Website user interface evaluation

Here is the website for usability evaluation:

https://www.airbnb.com/

Writing Assignment 1
Total points: 100
For this assignment, you will carry out a usability evaluation. You will pick a user interface to evaluate. This could
be your favorite (or favorite to hate) website, grocery store checkout system, etc. You will then systematically
evaluate the pros and cons of the selected software in terms of usability. You need to provide at least three
references for how you address usability.
Submit a brief report that includes the following required elements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe the functionality supported by this website. Did you find the website features useful?
Address the following questions:
a) What specific things did you like about the website’s interface?
b) Did you identify any usability problems? Describe them.
c) What specific suggestions do you have to improve this interface?
d) Discuss your answers to the questions included in the usability evaluation checklist, especially for
the ones you assigned a score of “1” or “5”.
Fill out and submit a copy of the evaluation criteria and checklist provided.
In total, the size of the assignment should vary from 400 to 600 words.
Grading scheme
1.
2.
3.
4.
Question 1 (20 points)
Question 2 (40 points)
Question 3 (20 points)
Writing quality estimate, spelling and grammar (20 points)
Formatting guidelines
Use 1.5 spacing between the lines and font size 11 or 12.
Usability Evaluation Checklist
The following questions are designed to establish a thoughtful evaluation of a user interface. Answer the
questions on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is a strong no, 5 is a strong yes, and 3 is neutral. If the question does
not apply, mark “N/A.”
Num
Questions
Score
no
1
Is the terminology appropriate and
consistent?
2
Are the instructions clear and
consistent?
3
Is the sequence of displays
appropriate?
4
Are the error messages helpful?
5
Is it easy to correct errors?
6
neutral
yes
1
2
3
4
5
terrible
poor
okay
good
wonderful
What is your overall assessment?
©The Usability Evaluation Checklist is based on a document by Jeff Offutt, used with permission of the author.
N/A
Usability is about the quality of user experience and includes how easy was it to use a given system
and how useful that system was. There are five major criteria that we use for evaluating usability.
1. Learnability – How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter a
system/its design?
2. Efficiency – Once users have learned the system/ understood its design, how quickly can they
perform tasks?
3. Errors – How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can
they recover from the errors? (error tolerance)
4. Memorability – When users return to the system/design after a period of not using it, how
easily can they reestablish proficiency?
5. Satisfaction – How pleasant is it to use the system/design?
Note: Software design is not the same as interaction design. The above criteria refer to UI/Interaction
design and not software design.
The last two criteria (memorability and satisfaction) are evaluated over time. So, for the Usability
Evaluation Checklist, we are focusing only on questions pertinent to the first three criteria.
Below are the questions included in the checklist and a brief explanation of each question.
Question 1: Is the terminology appropriate and consistent?
Assume that a site has a tabbed layout and one of the tabs is called “Home”. On another page, the
“Home” tab is renamed “About”. Here, the terminology is inconsistent. Appropriate use of terms
relates to using words that users can intuitively understand and act on. As a user, do you find the
terminology appropriate and consistent across the website you are evaluating?
Question 2: Are the instructions clear and consistent?
As a user, did you find the instructions to accomplish tasks provided in a clear and consistent
manner?
Question 3: Is the sequence of displays appropriate?
Are the screens displayed in a logical order? Is that sequence appropriate and intuitive? For example,
let’s say you are trying to place a food delivery order online. After you enter your payment
information, the system logs you out without displaying any confirmation or details regarding the
order delivery. Such a sequence is bound to confuse and frustrate the user. So, in the website that
you have to evaluate, did you find the sequence of screens appropriate and intuitive when you tried
to perform specific activities?
Question 4: Are the error messages helpful?
One of the most important aspects of User Experience design is how we design error messages.
These messages should be helpful, meaningful, and not condescending. People make mistakes. We
have to allow the users to recover from errors gracefully. If not, they will not want to use the system
anymore. In your website evaluation, were there any error messages that were displayed when you
were trying to accomplish specific tasks? If so, were they helpful?
Question 5: Is it easy to correct errors?
This relates to what I said above regarding allowing users to recover from errors gracefully. We
shouldn’t make a user start over from the beginning just because they made a mistake in entering
something. When using the subject website, was it easy for you as a user to correct the errors?
If you didn’t encounter any errors or messages, you can say N/A on the checklist.