Colorado Uplift: UX Assessment
As part of Boulder/Longmont UX Research group (nonprofit meetup), we grouped into teams to give back to local nonprofits in the form of pro bono UX evaluations. My group paired with Colorado Uplift to provide them with an assessment of possible improvements to their website.
Tools:
Zoom
My Role:
Team member (1 of 4)
Skills:
UX Reporting
Heuristic Evaluation
User Testing
Interview Scripting
Collaboration
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ABOUT
This project was a pro bono opportunity for our team of 4 to make UX recommendations to the nonprofit, Colorado Uplift. We investigated how real users were approaching and experiencing the site, and reported that data to the organization to inform possible future improvements for all people wishing to engage with Colorado Uplift.
The analysis of the site was conducted in Dec 2020 through February 2021 as a series of “giving back” sessions conducted by the professional networking group Boulder/Longmont UX Research Meetup managed by Alaina Beaver. Alaina seized the idea to harness the holiday spirit by offering valuable digital expertise to organizations in the Colorado community who likewise “give back” to people through their services.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
Each member of our group conducted their own heuristic evaluation, and we then compiled the results for meaningful information to the organization's board members. A shortened list of our findings included:
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Inconsistent button colors
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Accessibility: missing focus states
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Low contrast with fonts and buttons against backgrounds
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Wayfinding and navigation issues
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Clicking on a link did not indicate to the user that new content was loaded, because it required scrolling below in the page
USABILITY STUDIES
Like the heuristic evaluations, each member of our group conducted a minimum of two usability tests over Zoom. The interview scripts were designed collaboratively, and the questioning was consistent among the participants. Some of our findings are listed here:
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First time visitors could not easily identify the purpose of the site.
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While users appreciated the extensive information, they also found it challenging to find specific information.
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Because the donation page was formatted differently, users lost confidence in the credibility and safety of the payment transaction.
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Identifying how to make a monthly donation was clear, but some were discouraged because they could not figure out how to make a one-time donation.
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Users were not inclined to volunteer, because there was no clear description of what they were committing to.
At the end of our evaluation, our team presented the findings to the board members in the form of a Google slide presentation over Zoom. Supplementing the presentation was an extensive report including suggestions for improvement.
We were happy to work with Colorado Uplift and are hopeful that our findings proved useful to them.