10.1. Heuristic evaluation results Evaluator #1 (Lidia Borisova) Date of HE – the 28 January 2019
Project status – MVP is ready but still needs minor correction. HE I did before MVP should be presented to end users.
Rating scale (Nielsen, Mack, 1994, p. 49)
0 – I don’t agree that this is a usability problem at all
1 Cosmetic problem only – need not be fixed unless extra time is available on project 2 Minor usability problem – fixing this should be given low priority
3 Major usability problem – important to fix, so should be given high priority 4 Usability catastrophe – imperative to fix this before product can be released Heuristic evaluation results based on the list of the heuristics:
1. Visibility Of System Status
Rate – 3. The visibility of the system is insufficient.
After clicking «get started” we are on the second page with the options to choose if I am a tenant or a landlord. However, the menu bar disappears at this point that doesn’t give me the feeling of understanding where I am, or how to go back or have more options. Thus, the visibility of the system is insufficient.
At some pages MVP had a “back” button, at some – not. The “back” button should be set at every page of the system.
The system status is visible in all the pages when tenant had to fill the form - the bars on the left show the overall length of the process - 4 blocks to fill - and underline with which of the 4 blocks the user is interacting at the moment. In addition, the visibility is supported by the possibility to switch from one block to another in the order, that user chooses by him/herself.
However, the same visibility is absent on the landlord side. It is impossible for landlord to get back to the landing page before completing the whole process of signing up. The bar indicating the
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length of the process (similarly to the tenant’s side) appears only in the “make an announcement” category.
2. Match Between System And The Real World
Rate – 2. The language of the system reminds about other services on the rental housing market. However, a few mismatches in vocabulary were found.
Your profile page (tenant’s side)
“Sopia needs this information to match you with the landlord” – might sound strange for the users. I would suggest adding tutorials at this moment to explain more why we need this information and what “matching with landlord” means in practice.
Page with matches (tenant’s side)
“match with landlord” and “match with property” is not clear for novice users. We should add tutorials explaining the logic of the system. This “double matching” is the feature that makes our system different from competitors, but more efforts should be put to explain the feature to users. Page with matches (landlord’s side)
Same confusion as on the page with matches at tenant’s side. Sopia’s team should add tutorials explaining why where are 2 matching columns. Now “match with property” and “match with your requirements” don’t provide a clear understanding that the first column is about apartment parameters, and second is about ideal tenant’s profile.
Dashboard page (both tenant’s and landlord’s side)
“dashboard” – I didn’t see this label on other websites. It is not clear for me what it is. I would suggest change it for “your profile”.
Information page (both tenant’s and landlord’s side)
“information” label is not clear, because the user will need to understand information about what? Labelling is ambiguous
3. User Control And Freedom
Rate – 0. The heuristic is working due to “back” buttons, menu dashboard and by showing me the location that I typed to let me verify if I put information correctly (tenant’s side).
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This feature is supported by “back” buttons, menu dashboard and by showing me the location that I typed to let me verify if I put information correctly (tenant’s side). The same verification statement the system provides at landlord’s side. Therefore, the heuristic is working.
4. Consistency And Standards
Rate – 3. The website has a design consistency: colours, type fonts, shapes of the bars etc. However, the feature with double matching that distinguishes our service from competitors might be difficult to understand for novice users as they didn’t see that double matching before.
The Sopia’s team should not avoid this feature in order to make the website more standardized. The double matching forms Sopia’s unique value proposition for end users. However, so that to make the system less confusing for beginners, we should add tutorials explaining the logic behind the double matching feature. Because currently, the user might wonder what different words, call to action mean, do they mean the same thing or different.
5. Error Prevention Rate - 0
This feature is supported by showing me the location that I typed to let me verify if I put information correctly (tenant’s side). The same verification statement the system provides at landlord’s side. In addition, the possibility for the landlord to make the announcement public or to hide it if he or she wants to change the information. In addition, in both profiles (tenant and landlord) MVP has a function to modify information. Consequently, the feature is working.
6. Recognition rather than recall Rate - 0
In general, the walk through the system is fast and easy for both sides. It is not overwhelmed by information. The navigation bar on the left helps the user to understand at which place in the process he or she is.
The sign in function is also very easy and requires only a few clicks. Thus, the heuristic is well developed in the system.
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When the user has an account, he directly falls into the matches page where he/she can easily switch from matches to his/her profile information. That function provides the feeling of flexibility.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design Rate - 3
The website has a design consistency: colours, type fonts, shapes of the bars etc. Now, MVP doesn’t contain irrelevant information. Opposite, MVP doesn’t contain enough of relevant information. Sopia website has to have tutorials, text, describing the overall logic of the system and, in addition, more parameters for apartments to make more precise match.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Rate – 0
The same answer as for heuristic #5. 10. Help and documentation