User Testing Approach
After the design process and creating the prototypes, we had a great opportunity to conduct user tests to observe interactions with the prototype. We recruited thirty users and conducted a 45-minute interview and test session with each.
The sessions began with questions about their shopping habits and how they shop for phones. Next, we asked when they bought their last phone and how they made that decision.
At this point, we invited them to explore the prototype and provided various scenarios to prompt them to use the comparison tool.
Demographics
We conducted two sessions of the test in the UK and Sweden. Here are the demographics of the users we tested:
Gender
Age Brackets
- 18-25: 4
- 26-35: 8
- 36-45: 2
- 46-55: 1
- +55: 0
Gender
Age Brackets
- 18-25: 2
- 26-35: 8
- 36-45: 2
- 46-55: 2
- +55: 1
Gender
- Female: 22 (73%)
- Male: 8 (27%)
Age Brackets
- 18-25: 6 (20%)
- 26-35: 16 (53%)
- 36-45: 4 (13%)
- 46-55: 3 (10%)
- +55: 1 (3%)
User Testing Findings from the UK and Sweden
Here are the findings from user testings conducted in the UK and Sweden. In the UK, users were interviewed about their mobile phone shopping journey and tested our site's Product Filter Page. In Sweden, we collaborated with the local UX team to evaluate our comparison tool. Observing users from different regions provided unique perspectives. Here are the results of their interactions with the tool.
Here are the key findings and design change recommendations. Some of these changes were already implemented during the user interviews with the prototype.
Activating Comparison
Most users easily activated the comparison tool.
- Four users missed it entirely.
- Three users activated it after prompting, but said their usual behaviour was to open items in individual tabs.“I would have usually used multiple tabs”
- Checkbox on mobile might be too small. Four (4) users presented problems selecting devices.
Information Structure
- Four users stated that rating battery in mAh was meaningless. They would have preferred to see hours of average battery life.“It’s useful in the battery if it tells me how many hours.”
- Users suggested they would prefer to have the table categories collapsed as a default. This would allow them to unfold those sections that interest them.
- Users don’t immediately understand that the comparison table can be scrolled. Items might be too large and too spaced out, which gives the impression the header of the table is all there is.
Users are fairly confident at viewing specs and deciding which phone is better, although some technical terms were confusing. We suggest that displaying battery power as “average hours battery life” should be made a priority.
Show Differences
- Eight users did not engage with the Show Differences button unless prompted.“I hadn’t noticed that”
- Eight users did not realise what had changed when they used it.“I can’t see the difference”, “It’s too subtle”
- Once users understood the goal of this function, they were largely positive.
This feature has potential but needs to be improved in terms of clarity and feedback. The next iteration will focus on making the CTA, and the actual differences, more obvious.
Add & Remove Items
- Users generally uncertain about the search bar. Unless you know exactly what to search for, it isn’t that clear.“Do I have to use this?”
- When asked to add an extra item, users hesitated, and preferred to go back to the PF and add from there.
- Very easy to remove items from the comparison.
Users removed items very easily, and almost all users saw the search bar. However, users were slightly uncertain about what to type in the search bar. This could be improved by pre-populating with a drop-down of featured products.
Behaviour
- Multiple users tried clicking on the images and titles in the comparison table to find out more info.
- Some users wanted to see different colour options on the table.
- Year of release is important information to consider.
Activating Comparison
- Enlarge the checkbox on mobile
Table Information
- Collapse the rows on mobile by default.
- Add battery life in hours of usage on average, video and idle.
- Compress the top of the table and the row titles to fit more information on the screen.
- Maintain the delete button when scrolling the table.
Show Differences
- Show differences by default on page load. Have the differences highlighted in bold, and the similarities in light text. Have a button to deactivate the differences.
