Taking the vehicle detail page, assessing the UX of the page.
A detailed analysis of desktop and mobile to assess the usuability and funcationality
🚀 KICKOFF | 🔎 OBJECTIVES |
|---|---|
CarSupermarket.com is a UK-based online car retailer offering a wide selection of used cars. CarSupermarket.com's long-term goal was to improve the usability of the page and generation lead on cars. |
|
Methodology
Heuristic Evaluation
Competitive Analysis
Accessibility
Recommendations
📋 Heuristic Evaluation
I started off with the They had already designed out all their screens and had a working prototype in Figma. Our class started with a Heuristic Evaluation so we could hand off some things to work on while the rest of the project progressed.
💡 UX tip: A heuristic evaluation is a great way to grab low-hanging fruit and identify predictable usability issues. You can use Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for Interface Design to assess user interface (UI) interactions, but don’t let that limit you. These are considered “rules of thumb” because they can be seen again and again in UI designs. If a particular finding doesn’t fit into a category that doesn’t mean it won’t be an issue — it will just require more research on your part to back it up.
I evaluated both desktop and mobile versions of the page, focusing on:
The process that every potential customer will go through to purchase a car
The interaction between customer and receiving help for their purchase.
I went through the page and took notes so I could tag notes by the possible 10 heuristics violated and mark the level of severity.
Heuristic evaluation findings
The most heuristic violations were:
Visibility of system status (1 issue)
Aesthetic and minimalist design (1 issue)
User control and freedom (1 issue)
Help users recognise, diagnose and recover from errors (1 issue)
1. Keep users informed | |
CS should update their navigation. | CS should have very clear indicators around their navigation, otherwise users may stay confused and abandon the site.
|
2. Give users control | |
CS should provide users the option to quickly fix mistakes or make changes later. | CS should allow users to change their mind when filling out contact forms and at any time of a user’s interaction.
|
3. Aesthetic and minimalist | |
CS should make text, especially call to actions legible for the customers. | CS should follow industry conventions and legibility, a number of their call to actions are far too small to read. I recommend updating the font sizing to make it easier.
|
🏅 Competitive Analysis
I looked at competitors such as Motorpoint, Arnold Clark and AutoTrader; and compared them to Carsupermarket.com.
Competitive analysis findings
The competitive analysis showed Carsupermarket had a unique proposition but a very similar idea to other competitors, with great success. Research on the desirability of the site and assessing product-market fit should be major priorities.
1. Reserve | |
CS provides the ability to reserve a car immediately. | Both direct and indirect competitors had a similar approach. |
2. Finance calculator | |
Ability to check finance options for a specific car, allowing the customer to determine whether it's suitable before reserving. | Increasing user interaction and peace of mind for the customer, also seen across most competitors. |
3. Presence | |
CS is well established but not a big name in the car retail industry. How can this be improved? | Very reliable and well established; I propose increase in marketing. |
⚠ Accessibility
💥 Recommendations
Overall project findings | CS was a fairly usable site. Some novel issues may come up with features such as account creation and accessing help. |
1. Conduct further research on the desirability of CS | Direct further research on desirability over usability - a perfectly usable site does no good if users don’t want to use it
|
2. Design for the effects of anonymity | Allow users to create meaning and uniqueness in their search for a car to encourage an emotional connection and ability to create wishlist. |
3. Follow industry standards | Provide confirmation screens for user actions to reduce confusion
|
4. Include a comprehensive onboarding experience | Comprehensive onboarding should clarify issues users had with anonymity and privacy
|
