Usability Testing: Affordable- Luxury Clothing Retail Web Sites

Transcription

1 The University of Texas at Austin Usability Testing: Affordable- Luxury Clothing Retail Web Sites Prepared for: Dr. Liu Min Prepared by: Isabella Castaño April 8, 2008

2 The University of Texas at Austin Table of Contents Introduction 1 Three Sites Evaluated 2 Users 5 Methodology and Task Creation 8 Data and Results 9 Discussion 14 Conclusion and Recommendations 15 Pre-test Questionnaire 17 Post-test Questionnaire 18 Isabella Castano i

3 Introduction When designing for the public, it is imperative that designers keep in mind that usability is just as important, if not more than aesthetics of whatever it is they are designing. In regards to Web sites, a cool looking Web site, might entice an audience to check it out, but if the site isn t easy to use, one will quickly click to the next thing and not even think twice about struggling with a site when there are so many, readily available alternatives right at their fingertips. Everyday, more and more of what we do is being moved to Web. We can pay our bills online, watch movies, instant message, video chat, read a book, shop, and the list goes on. In this study, we will look at three various affordable-clothing retail sites for women. We will define affordable clothing as those that are fast-fashion - clothing that is up to date with the trends, not necessarily luxury (brands like Gucci, or Armani), but meant for an affluent market that likes to be dressed in the latest styles. These women are aged and are in the upper-middle class bracket. Three clothing retail stores will be evaluated for their usability design. The three sites evaluated will be and Isabella Castaño 1

4 Three Sites Evaluated Anthropologie tailors its merchandise and inviting store environment to sophisticated and contemporary women aged 30 to 45. Anthropologie's target customers are, for the most part, focused on family, home and career. Their unique and eclectic product assortment includes women's casual apparel and accessories, home furnishings and a diverse array of gifts and decorative items. The website has a very light and airy aesthetic. It uses bright colors in moderation allowing for lots of white space. It has a very handcrafted, organic feel that parallels the stores actual environment and clothing. Isabella Castaño 2

5 This retailer is known for its preppy fashions, including jeans, khakis, and other basic (but pricey) items sold to young professionals through its catalogs, Web site, and some 260 retail and outlet stores in the US. The J.Crew Web site is also very clean looking however it contrasts its white space with a very black navigation bar as well as a bold and dark flash introduction to the site. The site is minimalistic in its aesthetic. Isabella Castaño 3

6 Banana Republic has grown from its original wanna-be safari outfitter style to a retailer of men's and women's mid-scale affordable-luxury casual and tailored apparel. It thrives on people who dress themselves in a modern, nice and comfortable way for work. It gives off a very put-together vibe. Two of the three top competitors for Banana Republic are Anthropologie and J. Crew. Banana Republic s site lacks personality. It is minimalistic, yet this doesn t prevent it from feeling cluttered. The site throughout suffers from too many items per page. From a design angle it lacks perspective. Isabella Castaño 4

7 Users For this study, I tested the sites using four different participants. The first two were women aged between the target market for the brands. Participants A and B tested all three Web sites and rated them according to how they felt. The third and fourth participants C and D, divided the sites. Participant C rated Anthropologie and Banana Republic s sites and participant D rated J. Crew s site. This was divided among them because their busy student schedules didn t allow them too much time to review all three. I reviewed participants not in the target market as well because I wanted to see if there was a difference of opinion and if the sites were designed accurately by paying specific attention to its kind of user. Women in the target market of the three brands are aged who have a love for high-end yet affordable fast-fashion clothing. Participant Age Years using Internet Occupation A full-time lecturer, freelance copywriter B artist, mother C student D student Isabella Castaño 5

8 All of the participants except for participant D had shopped at all three stores before. None of the women however had used any of the sites to purchase something. All of the women had experience using the Internet and used their computers on a regular basis at home and at work/ school if applicable. Participant A. The first participant was a 35-year-old full time lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin. She was pretty excited to participate in the survey because she very much enjoys one of the stores presented in the list reviewed: Anthropologie. She has been using the Internet for the past 12 years and spends the majority of her time using the Web for news and teaching content from both her work and home. Participant A listed the following websites as ones that she frequents: NewYorkTimes.com Adweek.com Adcritic.com YouTube Salon.com She mentioned a love for looking at clothing but a great dislike for shopping for clothing. She rarely visits or purchases clothing from online sites and has only registered with one clothing store in the past because the store offered a discount to teachers. That site was Ann Taylor Loft. Participant B. The second participant was a 46-year-old artist and full-time mother. She has shopped at all three stores in the past and frequents two of them, Anthropologie and Banana Republic as some of her top-choice retail outlets. She accesses the Internet from her home and uses it primarily for and as a general search engine. She generally visits art-related or purchase goods Web sites. Sites that participant B mentioned as being some of her most frequently visited included: PBS.org/art21 Isabella Castaño 6

9 SundanceCatalog.com Saatchi-gallery.co.uk Weather.com Mapquest.com Fandango.com Ted.com Participant B mentioned that she did shop occasionally at clothing stores online, about once every few months, but hadn t purchased things from any of the listed sites for herself online. She had once ordered a gift for a family member on though. Participants C and D. Participants C and D were both students at the University of Texas at Austin. They both are in their early twenties and were very familiar with using the Internet. Even though they were the youngest, they had been using the Internet equally as long and one even longer than participants A and B. They accessed the Internet from school, work, home and even one of them from her phone. Their primary use of the Internet was similar. Using the web mostly for school related things and communication. Websites they surfed for leisure varied a bit according to their interests. One of them surfed social networking sites and photography sites primarily, while the other student visited blogs, music, culture and design sites more. They visited online retail sites more often than the first two participants. Participant D responded with visiting clothing sites at least once a month, while Participant C visited clothing sites a couple of times a month and even made online clothing purchases one to two times a month. Isabella Castaño 7

10 Methodology and Task Creation Nielsen Norman Group s report, E-Commerce User Experience and Methodology, was used as a guide for the usability testing. The tasks ranged from a first impression task, as specific task and an open-ended task. The tasks are reflective of the sites and users being tested. The first task looks at peoples initial reactions to the site, how he or she travels from page to page and what attracts his or her eye. The second task asks the user to find specific items on the site. It looks at how long it takes for the user to find what she is looking for. It will reveal if the navigation buttons on the sites are intuitive or confusing. It will show if people prefer to use the search engine when they get frustrated searching with the navigation bars. The third task is more specific in that it allows for some freedom. It also highlights a different kind of user that might be visiting these kinds of sites. Task Scenarios Users were asked to perform three tasks: Spend some time exploring the site and familiarizing yourself with what it has to offer. Mock-shop for a full-price summer dress and an on sale accessory. You are a possible investor and are interested in the company. Search for pertinent investor information and if possible, download an annual report. After each task, the user was asked to fill out the section of the questionnaire that pertained to the task. Their time spent on the site was observed by myself, and notes were taken when a user spent more or less time than expected in various areas, or when the user did things that were outside of the tasks presented. Task Setting and Equipment All of the participants were tested using Mac G4 desktops. The women all conducted the site evaluation in a computer lab in the school of communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Isabella Castaño 8

11 Data and Results Overall, Anthropologie s site was rated the best among the three sites for its design and overall preference. It did however fall short on some of its usability due to lack of information. All of the participants were unable to find Anthropologie s annual report or any other investor information for that matter. There wasn t even a section for investors at the bottom of the sites like at the other two sites evaluated. Below are the unique evaluations for Anthropologie s site, conducted by each of the participants. Overall, participant A liked the appearance of the site. She agreed for the most part that the site was easy to navigate After the first task, participant A had many comments: She wished that there were a simpler way of finding displayed items on the site. For example, in two places one could find a category for jewelry that was click-able. (The figure below gives an example of this.) She wasn t 100% sure what merchandise could be found where. Isabella Castaño 9

12 The site lists links with vague title names such as flowers which provide variety from usual clothing sites, but don t explain enough about what can be found once clicked. She wasn t always sure if items were in the sale section or full price section. She did enjoy the site despite some of the usability issues and concluded that she would recommend the site to others because of its eclectic nature and inspirational layouts. The second participant also very much liked the design and appearance of Anthropologie s site. Her comments are below: Participant B felt that the site effectively represents the clothing and house wares that Anthropologie has to offer. She noted however that she would recommend the site to people for the brand s products, not the site itself. She was unable to find the annual report and recommended a section that was separate from Anthropologie s products to include these kinds of things for interested investors. Participant C evaluated Anthropologie s site. She was also overall happy with the appearance. She noted that it was pretty and basic. She felt comfortable navigating around the site and she thought it was pretty straight forward. She did however encounter difficulty when looking for the annual report. She did not succeed in finding it, but mentioned that if she needed an annual report she would be likely to simply the company directly and ask for one rather than look around. Participant C s comments recommended: An separate section for investors. The models for the clothing felt a bit old for the clothes. In her opinion, the store aims to sell its clothes to a target market much older than what it should. She does not think that she will return to the site, but would recommend it to others. She expressed that it simply was not her taste in clothing. Upon an extensive search for Anthropologie s annual report, I was able to find it. It was located however on a separate site that belongs to their parent company, Urban Outfitters, Inc. A possible solution if Anthopologie doesn t want to include an investors section would be to have a link to the parent company s Web site. Aesthetically, Banana Republic scored the lowest on its visual design. All of the participants tended to dislike the busy site. It scored the highest as far as usability goes however. Isabella Castaño 10

13 The site was similar in layout as the J.Crew website, however it visually failed to keep things simple. All of the women who tested the site found that it was easy to navigate. However, there was nothing that drew them in a creative way. Completing all of the task was simple and there were not any women who got stuck along the way. All of the participants were able to find Banana Republic s annual report. It was under the Investors link at the bottom of every page and fairly obvious once a person clicked onto that page. Below are the unique evaluations for Banana Republic s site, conducted by each of the participants. Participant A found the site to feel a bit generic and void of a brand personality. She noted that she preferred to not see the clothes on models, but rather on the mannequins like on Anthropologie s site. She did like however that the site listed petit as one of the the main sections. She usually shops in the petit section of stores and was pleased to see how easy it was to search for clothing that would fit her body type. Searching for the annual report was easier than expected, yet she still was of the opinion that the site could have made the annual report link more prominent. The first time she was on the page where the annual report was found, her eyes glanced over the link and she had to go back to the page after searching on other pages. Additional comments participant A gave, included: Isabella Castaño 11

14 Allowing for more white space on home page Incorporating images/design elements that allow for more brand personality to emerge. She believes that she will recommend this site to friends because of its large amount of sale opportunities. Participant B agreed with much of what participant A had to say. She disliked the site at first impression because it felt too busy and too mainstream. She found that the layout of where things were positioned felt intuitive however that its appearance was lacking. Her main comment was that the uninviting website didn t mirror Banana Republic s in-store sophistication. She did not feel that it did the brand justice and thus would not recommend the site to friends. Participant C also was of the same opinion as participants A and B. She didn t think that there was much to change in regards to the navigation of the site, but did go so far as to say that the site was ugly. She did not believe that the she would return to the site or recommend the site to a friend, unless that friend was in search of something very specific to Banana Republic. Aesthetically and functionally, J.Crew fell in the middle in comparison to the two other brands. It seemed to be user friendly as well as design friendly. The participants agreed that a few things could be improved to perfect the site, however it felt the most balanced out of the three sites evaluated. Below are the unique evaluations for J.Crew s site, conducted by each of the participants. Participant A very much liked the appearance of the site. She was drawn in by the slide-show at the beginning of the site. She felt it was a stylish way of introducing the brand. She did believe that the site was easy to navigate, but had a slightly less simple experience completing the second task than on the Banana Republic site. In completing the third task she found other things that might be useful to investors, but failed to find the annual report - something that could be quickly fixed if only a button were placed obviously on the Investor Relations page. Isabella Castaño 12

15 She did leave the site feeling as though she would return and recommend it to her friends because the site made her realize how much merchandise the brand had to offer. She was surprised and happy to see that J.Crew offers a wedding link - specific to clothing meant for bridesmaids and grooms. To improve the site she recommended the following: Narrow the menu options on the left side of the screen Avoid white type on black as it is visually confusing. Participant B agreed with participant A in that she disliked the black navigation bar on the left. More so for aesthetic reasons than usability reasons. She felt as though the black was too harsh in comparison to the rest of the page and the clothing on the site. She felt that the site was easy to navigate and was able to complete all of the tasks presented without difficulty. Participant D liked the appearance of the site very much and only had one suggestion to improve the usability: change the reversed right aligned type on the navigation menu. She was able to find the Investor Relations page on the site, but unable to find the link for the annual report quickly, so she gave up searching for it. She liked the site and would recommend it to others, but doesn t believe she herself will return out of personal style. Isabella Castaño 13

16 Discussion The three I s will be used to discuss the success of the sites evaluated: Interaction, Information and Interface. These three variables will help define what site performs the best in regards to usability and how the sites can be tweaked in order for them to be more user-friendly in the future. The three I s are defined below. Information - The sites should clearly define themselves and make it obvious to the user what their purpose is. The navigation on the site should be easily understood and intuitive. The user should be able to tell by the name of each of the navigation buttons, where she will be led to and what information will be found in the pages that follow. Interface - The site should have something that identifies it as being part of the same site on every page. It should maintain consistency in its navigation. A search box should be available and clearly labeled as the search engine. Navigation on the site should be labeled clearly. Images on the page should add to the experience and not distract or make it confusing for the user to look at the site. Interaction - Input from the user should result in the expected outcomes. The user should be able to understand where she is on each page in relation to the site. The navigation on the site should be clearly labeled as such and should take the user to the expected pages. Searching for things on the sites should provide what the user is looking for. (Ex. If the user types in annual report, the latest annual report should pop up as one of the options to look at.) Isabella Castaño 14

17 Conclusion and Recommendations Overall, J.Crew was rated the highest among the different participants. This study emphasized the importance of providing a balance between visual design and usability design. It also illustrated the importance of keeping in mind one s audience when designing for the web, or anything really. Below are recommendations for the various sites that would improve them to their fullest potential. Despite it s beautiful layout and appearance, interface isn t everything and the interaction and information on this site could be improved. The following changes are recommended for Anthropologie s site: Make navigation more clear between areas already visited and those that haven t been visited yet. Allow the search engine to search for company information and not just products. Create an Investors section that makes it easy to find financial and yearly information. Even though Banana Republic had all the information required by its users, it failed to display that information in the best way through its interaction and interface. The following changes are recommended for Banana Republic s site: Allow the search engine to search for company information and not just products. Make the navigation less cluttered. Give the website a more sophisticated look and feel. Reflect the in-store quality on the Web site. Give the user something creative that draws them in and invites them to stay. Make the site feel less generic. Brand the site similar to the actual stores. Isabella Castaño 15

18 J.Crew scored the highest overall in regards to its interface, interaction and information. It provided most of the information needed, it interacted well with the consumer and fell short in only one aspect of its interface. In order to make J.Crew undoubtedly the best clothing site it can be, it is recommended it make the following adjustments: The black navigation bar on the left of the site must go. Not only is it difficult to look at because of its right aligned type and backwards color, it also rests heavy on the page and lacks elegance. It is truly the main element that is bringing down J.Crew s Web site. Give J.Crew s annual report a more prominent link on its Investor s Relations page. Isabella Castaño 16

19 Pre-test Questionnaire Date: This information will be kept strictly confidential. Participant Background Information Birthdate: Occupation: Computer Experience How many years have you been using the Internet? Where do you access the Internet? Home Work Other What do you primarily use the Internet for? What types of websites do you typically surf? How often do you visit clothing sites online? How often do you purchase things from clothing sites online? Do you register you with clothing stores? If so, what stores? Please list 5-10 Web sites you find useful or that you personally use often. Isabella Castaño 17

20 Post-test Questionnaire Please circle the Web site being evaluated Have you ever visited this store before? Have you ever purchased something online from this retailer before? Below are three tasks that we ask you to complete for this study. After each task please fill out the questions pertaining to the task. Spend some time exploring the site and familiarizing yourself with what it has to offer. Mock-shop for a full-price summer dress and an on sale accessory. You are a possible investor and are interested in the company. Search for pertinent investor information and if possible, download an annual report. Begin with the first task! Spend a couple of minutes exploring the site and familiarizing yourself with what it has to offer. Rate your satisfaction with the site once you have finished the first task. Did you like the appearance of the site? Why or why not? Did the site feel easy to navigate? Was there anything that didn t seem intuitive? Isabella Castaño 18

21 Continue onto the second task. Mock-shop for a full-price summer dress and an on sale accessory. After doing so, please rate the site on the chart below. Strongly Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Strongly Disagree disagree Agree Agree 1. This site was easy to navigate. 2. The second task was easier than expected. 3. The website made it clear which items were sale items and which were full price items. 4. The site provided enough information about specific items I was interested in purchasing. Was there anything in the second task that you were unable to complete? Is there anything you would change to facilitate the second task? Isabella Castaño 19

22 Continue onto the third task. You are a possible investor and are interested in the company. Search for pertinent investor information and if possible, download an annual report. After doing so, please rate the site on the chart below. Strongly Somewhat Neutral Somewhat Strongly Disagree disagree Agree Agree 1. Finding the annual report was easier than anticipated. 2. The site presented additional information that might be useful to investors. Were you able to complete the task presented? If not, why? Is there anything you would change to facilitate the third task? If you could change something about this site what would it be? In regards to navigation, search engine, layout, etc? How likely are you to return to this site? Why or why not? Would you recommend this site to a friend? Why or why not? Isabella Castaño 20