Isabelle Donoghue
This independent project was conducted over a four month period as part of a course called SI 422: Needs Assessment and Usability Evaluation. My research was dedicated to discovering user needs and key pain points when it comes to product filtering and website navigation for online shopping platforms. I analyzed these needs in the context of the Zara platform, focusing solely on UX research and discovery in order to learn about user needs and goals.
The objective of my research is to identify the most intuitive functionality for navigation and filtering features on online shopping platforms. I aimed to learn about user expectations for these features and identify key pain points throughout the online shopping process.
Interviews & Activity
Five users participated in the study, each with a background in online shopping but varying in frequency and demographic, providing a diverse range of insights into different user types.
User interviews explored topics related to user expectations and experiences with e-commerce websites, focusing on navigation and filtering processes. Participants were asked about their perceptions of Zara's website and how it met or failed to meet their expectations. The activity involved process mapping, where participants detailed their expected journey from landing on the home page to reaching the checkout. This helped to visualize and gain a deeper understanding of user expectations and actual navigational processes to meet my research objective.
Thematic Analysis
The data from interviews and process mappings were synthesized into an affinity diagram to identify patterns and themes. This visual tool helped cluster information into meaningful groups, highlighting user needs and pain points.