c.etz
A Heuristic Evaluation
AMNH Explorer App
Objective
Investigate which usability issues
exist on AMNH's Explorer App
Diagnose usability issues that might impact a visitors experience when using the Explorer app to navigate the American Museum of Natural History.
Skills
UX Research
UX Writing
Prototyping
Tools
Excel
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe XD
Team
Group Project
Duration
Two Weeks
Client
Class Project
American Museum of Natural History's Explorer App
The Explorer app is a free offering from the American Museum of Natural History which offers guests recommendations for what they should see, the turn-by-turn directions that will help them get there, and more information about exhibits.
The app has more than 100 thousand downloads on the Google Play store and an average rating of 3.9 stars across both Apple and Android devices. These stats make Explorer the third most popular museum app in the world behind the Rijksmuseum and the British museum applications.
Methodology
A heuristic evaluation is a method for providing quick feedback that can be converted into a list of action items to solve.
Heuristics and Severity
The heuristic evaluation followed Nielsen's 10 heuristics (rules) for good interface design and were ranked by their severity 1-4.
Severity Rankings for Usability Issues
4: Major Problem: The issue is major and fixing it is a high priority
3: Problem: The issue causes pause in the user flow and should be fixed
2: Minor Problem: The issue is minor and fixing it is a low priority
1: Cosmetic Problem: The issue does not present that severe of a usability issue and therefore only needs fixing if time allows for it
Visibility of System Status
Match Between
System and Real World
User Control and Freedom
Consistency and Standards
Error Prevention
Recognition not Recall
Flexibility and
Efficiency of Use
Aesthetic
and Minimalist Design
Help Users Recognize, Diagnose and Recover
Help and Documentation
Top 10 Usability Issues Identified
H1, H7, H10
The map is too small for the user to interact with.
H3
No way for a user to reset their interests back to default.
H5, H8
The locations on the map don't list what floor they are on.
H5
Search only indicates the floor the exhibit is on.
H1, H5
No feedback to indicates the app saved the user's interests.
H5, H7
Search only returns results if the exact search term is entered.
H1
Some map locations are hidden unless zoomed in on.
H6
The list of exhibits on the Home page don't indicate the interests they relate to.
H7, H8
Images used to label map items get in the way of using the map.
H7
No results are shown when the user searches for "Interests".
H1, H4
No context for why certain exhibits are recommended.
H1, H6
Map items do not indicate the interest they relate to.
H6
No indication of how the user can interact with the map.
Recommendations
#1 Create Introduction Screens
Average Severity Ranking: 2.3
Heuristics Violated: H1, H4, H6, H10
The first problem with the app was the lack of context the user received when they landed on the home page. This first recommendation is designed in order to address the following issues:
Issues:
Issue #4: The Interests page is not immediately apparent
Issue #11: There is no context on why certain exhibits are recommended
Issue #15: There is no indication on how the user is supposed to interact with the map
#2 Include Context
Average Severity Ranking: 2
Heuristics Violated: H6, H7
In addition to the lack of context provided for app functionality, there is also a lack of clarity around the recommendation system. This recommendation relates to the following:
Issue #12: The list of exhibits on the Home page do not indicate which interest they relate to
Issue #14: Map items do not indicate which interest they relate to
Animals
#3 Provide Confirmation
Average Severity Ranking: 3
Heuristics Violated: H1, H3, H5
One of the more sever issues was the lack of feedback users have when interacting with the Interests page.
On this page, users are presented with a list of interests that the museum caters to and users may switch the toggle next to these individual interests in order to customize what is recommended to them.
The following issues are:
Issue #5: No feedback to indicate that the app has saved the interests that the user selected
Issue #6: There is no way for users to reset their interests back to the default or previously selected set
Success! Your Interests have been saved
#4 Reconfigure Map
Average Severity Ranking: 3
Heuristics Violated: H1, H3, H6, H8, H5
44% of the problems encountered had to do with the map feature. The map on Explorer was found to be difficult to work with.
While some issues, like the inability to make the map full screen, were cosmetic, others represented issues with functionality.
The following issues are:
Issue #1: The map is too small for a user to effectively interact with
Issue #2: The labels on map icons aren't detailed enough
Issue #3: The locations on the map do not give an indication of the floor
Issue #9: Some map items are hidden unless zoomed in on
Issue #10: Labels on the map get in the way of effectively using it
Issue #14: Map items do not indicate the interest they relate to
Issue #15: There is no indication for how the user should interact with the map
Recommendations
1. The user should be able to expand the map feature to make it full size of the screen
2. Additional context should be provided to the map so that labels indicate which interest they relate to and provide information on which floor the user can find the labeled exhibit.
3. If the user struggles to interact with the map or there is a period of inaction, the app should provide an animation overlaid on top of it showing that the user can pinch and zoom across the map to find exhibits.