 0.50$ and thought it would be more logical to show the weight and the prize per Kg to see if it’s convenient to buy as prizes can vary on the supermarket. P4 liked the checkout section saying it’s complete and clean. Finally, when asked about any final thoughts, P4 said that going straight to the products page felt a bit overwhelming and that it lacks “A homepage with the logo and the grocery categories like fruits, vegetables, dairy, etc. to know where do I have to go like on a real supermarket.”. Also, P4 felt that the checkout page needs another section “to show that you were successful to make a purchase”.

When I finished with the last participant, I started analyzing what I wrote and the recorded sessions. My first step was considering "What went well?" and "What needs to be changed?"

My Notes:

- Participant 1:

What went well?

The homepage and checkout are organized and easy to use.

What needs to be changed?

Choosing the quantity of product by unit and not dollars. Changing the labels of “Save” and “View Cart” and or add feedback to know if the selected product is in the cart. Also fixing the misspelled “paiment”.

- Participant 2:

What went well?

“The Linearity” of the app, probably meaning the flow of the app, was easy and almost flawless.

What needs to be changed?

P2 got a little confused with the save button, it probably needs a new label. Also wasn’t sure that the purchase was made, so a feedback or message to show the state of the purchase would be useful.

- Participant 3:

What went well?

The entire process was really quick, P3 used the app as if he’s seen it before.

What needs to be changed?

The way bananas are measured is wrong, according to P3 “Bananas have to be measured by weight because I don’t know how much is 0.50$ bananas, and they can’t be measured in product units because bananas differ in size”. It would be useful to change the measuring section by weight and still show the $ per Kg ratio. Also adding feedback at the checkout section to tell the user when the purchase is successful.

- Participant 4:

What went well?

P4 liked the checkout page, saying it’s complete and organized.

What needs to be changed?

The first screen can’t be the actual products since P4 said that it’s a bit overwhelming and that a homescreen with categories would be more organized. When selecting a product, it would be more logical to show the weight and the prize per Kg to have a precise prize reference for customers. Finally, the checkout page needs some kind of feedback to tell the user that the purchase was successful.

Finally, with the joys and pain points well defined, I wrote down a conclusion summarizing all that needs to be done. I used statistics and quotes from the participants to show an objective approach to the problems.

The first problem to address, was one that every user experienced: the fact that bananas are measured in dollars. This was confusing for them since prizes can vary depending on the supermarket and it’s really hard to tell how many bananas is 0.50$. It would be advisable to add the option to sum products by weight or quantity (depending on the type of product).

Then, ¾ users got confused by the fact that the checkout does not show any feedback when an order is placed, so a message or new page to show the state of the purchase would be useful and more precise.

After this, 2/4 users got confused on the Save and View Cart buttons, a way to fix is to show some feedback when the save button is pressed (like a banana going inside a cart) and change the label to something more specific like “Add to cart”.

Finally, ¼ users said that the product page would be a little overwhelming without an initial home screen, which is an interesting idea to organize the products, and the “paiment” label at the checkout page needs to be fixed. But overall, all the users managed to make the order really fast without much thinking, showing that the user flow is solid besides these tiny details.

Outcome and What I Learned

The final result of this project is the analysis of the problems that need to be addressed on the app; such analysis will serve as a base for the next versions of the app and an usability test can be repeated. I learned to interact with participants without biasing them. I learned to observe and analyze human behavior to reach to concrete conclusions and potential improvements. I understood how to identify experience problems. And finally, learned to plan ahead for tests with proper equipment.