To test the prototype of our app, BeNice, we had four users attempt to successfully complete six tasks. The four testers were college students with backgrounds in design, so they were equipped to call out flaws in our design across various areas.
Each tester was asked to complete six tasks:
- Create a BeNice account.
- Send a compliment to Amy with just text.
- Send a compliment to Jasmine with text and attach a photo.
- View your compliments from today.
- React to a compliment that one of your friends sent you.
- View your compliment archive — your compliments from a previous day.
A summary of the top 10 identified issues during testing and planned fixes are detailed below:
Issue 1
Issue: Users are forced to add text to a compliment before they can add a photo or audio. Users should be able to add various mediums to their compliments in any order.
Severity: Severe.
Fix: Update connections in Figma to allow users to add text, a photo, and/or audio to their compliment in any order.
Issue 2
Issue: After onboarding, users are taken directly to a blurred out homescreen. This is a stark transition, as users do not know what the app is, its purpose, or how to use it at this point.
Severity: Severe.
Fix: Add a landing page after the onboarding flow that displays the title of the app and gives insight into the app’s purpose and how to use it.
Issue 3
Issue: Hearts are most typically associated with “favorites” or “likes”, so having a heart to represent the home screen is confusing and does not align with the typical meaning of the heart icon in other apps.
Severity: Moderate.
Fix: Change heart in home bar to a house.
Issue 4
Issue: After the user successfully sends a compliment, a user may want to immediately view their received compliments. As users are required to send in a compliment before they can view the ones they received, this is a logical next step. There is no clear way for the user to view their compliments immediately after sending one. Currently, the only option is to click the home screen button in the home bar to do this.
Severity: Moderate.
Fix: Add a “View Your Compliments” button on the last page of the send a compliment task flow that takes users to the homepage.
Issue 5
Issue: Users are most interested in viewing the compliments they receive compared to the compliments they’ve sent out. The current display order of compliments on the homescreen (chronological) does not reflect this.
Severity: Moderate.
Fix: Change the display order of compliments to be received, followed by sent. Within each category, maintain chronological order.
Issue 6
Issue: The blurred version of the homescreen should not have any of the cards representing compliments sent behind it. Logically, if the user is viewing the blurred screen, it means that they have not yet sent any compliments.
Severity: Moderate.
Fix: Update blurred screen to only contain cards representing compliments received.
Issue 7
Issue: When viewing your compliment archive, the calendar remains on the screen when viewing your compliments from a past day. This limits the amount of space allotted for viewing the actual compliments, which makes for a slightly difficult viewing experience.
Severity: Trivial.
Fix: Allow users to swipe up on the compliments in the compliment archive to make the compliments take up the entire screen (calendar disappears).
Issue 8
Issue: Text boxes are typically white to indicate that a user can type in it. When the user is sending a compliment, the box to type in is green.
Severity: Trivial.
Fix: Change text box to white to match industry standard.
Issue 9
Issue: After a user creates their profile, they can view it by clicking on the profile tab, but it is not clear where they can go to update it.
Severity: Trivial.
Fix: Add an “Edit Profile” button on the profile tab.
Issue 10
Issue: Instances of slight misalignment of text and images throughout the prototype.
Severity: Trivial.
Fix: Ensure proper alignment among all objects across screens.
