CityResponse — a Usability Study
Overview
This team project was to invent, test, and iterate the design a mobile or web app product/service; designing for all screen sizes (desktop, tablet, and phone layouts); identify your audience; and the it must have some explicable value or purpose.
CityResponse has been identified as an application that allows citizens the ability to submit neighborhood issues to their local government. We hope to identify whether a citizen can successfully create an issue, and view pending and completed issues. We will be asking the users to create a new issue regarding an abandon vehicle. After completion, they will be instructed to view their pending issue and also identify the final completed issue.
Can a citizen enter a new issue with ease? Can the citizen find their open issue to see its current status? Can the citizen find their closed issue?
Methods
Tests will be conducted by each member of the team. Team members will try to conduct the usability testing in the field where device applicability matters most. Documentation will be through written notes, audio recording or video capture where needed.
Our target audience is someone who takes ownership in their surroundings. They have a distinguished quality of pride and self worth, but in what they do in their neighborhood. Therefore, they are sometimes labeled a “concerned citizen.”
Task 1
For your first task, I want you to pretend that you are walking through your neighborhood and you stumble across an abandoned vehicle that you have noticed sitting in the same spot for the past four days. Your first goal is to log-in to CityResponse and create a notification to the city regarding an abandoned vehicle. You may consider the task complete once you have seen the request submit confirmation.
Task 2
For your next task, I want you to pretend that your curiosity has you wondering where in the process your recently submitted city request for action sits. Your goal for this task is to log in to CityResponse and locate your recently made report about the abandoned vehicle. You may consider the task complete once you have seen the request as a pending request.
Task 3
For your final task, I want you to pretend that you have received a notification regarding your abandoned vehicle request. You want to know more about what happened. Your goal for this task is to log in to CityResponse and locate your completed request regarding an abandoned vehicle. You may consider the task complete once you see the requests final comments.
Findings
- The responsiveness between the mobile and larger format (tablet/desktop) formats could be improved. In general, the legibility of the text should be improved by darkening and/or enlarging the text.
- Scrolling on the mobile version should be improved.
- It should be easier for users to add images, specifically they should be able to upload images (especially on the desktop version) and shoot video.
- Customizable push alerts can improve user experience.
- Chronological (recent to oldest) issue format is less confusing.
- Our user’s priorities are ease/speed and feedback.
Future Work
Improve legibility / scrolling
- Larger and darker text, especially in mobile format
Improve feedback
- Reduce vagueness in pending requests
- Display future plans for pending requests
Images
- Enable ability to upload images, especially on desktop format
- Enable video
Customizable push alerts
Chronological (recent to oldest) issue format
Team Members