Shaadi.com- Usability Test
Shaadi.com is a leading online match making portal. They were facing several issues with
their existing site such as:
1. High bounce rate on the homepage
2. Low registration rates
3. Very few females uploaded their pictures as compared to males
4. High bounce rate on the checkout page
More importantly, they wanted to understand the cultural biases and differences
between North and South Indian parents.
Shaadi.com- Usability Test
To begin with, we recruited across a wide range of Shaadi.com’s customers. For e.g. the
south and north indian users were interviewed separately.
A test script was prepared in collaboration with Shaadi.com and the issues they faced.
We interviewed the Shaadi customers to get an understanding of several issues such as
privacy controls, uploading photos, becoming a paid member, match preferences etc.
Following is a
part
of the final presentation that was given to Shaadi.com
Usability test
Shaadi.com
1.
Objective
2.
Methodology
3.
Findings Index
4.
Qualitative Study
5.
Performance based Study
6.
Findings of various groups
7.
Competitive Analysis
8.
Appendix
1. Objective
Objectives of Study
Navigation / Information Architecture of the site Content / Communication on the site Relevance of Search results Privacy Concerns of users Emotional response and attachment with the site1.
Objective
2.
Methodology
3.
Findings Index
4.
Qualitative Study
5.
Performance based Study
6.
Findings of various groups
7.
Competitive Analysis
8.
Appendix
4. Qualitative Study
Match making Criteria
Attitude towards Matrimonial sites
About Shaadi.com
Privacy Concerns
Shaadi Horoscope Service
Match Mails
Shaadi Mailers Photo Album / Video
Pricing Customer Support
4a. Criteria when looking for a match
Religion
Caste and Community
This is the most important criteria across all user groups. They would only marry in their own religion.
All parents and brides want to look for a match in their own community. Grooms were a little flexible on this aspect.
Age / Height All grooms gave a lot of importance to physical attributes like Height / Age of the girl
Salary Metro girls and parents of Girls considered salary a very important
parameter when looking for a match
Education / Profession All user groups consider it very important to look at the education and
Profession of the match.
“I need to ensure that he can afford me after marriage”
4a. Criteria when looking for a match
Family Background Parents considered family background very important parameter
Location Parents wanted the match in a location (preferably their place of residence) where they could enquire about the boy and his family.
Religion
Caste and Community
This is the most important criteria across all user groups. They would only marry in their own religion.
All parents and brides want to look for a match in their own community. Grooms were a little flexible on this aspect.
Age / Height All grooms gave a lot of importance to physical attributes like Height / Age of the girl
Salary Metro girls and parents of Girls considered salary a very important
parameter when looking for a match
Education / Profession All user groups consider it very important to look at the education and
Profession of the match.
“I have a lot of jaan pehcnaan here and can easily find out more about the guy” “I don‟t want to send my daughter too far from me”
4a. Criteria when looking for a match
Family Background Parents considered family background very important parameter
Location Parents wanted a location (preferably their place of residence) where they could enquire about the boy and his family.
Photograph All Brides and Grooms considered photograph a very important criteria
before expressing interest. Parents were divided in this
Diet / Hobbies These are some other criteria that are looked at before marriage.
• Better „Match Mails‟ based on preferences across each user group
• Mutual Matches – Better mutual matches with the priorities defined by users
Religion
Caste and Community
This is the most important criteria across all user groups. They would only marry in their own religion.
All parents and brides want to look for a match in their own community. Grooms were a little flexible on this aspect.
Age / Height All grooms gave a lot of importance to physical attributes like Height / Age of the girl
Salary Metro girls and parents of Girls considered salary a very important
parameter when looking for a match
Education / Profession All user groups consider it very important to look at the education and
Profession of the match.
4b. Attitude towards Matrimonial Sites
• Varied reasons for choosing websites as a source • Gives access to larger number of profiles • May find groom who does not want dowry
“The first thing I notice on Home Page is „10 million possibilities. Search now‟. It makes me feel that I will find someone here”
4b. Attitude towards Matrimonial Sites
• Varied reasons for choosing websites as a source • Gives access to larger number of profiles • May find groom who does not want dowry
• Parents and Tier 2 Brides did not trust the matrimonial sites. They did not know how to ensure that the profiles are not bogus.
“Boys always want to put their best foot forward. How do I trust what he has written about himself”
4b. Attitude towards Matrimonial Sites
• Varied reasons for choosing websites as a source • Gives access to larger number of profiles • May find groom who does not want dowry
• Parents and Tier 2 Brides did not trust the matrimonial sites. They did not know how to ensure that the profiles are not bogus.
• Websites should be supported by offline events.
There should be a reference on the site which can help in enquiring about the guy. Indian marriages have always had a third person in between.
• Users could fill names and details of 2 relatives for a quick ref check.
4c. About Shaadi.com
• Some people go only through „Match Alert‟ mails since they don‟t want to browse the entire website.
• Most of the girls wait for boys to contact them and do not make the first move.
4f. Match Mails
Tier 2 brides and grooms are not internet savvy and access the site through the match mails. They did not find the profiles matching their criteria.
Parents found the „Match Mail‟ not matching their criteria.
Profession does not match
Location does not match
Religion does not match
Community does not match
Eating habits do not match
“Profiles are randomly picked and sent. They send divorcees and less salaried profiles”.
4h. Photo Album / Video
Most of the users found 3 pictures in the album satisfactory
Users did not find video necessary. They did not have time to shoot a video or did not know how to make good videos of themselves.
“I want to look the best so I put a professional photograph. How do I do that in a video?”
1.
Objective
2.
Methodology
3.
Findings Index
4.
Qualitative Study
5.
Performance based Study
6.
Findings of various groups
7.
Competitive Analysis
8.
Appendix
5. Performance based Study
Home Page Registration Profile Creation Search Contacting People Detailed Profile Shaadi Seal My Shaadi Changing Privacy Setting Becoming a paid member5a. Home Page – Enhance the value
www
.shaadi.
com
“What's in it for me?”“I directly log onto the site”
“Home Page is junk and gives no value”
“I don‟t look at Home Page”
Home Page offers no value to the users.
There is no dynamism in
content that may be beneficial to a
regular user.
• Landing Page is the most valuable real estate. Consider saving the password and landing the user to his logged in Home Page (My Shaadi).
5a. Home Page – Focussing Attention
Gray shaded area is the most significant piece of Home Page focusing maximum attention
Horizontal lines are the next in priority of attention Dark Gray vertical section is the area of least
attention
The first thing noticed on Home Page by most of the users was the Model and the Shaadi logo.
Search was almost out of focal view. „Register Free‟ button was least noticed. When asked to register, users mostly used the link to Register
5a. Home Page
Two „Go‟ buttons in close proximity confused some Tier 2 users and they clicked the wrong „Go‟ button.
The colliding focal view can confuse users. User was confused if Member
Log in would be Email id or Profile id.
The login gadget on inner screen says Email and the
Home Page says Member login. Writing Email ID inside the field is not helpful since it disappears once the user clicks on it.
• Clearly state if the log in is through Member Login or Email id.
• Consider changing the position of the „Go‟ buttons or change the button labels.
5b. Registration
Most of the users found the registration form easy to fill and understood all the field labels
Users liked the call outs guiding them through the filling process
Registration Form should ask for Username and Password only
Take the Phone number and someone from customer care could call and get it filled
5b. Registration – Incorrect error messages
• Error message should tell what the error is, where it is and how it could be corrected.
• Consider removing years from the drop down selection that make the profile less than 18. Prevent errors to make the process faster.
• Relook at all the error messages to ensure correct language.
When the password field is left blank, the message in red is
considered an Error message saying „Your password cannot contain
spaces”.
Choosing wrong year of birth gave an error message that was not understood by some users.
“This is strange. Why can‟t they process my Registration”
Wrong error message Wrong error message
5c. Profile Creation – Confusing Jargon
Users scan on the web. They do not read.
Some users ignored the Title on the page and the language of the callout confused them. They thought that they were filling partner preference
The difference between various Display Options of Contact Details was not clear to one user.
• Ensure that the communication on the site is easily understood by users
My profile or partner profile
5e. Detailed Profile
Most of the users liked the format of detailed profile. All the activities user could perform were upfront and gave fast access.
Users liked the last log in date. It made them understand the activity of the user.
There should be a „Top‟ link to get to the top of the page since the profile is too long.
6. Group A and B users - Parents
• Design the pages for minimum vertical scroll
• Minimum font size should be 10 point. When designing for elderly people, it should be increased to 12 point.
• Alternately, provide the option to choose Text Height. This would let the user increase and decrease the font size
Dexterity: Skill in using one‟s hand
or body
Old age people suffer from Dexterity Problem.
Hence, using the mouse can increase the motor load.
Long pages and scrolling can be difficult for people with old age
Lot of pages on the site have put the important information below the
scroll and have increased the length of the page which introduces vertical scroll
Font size is too small for old age users.
Some parents squinted or came closer to the screen to read the text
6. Group A – South Indian Parents
Most of the South Indian parents are very particular about matching
horoscope
They are also very particular about finding a match in their own caste and sub caste
South Indian parents would also like to know the native place of the girl or boy to ensure that the traditions and cultures of the families match
6. Group C and F – Girls
Most of the girls are apprehensive about putting their picture on the internet.
They liked the privacy settings offered by shaadi.com
Girls did not like contacting boys or expressing interest since they did not want to make the first move
They would wait for the boy to Express Interest and contact them
1.
Objective
2.
Methodology
3.
Findings Index
4.
Qualitative Study
5.
Performance based Study
6.
Findings of various groups
7.
Competitive Analysis
8.
Appendix
7. Shaadi vs Bharatmatrimony vs Jeevansathi
Rating was calculated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being Very Good and 1 being Very
Bad. The results are as follows:
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 I Find the home page i Find the registration process when searching for a match,I find the results I find becoming apaid member on the site
I find the site
Jeevansaathi Shaadi
