Heuristic Evaluation

We analyzed the data received from the heuristic evaluations performed on our app. The users of our app were satisfied with that we had, there were some errors that were pointed out. The main issues and problems are summarized below.

Critical Issues

• Some screens were inconsistent with fine details such as border sizes and alignments
• The smartwatch homescreen was confusing to many users. The home screen seems wasted with a large noninteractive user profile image and there was no clear way to connect the smartwatch app to the main mobile app
• Usability wise, users found the forms a bit redundant as they asked users to enter the same information in multiple locations, such as needing to enter information on profile registration and for redeeming rewards. In addition, the forms do not have any error checking and will accept any information given
• The leaderboards screen had some confusion stemming from lack of tab indicators for location, and minimalist information on users in the ranking system
• The home screen seems to repeat a lot of redundant information that is found on other pages and from the homescreen it is not very clear about what to do in the app/what is the users goal.
• The navigation bar only having icons and not having any text makes it unknown to users what the functions of the nav bar are without actually going to the pages.
• Some users found that while each page alone had good instructions, there wasn’t as much of a cohesive direction for goal or what the app meant to accomplish.

Solution Summary

• Consistency between screens was a noted issue and can be fixed by giving a bit more attention to finer details (border shapes, element sizes, etc.). Not all users may notice the difference, but strong attention to detail may cause some to notice the inconsistency.
• The profile picture on the Smartwatch interface caused a lot of confusion, and left the interface without a suitable way to visibly “connect” the device to the companion app. As per feedback, we felt it would be best to proceed by giving the users more visibility to compliment connecting the device, and changing the default home screen to a primary function, such as the leaderboards.
• For the issue with entering redundant information, a solution would be the ability to save a primary address and have that as an option, or choosing to add a new location. This was a thought we had but was hard to reflect in a prototype.
• Another major issue that users noted was the exclusion of ways to fix errors after they happen, and/or preventative measures against them. Our best line of action would be to include confirmation boxes when updating or adding sensitive information, and to implement elements that ensure input of the same data format and type (e.g. having a calendar selector for date input).
• One direct, and easily fixable, design flaw can be changed up adding content that reflects the feedback changes of a user’s leaderboard rank when swapping from different groups of users (friends, global, local). The change simply needs to dynamically update the user rank through inclusion of new page interactions.
• There was some feedback we received based on the usability of the home screen, navigation bar, and the general intuitiveness of the app. Based on feedback, we decided we could rework the navigation bar to include both better icons to more accurately reflect the pages and an addition of small amounts of text to let the user know what the page is. As for the general usability/intuitiveness, we plan to flesh out the help page and add a small optional tutorial on first use that walks the user through the functions of the app to better acquaint them with the feature EcoTech has to offer.
• Not all feedback received could be as easily addressed. Some features/flaws pointed out may have been at the restrictions of what we were easily able to do with the prototyping software that was used, and thus some UI/UX designs turned out less than optimally planned.