Self-Reflection

By engaging in the complete process of designing, selecting users for testing, conducting usability tests, and analyzing the results, I gained a deeper understanding of how to effectively carry out usability testing for an interface. By defining user goals and selecting appropriate tasks, I was able to adopt the perspective of the user and better understand their immediate intentions when interacting with a website. Designing the test helped me consider how to measure how easily a potential client can complete a realistic transaction on Helzberg.com. Conducting various usability tests prompted me to identify and evaluate other elements in daily life that could benefit from improvement or redesign.

Analyzing the results shifted my focus from personal opinions and biases to understanding the actual issues faced by users. Each user searches for different products and may follow unique paths through the site, which might differ from my expectations. One of the users used a dark theme that I would not consider using. This setting drastically hindered how each image was displayed while previews where displayed. Users value each tool in the shopping experience differently, so these tools should be accessible and fully functional, regardless of whether they are used or not. Each user had similar ways of how they set the filters, but each one still set them differently. This unique configuration resulted in unique results, with some queries not returning what the user asked for. Relying solely on individual or team assumptions about potential user issues is less effective than observing real users as they interact with the interface. Usability testing offers more valuable insights than expert speculation alone.