Product
A website that allows users to locate and search for garden shops and plants either locally or nationally, read reviews and ratings, and visit the garden shop’s websites to learn more about their goods and services.
A website that allows users to locate and search for garden shops and plants either locally or nationally, read reviews and ratings, and visit the garden shop’s websites to learn more about their goods and services.
Conduct interviews, paper and digital wireframes, lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes, conduct usability studies, account for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
December 2022 – May 2023
Ensuring the product is useful, desirable, accessible, credible, findable, usable, and valuable
A usability study was conducted using a low-fidelity prototype. Five participants, ages 30-50, from middle-income brackets, participated in a moderated usability study using Zoom to record the interview sessions. Participants were asked to access the link to the prototype and share their screen so a recording of the participant’s cursor movements could be recorded along with their reactions to the prototype. The participants interacted with the Adobe XD prototype in user interface mode. The interview sessions took, on average, 15 minutes to complete.
One assumption going into the research that I had was that users would want to search for garden shops only. I quickly learned that gardeners would be interested in also searching for specific plants, especially those plants that do well in their area. Another assumption was that this website would be used solely by individuals searching for shops and plants locally. I, too, quickly learned that participants wanted the ability to search for shops and plants in another area outside their geographic area.
As a result of this study, I changed the focus of the website from being one used locally to a site being used to search for shops and plants nationally. I also made it possible for individuals to search for plants in their area, as well as search for shops that carried the specific plants users would search for on a national level, thus widening the range of a possible search.
Users desired the ability to search for specific plants either in their area or conduct an nationwide search for shops that might carry the desired plants.
Users desired the ability to conduct a much broader and more diverse search than initially designed. Doing so widened the scope of the project.
Users desired to gain as much information about the plants and shops as possible without going to multiple pages or other websites to locate this information. This insight allowed the designer to include customer ratings and testimonials, plant information, and store details easily and quickly, allowing the user to make critical decisions about which shops to visit or not visit.
Users wanted a clear call to action immediately upon opening the main page. The designer changed the position and design of the search bar, placing it at the top center of the webpage.
Development process from paper to Adobe XD
Moderated Study
The study was conducted remotely using Zoom. Participants were recruited from an online LXD/ ID/ UX-UI community forum website. The participants lived in the East Coast and West Coast parts of the United States.
Five participants agreed to participate in the study. Four were female, and one was male. All participants were avid gardeners.ย The content of the study was not made aware to the participants until the time of the interviews. This means that the participants did not know the study was about a gardening website, and all five were gardeners who used the internet to buy plants and learn more about gardening.
The study took about 20 minutes to complete.
Users need better information and clearer call to action on the homepage at the top fold of the screen.
Users need more information on the search results page, including the ability to further drill down their search results.
Users want more specific information on the shop and plant pages, such as price ranges and recommendations.
Five out of the 5 participants understood the purpose of the website. All participants noted that there were key points that were missing from the website, such as drop-down menus, specific information about plants, and shop location.
All participants felt the project was straightforward and would provide gardeners with helpful information. They were pleased with the experience.
The participants rated the following survey items with agree or strongly agree.
Based on the feedback froth the first usability study and the desire to move to a hi-fi prototype, a complete redesign of the website was initiated. A new look and feel for the website, along with a new focus on the website’s scope, provided the creative energy for the final draft of the web design. The following were issues that arose from the design of the next lo-fi prototype and the hi-fi prototype.
The contrasting color was used throughout the design to ensure the text was light on a dark background or dark text on a light background. Further testing is needed to ensure the contrast ratio is 4.5:1.
The tablet design was developed to ensure screen readers would properly move through the text and images to ensure a fully accessible web experience. Further testing and refinement is needed before moving to production.
All images will include alt text before moving to production.
It’s important to remember when developing a website that serves a niche market; one must design a product that goes beyond what a generic search tool like Google or Bing can provide. Users clearly stated that this was a useful website and one that they would recommend to a friend.
I’ve learned how to use Adobe XD more extensively than before. I’ve also refined my design skills. Moving forward, I want to become more proficient in Figma and Adobe XD.
The following items must take place before moving into production.