About Client
Staten Island Hunger Task Force (SIHTF) is an organization that connects community members to pantries and pantries to community and government resources. They collaborate with organizations and people who want to donate food and goods to pantries in need.
Project Overview
SIHTF want to know if their desktop users use the Map and Zip Code Calendars features to find food in their area. They want to know if it is worth the trouble to maintain them? We used Google Analytics and Hotjar to see and analyze how the users interact with with these features.
6 Weeks | Fall 2022
Staten Island Hunger Task Force
UX Research / Behavior Analytics
Eesha Parasnis | Priyanka Gangwal | Vanshika Shah
Analyzed the following metrics: number of sessions, page views, sequence of pages visited
Time Frame: 1 January 2022 - 5 October 2022
Analyzed real-time recordings, website page clicks, mouse movements, and scrolling patterns.
Time Frame: Last 30 days
We used Google Optimize to create our A/B Testing variations. It allows running some experiments that are aimed to help increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction.
The time frame is short to provide quantity and quality data for the website.
Hotjar could not track the Map and Zip Code Calendar, making it difficult to understand how users use and interact with them.
Analyzed the following metrics: number of sessions, page views, sequence of pages visited
Time Frame: 1 Jan 2022 - 5 Oct 2022
Analyzed real-time recordings, website page clicks, mouse movements, and scrolling patterns.
Time Frame: 1 Sep - 5 Oct 2022
We used Google Optimize to create our A/B Testing variations. You can run experiments aimed at improving conversion rates and visitor satisfaction with it.
The time frame is short to provide quantity and quality data for the website.
Hotjar could not track the Map and Zip Code Calendar, making it difficult to understand how users use and interact with them.
Giving users the ability to change zip codes
Allow users to change the zip code on the zip code calendar page itself so that users don’t have to keep navigating back and forth between the zip code calendar pages and the home page.
Analytics data indicates that users keep going back and forth between the zip code calendar pages and the home page by using the pantry links on the home page.
It’s possible users are trying to find information about pantries from the map, but are hindered by the fact that the pantries map does not make this information easily accessible.
Usability Test
Since the web analytics tools were unable to collect any data from the map feature on the SIHTF desktop website, we recommend conducting follow-up usability testing to understand how users utilize the map.
Rationale
With no data collection, it is still unclear whether users utilize the map and if they do then how users interact with the it.
Research Question
How do users find information about pantry working hours on the SIHTF desktop website?
Example Task
You live in a Staten Island neighborhood with the zip code 10301. Find the hours of operation of a pantry in your zip code.
Map's Title
We recommend conducting an A/B test to identify which heading for the map leads to the most clicks.
Goal: To test if changing the map’s heading leads to an increase in the number of clicks on the map.
Hypothesis: Users are not using the map at the moment because its purpose is unclear due to a vague heading.
Evaluation metrics: Number of clicks on the map.
Side Navigation on Pantries Page
We recommend conducting an A/B test to identify which heading for the map leads to the most clicks. The page should be designed so that scrolling is minimized and the information is organized into short sections rather than scrolling endlessly. In order to accomplish this, the user should be able to choose an alphabet to locate the pantry and have a navigation panel on the side.
Goal: To test if changing the map’s heading leads to an increase in the number of clicks on the map.
Hypothesis: Users are not using the map at the moment because its purpose is unclear due to a vague heading.
Evaluation metrics: Number of clicks on the map.
Streamline side navigation by reducing clutter
Make the left side navigation bar more prominent and keep the content concise to make the page more accessible and appealing. In our recommended design, when a user clicks on a particular section in the side navigation bar, only that section's content will be shown on the page.
"Lets plan to do that (A/B test that we proposed)! That is cool!"
The final stage of our project was presenting our findings and recommendations to the Staten Island Hunger Task Force along with an A/B test plan. In the end, we received positive feedback from the client and they expressed interest in implementing the A/B Test plans for their website.
Learnings
It is necessary to understand the user's goals to know which information is the most important. Identifying what causes confusion and realizing when to weed it out allows for ultimate ease and functionality.
Biggest Takeaway
It was rewarding to take on a problem and analyze data for a desktop website that so many users will benefit from. These recommendations and A/B test plans are just the beginning. I would like to still improve upon the UX based on further user testing.
Next Step
The next step, if I were to continue working on the project, would be to conduct a user test on how users interact with the map, which would answer the client's question about maintaining it.
