Remote usability testing was conducted from July 25-26th 2020, with 10 volunteers aged 35-65.

Each volunteer was asked to participate in role playing. They were asked to imagine they were the owner of an HOA in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and briefed on the newer rules and regulations. They were then told they had decided to sign up for MyCommunitySite.com's services. They were asked to view sets of wireframes, and vocalize their thoughts, undestandings, impressions, and happy and sad feelings about their experiences.

  • The dashboard first time user examples either had too much or too little text on them.
  • The dashboard returning user layout has too much information on it at once.
  • Users expressed the need for a free trial as they are wary of what they're signing up for.
  • The payment plan page does not convey enough information.
  • Some terms in the adding members pages are confusing and not clear.
  • "Join Now" is confusing. "What are we joining?"
  • Tool tips and highlighting where user needs to go is very helpful.
  • Sign up process less daunting and more clear.

Sign Up Process

  • More information about pricing and the service offered needs to be shown. Users are unsure they are getting the best value or what they are really paying for.
  • Users suggested a free trial period to assess value
  • Some users were confused about the term “join” due to the idea of joining to get a membership.

Recommendations:

Offer free trials, or samples of clients sites (or sample sites) to boost customer confidence, and add more detail to the packages.

Setup Wizard 1 + 2

Both layouts are clean, but are polar opposites with the amount of information provided. Users were split in opinions between the first and second screens.

Recommendations:

Find a balance between the first and second designs.

Dashboard

  • Shows too much information for a first time user.
  • Users were unsure what they were looking at in each part of the page due to unclear labeling
  • User suggested a notification area for broken links or areas of your site that need attention

Recommendations:

  • Make section views optional, add ability to hide/show
  • Add a survey feature to get feedback from the user's HOA
  • Address layout issues, be more clear in what the user is looking at

Adding Users

The functionality of this page can be confusing. Not all users understand or know what a CSV is.

Recommendations:

While on the right path a little finesse needs to be applied. Instructions on what to do need to be clear. Consider adding an optional section that explains to the user what this is in more detail. Make the controls more obvious and intuitive through text, tooltips, or examples.

Summary

  • Generally positive reaction to designs
  • Implement tool tips and helper text throughout the site
  • Users want to see what they are getting before they sign up
  • Suggest adding testimonials from current users
  • Users want to be able to preview their site when they add content or make changes
  • Information that is not pertinent to signing up and publishing the site should be optional. People are interested in the information but do not want it “cluttering” up their screens.
  • Not many people read, so minimize the amount of text