Discover how Civica, a global GovTech champion which makes software that helps public sector organizations deliver critical services to over 100 million citizens around the world, , used UXtweak’s new Live Interviews tool to inform the redesign of one of their client’s websites.
The Challenge
Civica, a leading software provider for public sector organizations, took on the task of conducting user research to support the redesign of their client’s website in Australia.
The new design was being developed by the Australian team. Gwyneth George-Ochelli, User Researcher at Civica, needed to test it with end-users, understand how they navigate it, identify potential roadblocks and pinpoint what needs to be improved.
We were trying to understand how users interact with it, see how they navigate it, and if they face problems when looking for information.
The Solution
Gwyneth mentions that their target audience for that research was people between the ages of 18 and 99. All of their participants Civica recruited with the help of the UXtweak User Panel.
The research process was quite timely. Thanks to the User Panel we didn't struggle with recruiting participants at all.
For the research methodology, Gwyneth decided to combine moderated usability testing and tree testing to really dig deep into how end-users interact with and navigate the current design.
Overall, Gwyneth conducted 5 moderated usability tests using the Live Interviews tool and a tree test with 52 participants with the help of the Tree Testing tool.
We were using both techniques to ensure the accuracy of data. Our main focus was evaluating the ease of use and navigation of the new prototype.
Gwyneth also mentions that the whole process of setup, recruiting and conducting the study was smooth and intuitive, allowing her to not worry about the technicalities, but really focus on interacting with the participants.
Even for the recruiting, all I had to do was define my criteria, if any, and click go and there it is, I'd start getting participants assigned.
So I found that really useful and quite straightforward compared to some other tools that I've used previously.
The Outcomes
The research gave Civica a clearer picture of how users navigated the redesigned website. When analyzing the usability tests and tree tests, Gwyneth discovered both strengths and areas for improvement in the website’s information architecture and UX.
According to Gwyneth, the research uncovered some issues with findability in the new design:
Some participants struggled with certain tasks. There was a 50/50 balance in terms of ease of use. In some cases, users found it challenging to locate specific items or complete tasks. So we realized we need to simplify some areas.
These difficulties highlighted potential navigation barriers that needed to be addressed. The feedback from the usability tests also indicated that reorganizing certain elements on the website could really help with that.
Participants suggested changes to the placement of some items to make the site more intuitive:
Their feedback was that if we could tweak where certain items were placed, it would make it easier to find and search for information.
While Civica did not implement the changes directly, the findings were communicated to their client in Australia, who took the insights to refine the website further. The tree testing data also contributed to this process, providing a quantitative perspective on how the new structure performed in comparison to the previous version.
The overall research effort using UXtweak’s tools helped Civica present evidence-based recommendations to the client. The research outcomes were instrumental in guiding the redesign efforts.
As Gwyneth summarized,
The tool was really good, quite efficient, and straightforward…
