User interfaces

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Site evaluation of an interactive Web site

Usability analysis: Online ticket buying

The introduction of the on-line ticket selling system of the Finnish railways VR was initially been a dramatic failure. An expert of usability analysis found 173 usability problems with the original version. The system has undergone several improvements since then; see, how many problems you are able to find now. The site is: http://www.vr.fi/en/index.html.

You could examine

the way the site and its content is organized,
how does the site support user actions,
what is primary and what less important information,
how does the navigation scheme let users quickly find their way around.

You can describe your findings drawing graphs or site maps.

User flow testing: Plan a process (=make a script) to test the functionality and usability on the site, such as how to find schedules and connections and how to order tickets.

how quickly could you find all you needed (or how fast was it the first time?).
how many times did you click, how many times did you make a wrong choice?

Test the usability by trying to buy different kinds and amounts of tickets for individuals and groups, and checking schedules. Plan a test procedure for cases such as:

combinations of adults, children, students, pets, bicycles
with Firefox, IE, Chrome
accidentally selecting a wrong time (in the past)
looking for destinations
selecting your seats

How many steps are needed for simple tasks? Do you need to go back often? How long time it takes to get an order done? Report the problems in detail, and try to categorize them by severity: which problem is a serious issue, and which are less so or merely cosmetic. Use more than one browser in testing. Try different languages (if you are able). You might also want to check the mobile apps.

You can also analyze the visual qualities of the site:

color scheme
grouping of items
page layout and number of elements on the pages
locus of attention.

There are usability guidelines that might help in this task, see http://www.userfocus.co.uk/resources/taskchecklist.html.

You can choose some other interactive site, if it is problematic enough. Compare how ticket buying is done in Sweden (http://www.sj.se/) or Switzerland (http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html). Or buying air tickets from different airlines.

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Created by: Jaana Holvikivi
Last update: 12.1.2017