Problem
In a 2019 community survey commissioned by the City of Austin, just 24 percent of local residents expressed satisfaction with local public transportation options.
According to ridership data provided by Capital Metro, we can also see that during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, ridership sharply declined.
Hypothesis
Improving the user experience on CapMetro’s website will lead to an increase in ridership and rider satisfaction.
Test Objectives
- Can users quickly find information on route changes and disruptions?
- Can users easily find and understand COVID-19 safety protocols?
- Are users able to find and purchase tickets relevant to them and their needs?
- Are users satisfied with the online experience of planning trips, purchasing tickets, and finding safety protocols?
Measurements
I decided to test two of Nielsen’s usability components (learnabilty and satisfaction) to assess the ease of use of this website in regards to user needs that were discovered in a previous research study. These needs served as a driving force of my test objectives that i set out to evaluate.
| Learnability | Satisfaction | |
| Measurement | How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they come across the design? | How pleasant is it to use the design? |
| Metrics | Completion Rate Can users successfully accomplish the task? Average Time on Task How long does it take them? | Task Satisfaction Questions Users provide feedback and rate satisfaction 1 (low) to 5 (high) |
Moderated Usability Testing
I conducted 4 qualitative usability tests using a remote platform, UserZoom.
Findings and Recommendations
Staying up-to-date with Notifications: Good
- 3 out 4 participants successfully completed a task that required them to set notifications in order to stay updated about route changes and disruptions
- Quickest completion rate out of all tasks
- Highest satisfaction rating among users
This section has a nice balance of information and I like the colors of the icon and button
Recommendation
See where you can apply this minimalist design to other parts of the website to help maintain the focus of a user’s attention by reducing clutter, confusion, and cognitive workload.
Increasing consistency across the site will also improve usability.
Too Much Information: Severe
- On average, the participants took 2 minutes to find the essential safety guideline required for their task.
- 3 out of 4 participants reported feeling overwhelmed by the lengthy paragraphs and multiple “accordion” drop downs
I’m not someone who would read all this, I just want to know the main info quickly.
Recommendation
- Understand your community’s concerns
- Look at Google Trends, your own internal site search, and other tools that reveal what people are searching for in your area and on your website.
- Organize and present the most important information in an impactful way. (Cards with clear titles, subheadings, and iconography/graphics when appropriate)
- Make it easy for readers to find information. No one wants to weed through all your content to find the answer to the one question that brought them to your site in the first place.
Hide n’ Seek Link: Severe
- All the participants “missed” at first pass or could not find the link to buy passes online because it was embedded within a paragraph of text.
- This increased their time on task for buying their desired passes.
I didn’t even see the link there at first. It’s kind of hidden in all that text!
Recommendation
- Both links and body text must have enough contrast to meet web accessibility standards.
- Change link colors to meet accessibility standards or;
- Create a more visible “Call to Action” button instead of the paragraph
Ally Trevino 