Usability Evaluation for Hope Community Website
OVERVIEW
The Client
Hope Community is a long-established nonprofit located in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Hope Community’s vision is to center change in racial and economic equity, demonstrate an alternative to gentrification, build relationships and power among the community, and provide high-quality affordable housing.
The Problem
Hope Community has created many programs for the community since the 1970s. Familiarity with the organization is low among community members, but many folks are more aware of the programs Hope offers. Hope Community would like my help with increasing effective communication about the organization, the programs offered, ways to get involved (donator, program participant, or volunteer), and the impact they have in the community.
The Solution
Recommendations to ensure links are working correctly, clear concise navigation, and plain language to communicate about the organization will meet the user needs and excite users to learn more about what Hope Community offers.
Methodology Used
Heuristic Analysis, Design Critique, Low-fidelity Sketch, Think-aloud Protocol
Tools
Google Slides, Google Sheets , Word Doc, Zoom, Adobe Photoshop
Deliverables
THE JOURNEY
Before defining a specific area of opportunity I wanted to pursue, I wanted to make sure I had a clear definition of the problem I was trying to solve. The goal of my preliminary research was to not only define the problem, but understand the goals of the organization, the goals of the user groups, and the intent of the application.
Organizational Goals
Center change in racial and economic equity
Demonstrate an alternative to gentrification
Build relationships and power among community
Provide high quality, affordable housing
User Goals
Potential donors/funders interested in understanding Hope’s work and values
Current donors/funders want to see how their donation supports our mission
Community members looking to participate or enroll in our programs
Potential renters searching for housing*
Note: Hope’s housing programs are managed by third parties; interested renters
need to apply through those organizations
Secondary users
Staff and volunteers looking for quick reference links
The general public is interested in learning about Hope and what they do
Intent of the Website
Communicate Hope’s goals, mission, and values
Provide information on how to participate in Hope programming
Appeal to donors by communicating the work efforts and resulting impact
Image 1. Hope Community Website - Mission and Values
Heuristic Analysis
In order to understand what users are experiencing with the Hope Community website, I conducted a heuristic analysis to complete a usability review existing site. The purpose of my usability review is to help me experience and anticipate the challenges that the users will encounter when navigating through the website prior to designing the usability evaluation plan with my research team. As part of my review, I followed the tasks defined on the right. I then used Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics to evaluate the website and identify where the heuristic violations occurred throughout my testing.
Major findings from my usability review:
broken links within the internal website and to the property management website
unclear choice of language for user navigation and non-intuitive placement of site links
the abstract language that did not really tell me what the organization actually does
My findings gave me the impression that the website is not monitored or maintained regularly, which does not support the intended website goal.
Image 2. Hope Community Website - landing home page
Defined User Tasks
- Understand what Hope Community is, including
what they do and why
- Find information on existing programming
- Identify how to participate in current programs
- Apply for the Community Ownership Program
- Identify available housing units
- Apply for housing (via links to property management sites)
- Make a donation
No design or prototyping was completed for this project. The project focused on evaluating the existing platform and providing recommendations from the research findings only.
Usability Testing
To truly understand the user pain points with the website, I usability tests with real users. To evaluate whether the product met the research goals (specified above), six users participated in the think-aloud usability testing of Hope Community’s website. All six tests were conducted and recorded remotely through Zoom within 30-minute sessions. I conducted two tests separately without my research team. The other four participants were tested with my research team in a remote group setting in which there was a designated moderator and four observers/notetakers for each participant.
A synthesis of research findings was portrayed through affinity diagramming with my research team based on our notes and observations. We identified the following categories from our analysis based on participant responses.
accessibility - were users able/unable to act on information or finish a task
navigation structure - grouping, scrolling
language - specificity, verbs, narrative
aesthetics and images - sizing, colors, fonts
Major findings from the usability testing:
Critical errors regarding access to available housing information from the website to the property management site.
Enrolling in programs and getting involved by volunteering is not easily available.
Unclear understanding of what Hope Community does and the organizational goals.
Photos are large and beautiful but require excessive and unnecessary scrolling.
Many participants expressed frustration and felt discouraged as they navigated through the website.
Image 3. Research team, Alex moderating a zoom usability test
Image 4. Data synthesis - affinity diagramming
“That's a huge bummer… Ok another dead end, that's frustrating. So many dead ends. It looks like I will not be using Hope Community to help my friend find housing” – Participant 2
“I don’t know if this website just wants to post information about the things they do, or if they want to encourage people to join because they clearly state their programs here, but they don’t state how to get involved by volunteering or enrolling in the program.” – Participant 5
Recommendations
In regards to areas of opportunities, based on my findings, I came up with the following recommendations and prioritization. I assumed that it would be helpful for Hope to get a priority list of improvements in case the organization does not have the capacity to work on all my recommendations.
High Priority
Ensure links to pages are active and does not direct users to error page.
Update navigation to allow users to effectively locate how to get involved.
Moderate Priority
Use plain language to communicate information simply and clearly.
Insert link to housing information page in the main navigation.
Low Priority
Consolidate information about Hope Community into a single page.
Reduce excessive scrolling by minimizing image banner height.
CONCLUSION
The Hope Community website is presently in a great beginning position for growth. The content is engaging and inspiring. The recommendations provided are intended to improve the existing functionality and usability of the website. I arrived at these recommendations by performing six usability tests and evaluating the quantitative and qualitative data extrapolated from those tests. By following these recommendations, Hope Community could see improvement in their communication to the intended audience about the amazing programs and impact they have in the community. Moreover, users would have a positive experience with navigating through the site.
NEXT STEP
Making modifications to the website based on the recommendations provided can enhance the user experience and understanding of the organization more. After making the modifications, I recommend conducting another usability test to ensure the website is functional and contains the latest and greatest updates regarding the organization
Reflection and Key Takeaway
I was able to develop more confidence in facilitating my usability tests. I am continuing to work on building the experience in regards to asking the right questions. One thing I learned from this experience is that should have asked questions about the participants’ experiences with nonprofit organizations.