Pretsl is a local startup looking to enter the market currently dominated by online consumer-facing storefront platforms like Instacart & Shopify. My team & I were tasked with conducting a usability evaluation of Pretsl’s base template, provided by a contract development team. The stakeholder had selected this template for its perceived simplicity & intuitive interface, but was excited to have that assumption tested with users, and proven out.

Pretsl provided my team with a list of some of the primary tasks they intended users to be able to carry out, some background on the site’s goals, and some screenshots of various app pages as well; the developers were still hard at work getting the app into a testable state.

Individually, members of my team conducted independent evaluations & heuristic analysis of the web app, utilizing the screenshots, background info, and some of our own research of competitor products, in order to get a better sense of where to focus our usability testing sessions with actual users.

Conducting the initial usability review gave me a better sense of who the user of this app will be, what’s important to them, and ultimately what’s important to Pretsl. This web app is aimed at filling a niche in the market created by the current state of the world in 2020. Many folks have turned to online sales for their groceries and necessities. Small, independent grocers, coops, meat markets, etc., have often been the last businesses to onboard onto many of the popular digital platforms that currently exist, and in many ways, may not be the right fit for small, locally-owned shops. Analyzing our independent findings as a group, we sought to create a robust research protocol to assess the keys points Pretsl had tasked us, and find deeper insights that would guide the next steps for the organization as wel

With the development team having finished the interactive prototype, my team & I drafted a detailed plan for both independent & group remote testing. Participants were screened and scheduled. Our research protocol clearly defined the goals of the user, the client and our research. We drafted a script which guided the users through a series of tasks and scenarios, with each team member assuming various roles, moderating, intently listening, recording detailed observations. Tests were conducted and recorded over Zoom, utilizing the screen-sharing functionality so users could navigate the interactive prototype.

My team and I regrouped immediately after our remote testing sessions and took stock of our big takeaways, and made plans for going into granular detail to see what the data can teach us. Raw data from a total of 12 remote sessions was compiled utilizing the cloud collaboration platforms Airtable & Miro. My group and I went to work analyzing and synthesizing these bits and pieces of information, shared our thoughts & hypothesis, and then went to work creating a findings & recommendation report for the client.

As this project unfolded, along the way, I felt a clearer & clearer understanding of the potential value of this product to the users I was testing this prototype with. I strived to frame my recommendations to Pretsl in a way that could help their organization have that same clearer understanding. I laid out key findings in an Executive Summary to create a clear roadmap for the development team to move forward. I succinctly identified the process my team and I used to conduct the research, and then went into greater detail touching on specific Findings & Recommendations, providing clearly annotated wireframes supplemented with research & quotes to provide rationale & context. Included in the Appendix is a deeper dive into our research methodology, additional takeaways, and some suggestions to take Pretsl even closer to the goal of helping small, locally-owned shops & grocers reach their clientele in new ways, in this ever-changing world we live in.