Usability Evaluation
I conducted a usability evaluation on the Church Online platform developed by Life.Church. Used a variety of UX research methods to identify what the site does well, areas of improvement, and recommend solutions. This was a student project completed independently of Life.Church.
Project Type
Usability Research
Student Project
Date
Sept-Oct 2024
Role
UX Researcher
About the Church Online Platform
Platform created by Life.Church for churches to host their livestreamed services so people can easily watch online. Allows congregation to stay connect with their community, access resources, experience salvation, receive prayer and give. The experience is free for users and the platform is free for churches to implement.
Design Principles
I identified the most important principles to prioritize in evaluating and redesigning the Church Online platform.
Analysis Methods
1. Heuristic Evaluation
Description: Conducted by an expert to identify problems within a system based on a list of heuristics that are based on what we know about how people think.
Findings:
- Aesthetic Usability Effect: 3 Issues
- Match System to Real World: 1 Issue
- Cognitive Load: 1 minor Issue
- Jakob's Law: 1 Issue
- Visibility of system status: 0 issue
- Paradox of the Active User: 0 issues
2. Cognitive Walkthrough
Description: Usability inspection method conducted by experts to analyze user tasks and determine if the system matches user expectation.
Findings: Mismatch between user mental steps and product steps, mismatch between user end and system end, two points of potential user confusion.
3. Journey Map
Description: User Journey following the path of a persona. Feelings, pain points, confusion, count and evaluation of clicks.
Findings: 5 pain points, 8 gain points, 3 areas to improve. Potential to eliminate 4-5 clicks, 50% reduction.
Insights and Recommendations
Recommended Next Steps
1. Fix Accessibility Issue
The most critical next step is to edit the menu so that the deselected state of the items have sufficient contrast. This will ensure usability for all users.
2. Move navigation to expected location
Next the navigation bar on the bottom of the right column should be moved to the top where users are used to seeing navigation menus.
3. Add signifier at end of experience
At the very end of the experience a message should be added such as "thank you for joining us!" that remains for a short period of time. This would signify to users that church is over and increase understanding of the visibility of system status.
4. Livestream buffer time
Rather than cutting off a user who is watching behind the livestream time, a buffer time should be added. Just a few more minutes so users don't feel like they are being shoved out of the experience before it has ended. The current automatic switch of states does not allow for user control or freedom.
5. Remove arrows from Bible feature
Remove the arrows for navigation from the Bible feature as they are blocking the content so it can't be read.
5. Automate Bible feature
Rather than the Bible opening up to Genesis 1 every time the user tries to use it, it should be automated to navigate to the section being focused on in the service.