Prototype Feedback

Prototype Feedback

Goals

One main goal of our wizard-of-oz session was to understand how potential users will interact with the interface flow. We wanted to determine what information they would like to see and what they found irrelevant. Further, it was essential to decipher the information they would be willing to share on the platform. We also wanted to identify confusing elements of the preliminary user interface that needed to be clarified for users.

Learnings

We had several learnings through our wizard-of-oz sessions, which we will outline below.

Key learnings

Overall, in our wizard-of-oz sessions, participants conveyed that our low-fidelity prototype was more clunky and not minimalist enough in terms of the user interface. We also were able to identify other features that users would prefer to have as they brought up social concerns, such as whether they would be willing to share their contact information. The findings indicated that these were more user interface related concerns, but participants would be willing to use the application with these concerns addressed. Hence, we will proceed with the project, albeit with changes made.

We now look at detailed learnings and tangible plans for the next design iterations based on those learnings.

Detailed learnings

Learning 1: Participants preferred to have the homepage display less information and mainly valued the search bar feature. They brought up safety concerns about having postings displayed to all visitors to the website, as well as the fact that the amount of information was too overwhelming.

Future Design: We aim to have a more minimalistic interface for the homepage, such that users can easily access the information they want and not be confronted with unnecessary information. Some examples we look at, such as Apartments.com or Expedia.com, both have a big search bar on the homepage. We also are considering allowing users to restrict who can see their posts to those who are logged in, in order to account for safety concerns.

Learning 2: Participants also thought the short-form user information boxes had too much information. The crucial pieces of information brought up were: event name, dates, gender, desired group size, location info, and preferences. However, it was also clear that participants would prefer to have 2-3 lines of information to view.

Future Design: We will aim to shorten our posting info boxes to around 3-4 lines of information - in particular, event name, dates of stay, number & gender of desired roommates and cost. We also could condense the information by using images to convey location/stay information and possibly by using icons to represent gender, group size, and cost information (by condensing into a categorical cost view rather than the quantitative view that sliders allow for).

Learning 3: Participants preferred a shorter view of filters, and particularly valued the following filters: dates, group size, hotel/neighborhood, ratings, and price per person. One participant brings up that the use of dropdown can be good for numbers.

Future Design: We will reorganize filters to promote more important filter options while removing some filters. We will format the group size filter to take a numerical value. The ratings option will be renamed to ‘User Rating’, to avoid confusing users about whether it refers to hotel ratings or user ratings.

Learning 4: Participants preferred to have an option for an inbuilt chat mechanism, as opposed to having to share their personal contact information for safety purposes. They also mentioned that they would like platform-built support in demonstrating interest in posters and initiating discussions with them.

Future Design: We will have our interface design include a website-based chat mechanism, with a setting for users to get an email or push notifications on the receipt of a message. We plan to have a mechanism to demonstrate interest in the form of a button or similar user interface element, that will start a chat with a starter template for user convenience. We may also remove the option to have so many social media accounts shared, as it is a poor user experience to have so much crowding and too much customizability. Participants generally agreed that a user’s Twitter or Instagram may be useful to have, so we may retain only those, but in a more minimalist manner with icons rather than text.

Learning 5: Participants prefer to input less information when making a post.

Future design: We will use a map to represent stay location information as opposed to large pieces of text. We will also streamline to a one-column form instead of having multiple columns. We will remove the option to avoid displaying reviews, as users want to see these where they exist. We will remove options to provide “other” information, as these may be communicated directly between users and make the form look too clunky.

Learning 6: Participants wanted some additional information, such as the distance to the venue.

Future design: We will ensure this information is visible to users with the integration of the map.

Learning 7: Participants were not sure where price referred to price per person or night, or what price referred to if hotels were already booked.

Future design: We will follow an Airbnb-like model of showing the price for all people per night. This is most convenient, as prices will vary based on the number of roommates, and this can be determined by the users, who know the current number of people their group has. We will also make it clearer that this is what is being represented.

Learning 8: Participants thought reviewing every roommate would be too much of a hassle and were concerned about troll reviewers.

Future design: We will streamline our review process so that all roommates connected using our platform will be reviewed at the same time, with the same review (with an option for the user to review some roommates separately, only if they wish to do so). We will streamline the process by requesting a rating out of 5 stars, and leaving the review itself optional. To prevent trolls, we will only allow reviews by verified roommates (people who were connected via our platform). Also, to indicate those “verified” roommates, postings will have a tag feature to connect all the accounts rooming together.

Learning 9: Participants thought the reviews on the post details page could be too much to read through.

Future design: We will have the ratings (integer value) right beside the avatar of poster(s) while hiding the more detailed information of specific comments. If users want to know more about them, they can click on the avatar to see the poster user information page. An example UI interface may look like the driver information page on Uber and Lyft.