Project Mobile
Context
The company website on mobile usability was largely unknown to our team, yet we we were continuing to see growth in mobile usage. ​
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Problem
We had received numerous feedback from support stating, "The website is not mobile friendly". However, we were unsure what specific areas were causing our users' frustration.
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Short-term Goal
Discover what and why specific areas on our mobile layout were failing to meet our users' needs and expectations.
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Long-term Goal
As we looked to refactor the website experience, we aimed to identify opportunities for improvement.

Context
Stage of Research
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Discovery
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Exploratory
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Testing
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Listening
Methodologies
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Survey- Qualtrics screener
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IDI (In-depth interview)- 45 Minute remote sessions via UserZoom
Participants / Criteria
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10 Current users
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5 primarily sign-in on mobile
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5 primarily sign-in on desktop / laptop
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Criteria
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Primary manager of their account (i.e., not their spouse or another member on the membership)​
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Have past experience signing into their account on mobile
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Contributors
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Research Requester- Design project manager
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​Communication- Mass comms and BI
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Note takers- Design team
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Moderator / planner- Myself
Executive Summary of Insights
Mobile specific issues
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Reload screen
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Page reloads without failsafe when users scroll too quickly
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Requesting to start a medical need
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Error message prevents users from completing task
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Mobile and desktop / laptop issues
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Uploading documents
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User is unable to remove duplicate uploads
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Payment overview page
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Current default sorting method for payments for our users proved inefficient
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Planning
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Understanding goals- Scheduled a meeting with our stakeholder to understand their goals, the "whys"​, and any constraints to be aware of​
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Success metrics- Worked with stakeholder and designers to determine what we would use to define this study as a success or failure
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Methodologies- Determined the appropriate methodologies. In this case, a survey followed by an IDI​
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Criteria- Determined participant criteria
Scope
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Identified users- Utilizing the list provided by the customer support team, we identified a group of current users to send the survey to
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Understanding problem areas- Using a scaling question, we gained a base-line of areas / pages of the website that were less than ideal for our users
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Understanding specifics- Using open text fields, we gained insights into why those specific areas of the website were causing our users issues
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Distribution- Sent survey to 400 current users via Qualtrics, completed by 34 of those users
Survey
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Incentive-Requested incentive / budget approval
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Booking sessions- Created UserZoom study with session booking ​capabilities
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Identify users- After reviewing results of the survey, was able to identify potential users to request an interview with
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NDA / media waiver- Sent NDA / Media waivers along with a confirmation email prior to study
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Recruitment- Recruited 10 current members segmented by their primary sign-in device
Recruitment
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Questions- Based our IDI questions to answer the success metrics determined in the scope phase
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Follow up- Leveraged insights discovered from the survey for follow-up questions
Moderator Guide
Insights / Impact / Outcomes

Mobile Specific Issues
1. Reload Screen
Problem- Regardless of which page the user is on, if the user scrolls down too quickly or accidentally goes back to the previous screen, the page reloads resulting in the users being required to start the process over completely.
Perceived Impact Rating- High
Outcome- Software developers worked with our design team to add a failsafe message confirming the action was intentional along with an option to cancel the request.
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2. Request to Start a Medical Need
Problem- Error message appears on the mobile devices preventing users from completing the task with a lack of explanation or next steps provided.
Perceived Impact Rating- High
Outcome- Issue was forwarded to our software development to test and identify what causes the error message to occur. The problem has since been resolved.
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3. Submitting Payment
Problem- When submitting payment, another tab opens requiring the user to navigate between pages to add necessary detail to complete the task.
Perceived Impact Rating- Medium
Outcome- While this was not a high enough issue to require immediate action, our the design and software team were able to apply these insights to our new digital payment solution that was released at a later date. Now, the current digital payment platform provides a seamless process allowing users to complete the task in a single tab.
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4. Uploading Documents
Problem- Due to the small screen, the interface made uploading documents challenging compared to the desktop view.​
Perceived Impact Rating- Low
Outcome- While this was not a high enough problem to require immediate action, this is something our customer support team continue to monitor support tickets regarding the issue.
Mobile and Desktop / Laptop Issues
While our focus was on mobile specific issues, several general usability issues were identified that also applied to our desktop / laptop users
1. Uploading Documents
Problem- If a duplicate document is accidentally added, the user is unable to remove the file without having to contact support to remove the file on their behalf. This results in users being unable to move forward in the process as well as unnecessary communication and time for both our users and our customer support team.
Perceived Impact Rating- High
Outcome- Our software development and testing team have since addressed the issue by only allowing one file to be uploaded at a time.
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2. Payment Overview Page
Problem- Users expressed frustration with our default sorting method, stating the current system made tracking down bills that had yet to be reimbursed difficult to find. This was causing our users ​frustration and extra time on their part.​
Perceived Impact Rating- High
Outcome- The website has since been updated to include a default sorting method that makes better sense to our users along with a noticeable increase of 20.29% in our CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) specific to the payment overview page.
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3. Additional Health Resources
Problem- When users attempt to utilize additional health resources included in their membership, the current location of those resources are not intuitive for our users to find. This impacts the users' ability to take advantage of healthful tools.
Perceived Impact Rating- Medium
Outcome- We later conducted a tree sorting study to identify where users expect to find additional health resources. We then used the results of that study to relocate this feature to a more intuitive location on the website.
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4. Sign In Page
Problem- When signing into their account, users are required to select which program they are a part of. If the user selects the incorrect program, they are forced to sign into their account again. This results in unnecessary steps and time for our users.
Perceived Impact Rating- Low
Outcome- The request to select a program in order to sign in to the account has since been removed.
Retro / Lessons Learned
Screener Questions
Problem- While we asked about users' history of signing into their account on mobile, we did not specify when the last time the user signed in on mobile. This results in interviewing a couple of users who had not signed in to their mobile device in several years resulting in their feedback being less relevant.
Opportunity for Improvement- Playing devil's advocate with other team members prior to releasing the screener survey to ensure proper questions are asked to identify if users meet the study's criteria.
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Note Taking
Problem- While we had collected the screener responses from the users, we did not have all of their responses readily available during the interviews. This results in a few awkward responses from our users along the lines of, "if you remember from what I stated in the survey..." making our users feel like we didn't read their responses and us feeling unprepared.​
Opportunity for Improvement- Prior to the study, having all the users' responses readily available, not just for making the users feel heard but a great opportunity to follow up on specific areas at appropriate times.
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