ZARA
COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH
REPORT
To improve usability of Zara's website, I led two usability experts through the Cognitive Walkthrough approach focusing on purchasing a clothing item from the collection on view. The Cognitive Walkthrough demonstrated that Zara’s e-commerce website is easily learnable. Zara.com uses very simple and eye-catching design which helps the user navigate through the website.
DURATION
October 2018
MY ROLE
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Research
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User Testing
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Recommendation Mockups
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Evaluation Report
METHODOLOGY
To evaluate the usability of Zara.com from a user's perspective, I led two usability experts through the Cognitive Walkthrough approach, focusing on purchasing a clothing item from the collection on view. Before the walkthrough analysis began, four inputs were defined:
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What is the interface
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Who are the users
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What task will be analyzed
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The correct action sequence for completing the task
Each task was examined and analyzed using these four criteria:
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Will the user try and achieve the right (or intended) effect?
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Will the user notice if the correct action is available?
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Will the user associate the correct action with the effect trying to be achieved?
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If the correct action is performed, will the user see that progress is being made toward the solution of the task?
Experts were asked to rate and analyze the criteria for each step with either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The team then evaluated each overall step to conclude either a credible success or failure story.
USER TASKS
Locate the newest collection on trend and purchase a clothing item from the collection.
CORRECT ACTION SEQUENCE
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From the homepage, select ‘Woman’ from the menu
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Click ‘70's Show’
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Locate ‘Flared Corduroy Trouser’.
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Select size and click ‘select a size’
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Click ‘Add’
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Navigate to Shopping Cart, continue to check out.
RESULTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
The task was to focus on purchasing a clothing item from the collection on view, which took six steps to accomplish. Overall, zara.com was very successful resulting in five out of the six steps a success. Learnability played a large factor in the success, However, the one step that concluded a failure story was a very significant issue that created a pause in the walkthrough.
Recommendation #1
Signifiers to Guide
Add a large arrow pointing down to
signify direction, guiding the user to
scroll down to view more content.
Recommendation #2
Higher Location on
Navigation Menu
Move the ‘90’s show’ collection link
higher up on the navigation menu.
Recommendation #3
Less Action,
More Buttons
Provide better CTA buttons
that are static and do not clash
with the images, as displayed.
