Project 4 PresentationFreecycle.org Usability Issues &

Recommendation

Evaluators:Joe Goebel, India Green, Jeri Herrera, Joseph Howerton

What is Freecycle Network? The Freecycle™ Network was established in 2003 as an email

group in Tucson, Arizona. The Freecycle™ Network has since grown into a global concept spanning 85 countries. The goals of the organization are to keep gently used items out of landfills and instill a sense of generosity within their members, while limiting the items that end up in landfills all over the world. The organization estimates it is keeping over 500 tons a day out of landfills.

The Freecycle™ market consists of environmentally conscious people who value the idea of reusing items rather than throwing them away and polluting global landfills. The no-strings concept also acts as a valuable way for people to obtain items they may need, but may not have purchased otherwise. The technical expertise of the users varies from someone with minimal experience using web applications to the more advanced web user.

Homepage

Chicago Group Main Page

Signing Up

Signing Up

Searching

Gathering Users For Testing

• Two type of Users

• Environmentally Conscious

• Looking for inexpensive used items

• Our consist of 5 test users

• Each user answered a pre-test questioner

• The pre-test questioner consist of five questions.

Task• Scenario: You are a Chicago resident, planning on moving in a few weeks and you need to gather

cardboard boxes to begin to pack your items. A friend has told you about the Freecycle.org website, where you can find free moving boxes. You visit the Freecycle website in order to find free cardboard, moving boxes in Chicago

• Task 1:Visit the Freecycle website http://www.Freecycle.org . Once you have done so, locate the Chicago Freecycle Group

• Evaluates if the user encounters any problems with the website’s navigation.

• Task 2: Become a member of the Freecycle Website. Once you have become a member join the Chicago Freecycle Group.

• Identifies any problems the user might encounter while trying to become a memeber

• Task 3: Search for moving boxes being offered in Chicago, review any post and return to search results page.

• Determines if the position of the search button is ideal and if the returning to the list of search results was easy

Results

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Found the Site to be

Frustrating

Felt it was easy to navigate site

Would recommend

the site

Though website provided adequate feedback

Found the Site to be not

Effectively Organized

Yes

No

Neutral

U1 U2 U3 U4 U5

Task 11:34:0

0 2:52:00 2:30:00 0:51:00 1:40:00

Task 28:45:0

0 3:45:00 5:54:00 6:02:00 5:00:00

Task 38:58:0

0 9:12:00 1:12:00 3:25:00 9:00:00

General Results – Post-Test Questionnaire

0:00:00

1:12:00

2:24:00

3:36:00

4:48:00

6:00:00

7:12:00

8:24:00

9:36:00

10:48:00

Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

U1

U2

U3

U4

U5

Time on Task

Our FindingsSource of Error Recommendations

How to search for a group is not clearly communicated to users searching for a group.

Make the search groups field more prominent.

Upon signing up for new membership, the user has to log in again to start using the application. The user is unaware they have signed up successfully.

Upon registration, provide feedback that the registration was completed successfully and automatically log users into the site.

How to join groups, view groups, and general use of the application are not clearly communicated to users who log in for the first time.

Create a “My Account” page that prominently displays groups users belong to as well as a leaderboard outlining next action items such as Add Groups or Create Post.

Options in the search filter interface are not clearly communicated to users conducting a search query.

Redesign the search form.

Returning to search results is not clearly communicated to users viewing a post.

Include a return to search results link that automatically resubmits the search query.

Our Recommendation

The current process to sign up a user to search posts requires 19 steps

Our recommendation require 6 steps

Homepage - After

Sign up- After

Search -After