Project Duration: 1.5 months
Software: Figma, Miro, Google Docs, Zoom, Google Meet
My Role:
Researcher - Conducted 4 usability testings and generated insights for design solutions
Designer - Created high-fidelity mockups for the Events page and designed the final project report
Writer - Wrote two parts of the report, which were Methodology and Finding & Recommendation on the Events page
Presenter - Presented findings & design solutions to the client
Westbeth is a vibrant, exceptional place in New York City. It’s a community hub for the city at large as well as for artists of all disciplines to gather and exhibit work, and, for some, an affordable place to live in the city.
Although Westbeth’s website (www.westbeth.org) captures its complexity and richness, some reorganization could improve overall usability. As a group of 4, we collaborated to evaluate and identify 3 major usability issues of the current Westbeth website through 8 moderated usability testings, as well as provide recommendations that we deemed will be valuable for the website's improvement.
Contributors: John Kellejian, Staci Hou, Yinghua Chen
The Goals
To improve overall usability of the website.
To encourage visitors to attend Westbeth events and exhibitions.
To encourage donations to the organization.
Process Overview
Design the Study
TARGET USERS
After the client meeting, our team has identified and segmented insights into two user profiles:
METHODOLOGY
Remote moderated usability testing has been chosen as the main methodology for identifying opportunities for improvement on the Westbeth website to further enhance the user experience. This method has been beneficial to the research team as it is cost-efficient, less time-consuming as well as flexible in terms of the location and schedule.
In order to recruit the right participants and conduct testings successfully, our team came up with different materials and documents, including:
Participants
Conduct the Testing
Analyze the Results
After conducting sessions with all 8 participants, our team aggregated all their feedbacks on Miro Board and listed unique usability issues. The tasks were ranked using the Severity Scale (1 being the easiest), in context to how difficult for participants to complete the tasks.
The full Miro Board can be found here.
Findings & Recommendations
Overall, users enjoyed browsing the Westbeth website, with an overwhelming majority saying they would visit the website again and would also refer a friend to the website.
“Probably a place I would feel comfortable at and would enjoy going to.”
However, the average usability rating of the website was a 7 out of 10, with 10 being difficult and 1 being easy. Based on the feedbacks, Westbeth is a unique and interesting organization and place to visit, and the website provides a lot of compelling content, but it’s sometimes challenging to navigate the website.
“I like having all the information, but I’m not good at finding it.”
Minor changes to the website’s navigation menu and homepage, as well as some deeper structural changes to the Events and Artists pages, could help users better understand and appreciate Westbeth’s unique identity, while also encouraging them to visit its gallery and attend events.
Finding 1: Events Page
REORGANIZE THE EVENTS PAGE
We found:
Events are not listed in chronological order,
The lack of a calendar view and filters slows down the process of locating specific events
The information on the Events page can overwhelm users.
So we:
Insert a calendar display and filters
Remove detailed event information on the main Events page
Finding 2: Artist Page
CONSOLIDATE ARTIST LABELS
We found:
Users were confused about why there was no landing page and directory of all artists.
Some artists had additional content that was not linked to their Artist Profile Page.
So we:
Consolidate all artists in one central directory on a landing page.
Add a search feature and organize alphabetically.
Add filters for artistic practice, with the specific disciplines included in a dropdown menu for each practice.
Finding 3: Navigation Menu
REVISIT NAVIGATION MENU STRUCTURE AND LABELS
We found:
Some of the labels in the navigation menu prevent users from discovering key information, such as gallery visiting hours and donation.
Users weren’t clear about the distinction between the gallery and the community room.
So we:
In the navigation menu, change “Venues” label to “Visit”.
Create a central landing page for “Visit”, which includes visiting information for both the gallery and community room.
Add “Donate” to the navigation menu, and consider distinguishing it stylistically (e.g. different font color).
Finding 4: Homepage
STREAMLINE AND SIMPLIFY HOMEPAGE DESIGN
We found:
Introductory text is a little wordy and not targeted enough.
Distinction of homepage sections is unclear.
Format of events is inconsistent across different types of events and present some accessibility challenges.
So we:
Simplify the introductory text and emphasize its position on the page.
Consolidate different event types into one section, and show just a highlighted few.
Add section subheadings to offer a brief description of each section.
Enlarge the font size of event date & time to improve accessibility.
Wrapping Up
We presented the report to the client. Overall the client appreciated our effort on this project and gave really positive feedbacks on our usability findings and recommendations. The client would love to share our usability report with the Council to seek for possible fundings.
"It identifies some problems I kind of realize but I don’t know how to improve. The whole delivery is extremely clear and easy to follow. Can't wait to share it with other people to begin making these changes. Westbeth is deeply indebted to you!"
The full usability report can be found here.
Next Steps
To further analyze the usability of the website, different user testing method should be conducted. A more comprehensive analysis of current usage of the website (through tools such as Google Analytics) would be required to fully achieve the goal of understanding what sections of the website are most frequently visited and used. The scope of this report is limited to only four participants who are current website users. A/B testing and quantitative analysis should also be done to gain more insights.
We wish the Westbeth the best as they carry the results of this study forward!
Lesson Learned
“If you find an element of your interface requires instructions, then you need to redesign it.”
- Dan Rubin