Sneaker Bar Detroit is a sneaker news and review website that provides the latest information in all things in the collectible sneaker industry. This Usability Analysis over the website was based on User Field Testing conducted on the website using two different testers. The two field usability tests were conducted using pre-determined tasks and a usability test script. This process allows the person giving the usability tests a chance to view the website in the visitors shoes and learn how different people solve web-based tasks differently.

1. Brady Netzel | Oct. 2020
Usability Test for SneakerBarDetroit.com
Test Preparation
In preparation for administering the tests, I decided to go through each task myself and prepare for any
common problems that may come up for my testers.
Beginning with Task #1, I immediately understand that the spelling of Shaquille O’Neal’s name would
have caused an issue for some people. Fortunately, I know the spelling but that is an issue to be aware
of. After reading the task fully, I made the decision to use the search bar directly and type in the key
phrase “Shaq sneaker release”. After beginning the search, the updated page features the sentence, “If
you’re not happy with the results, please do another search,” which is a surprising suggestion. I found
the wording of the phrase was not very helpful. Looking through the search results, the first article that
appeared was, “Reebok Shaqnosis releasing in flipped OG White/Black color war”. The article was
published on Sept. 16 in 2020 and appears to be the most recent article. After reading through the page,
there is no mention of “Shaq” or “Shaquille O’Neal.” There is an external link for a “Reebok Shagnosis”
that I clicked in hopes of determining a connection between “Shagnosis” and “Shaq”. The link brought
me to another page of the website that displayed all the articles that featured the words “Shaqnosis”.
Upon scrolling further down, there was a total of 7 articles on the page, with the oldest being a
published Dec. 10, 2019, article. The “Reebok Brings Back the Shagnosis” article makes a connection to
“Shagnosis” and “Shag”. What is also featured in the article is the first sneaker release of Shaq’s sneaker
Shagnosis for the ’95 – ’96 season. Unintentionally, I was able to determine the first task, as well as the
second mini task within Task #1. It took me approximately 4 minutes to complete the task.
For Task #2 I began in the “News” tab of the website, assuming with the election being so important it
might be readily readable in that area. After a few seconds of scrolling down the page, it was clear it was
not going to be there. I then went to the search bar and inquired “2020 Reebok sneaker vote”. Which
gave me two articles that don’t deal with local or federal elections at all. I then used the phrase “Reebok
local and federal elections” in the search bar. This time I had no results at all. I then searched the
general keyword “voting” and was greeted with articles about voting for shoes that were no more
recent than 2018. This prompted me as an administrator to use google in order to see if these sneakers
exist and determine why it is so difficult to find them on SneakerBarDetroit.com. After googling the
phrase “Reebok 2020 sneaker voting”, the first search result was from Reebok themselves that had the
headline “Reebok’s Vote Shoe is the new ‘I Voted’ Sticker”. Upon clicking and reading the article on the
Reebok webpage, it was discovered that Reebok’s voting sneaker is named “First Pitch”. A sneaker that
was featured in the SneakerBarDetroit.com article “Reebok Announces Second First Pitch Sneaker
Concept”, which was found using the key phrase “2020 Reebok sneaker vote” from before. After
googling the sneaker and seeing what it looks like, I was able to make the connection and remembered
seeing the shoe on the SneakerBarDetroit.com’s website. I never clicked on the article the first time I
had seen it because the language in the title never prompted me that it had to deal with voting. Task #2
was completed in approximately 15 minutes.

2. For Task #3 I began by going directly to the search bar and typing in the key phrase “Kobe’s death”.
Immediately I was greeted with a The Sneaker Box Podcast article, Episode 249 that has the title:
“Honoring the Life of Kobe Bryant”. What is also featured in the search results is an article titled “Kobe
Inspired Reebok Question Mid ‘Yellow Toe’ Releasing in November”. Upon further investigation within
the article, it was discovered the ‘Yellow Toe’ sneaker is a tribute to Kobe. These two articles were the
only pieces of coverage I was able to find about Kobe’s death. Task #3 took me approximately 6 minutes
to complete.
For Task #4 I decided to go directly to the search bar and type in the phrase “Black Lives Matter”. So far,
the turn out on the website features an Air Jordan 1 sneaker that “supports Black Lives Matter” which
was published in Aug. 2017. What was also on the result page are two articles about Michael Jordan and
Nike that showcase the several million-dollar commitments to support the black community. So far, the
only sneaker that shows the support is the Air Jordan 1. I decided to continue searching and type in the
keyword “BLM” into the search bar. There were only two articles displayed, but neither had to do with
sneakers and Black Lives Matter. I then decided to search “Black Lives matter sneaker”, which only
prompted the same articles with the “black lives matter” query. On the task, it asks if the search turned
up the Sue Bird / Diana Taurasi sneaker, which it hasn’t at all. As the administrator, I decided to search in
the search bar “Sue Bird” to see if there are any articles regarding that name. Upon reviewing the search
results, there are several articles that display on the page. The most recent of which being Aug. 2020
that has the title “Flight Club Partners with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi for Sneaker Auction”. When
reviewing the article, it discusses the support for Black women and the injustice that continues to plague
the nation but doesn’t mention “black lives matter” at all within the article. Without searching “sue
bird” directly in the search bar, there is no connection of Sue bird and black lives matter featured in the
website at all. Task #4 took approximately 9 minutes to complete.
Choosing Participants
Tester Comparison Summary Chart
Kaitie Correll Stone Hoagland
Gender Female Male
Age 21 20
Hours browsing / week 30 35
Browsing habits
Full Time Student. Browses and researches
for schooling. More on mobile social media
than anything else. Streams many movies.
Has two part time jobs. Uses iPad for most
internet usage. Browse on social media more
than anything else. Also uses internet for
website browsing as well as streams movies.
Other observations
Natural "thinking out loud" talker. Limited
range of technology use.
Natural "thinking out loud" talker. Is
somewhat Tech savvy.

3. Tester 1 Details: Kaitie Correll
Kaitie Correll is a 21-year-old female who is a full-time student with little or no knowledge on the
sneakerhead industry. Correll’s internet usage is about 30 hours a week. Broken down further into 60-
70% on social media, 5-10% for online shopping and the rest between 10-20% for general online
browsing. Correll has a limited range of technological skills. Correll was chosen as a tester because of the
unfamiliar knowledge with not only the website SneakerBarDetroit.com but also the collectible sneaker
industry. Correll is also the kind of user with limited technological experience and isn’t as advanced in
using online browsing as others. Meaning she relies heavily on the simplicity and ability to perform basic
tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. Correll is also one to always speak what is on her mind,
meaning she is a perfect candidate when it comes to “thinking out loud”, which is preferred for this
assignment.
Environment for Tester 1
Location of test: The Usability test for Correll was conducted within her own dorm
room. Correll lives alone in her small 20’ x 14’ dorm room in her residence hall. The
location was chosen because her living space is where her primary internet usage is
conducted. Using her space as an online classroom, a place to do homework, where
movies are streamed and along with other internet usages.
Physical Environment: Correll’s room is consistently lit throughout and offers a variety
of distractions. Such distractions include the pet hamster that is in the front of the room
that occasionally makes a squeal or rummages through food. Correll’s suitemate (whom
she shares a bathroom with) was home in her room and would need to lock Correll’s
bathroom door when needed. Since Correll lives in a residence hall, there is the occasion
of a heavy foot walker or a group of loud college students that pass by and can be heard
through the closed room door. Correll is also one that uses her computer while sitting
up in her bed. Being propped up with pillows against the headboard and a blanket over
her legs.
Technical Environment: Correll uses an HP laptop. The laptop requires the charger to be
plugged in in order to operate. With a clean and organized desktop, Correll doesn’t have
any tabs or documents previously opened as she closes them as soon as she is done.
Correll’s chosen internet browser was Google Chrome, which is what she used for the
tasks. There was no ad blocker or any other browser apps being used while she
browsed.
Tester 2 Details: Stone Hoagland
Stone Hoagland is a 20-year-old male who works two part time jobs and buys and sells collectible action
figures and toys on the side. Hoagland has a little knowledge on the collectible sneaker industry, but
primarily focuses on the sneakers that appeal to him, rather than the trade/sell value. Hoagland’s
internet usage is around 35 hours per week. Most of that time is spent on social media with about 60%,
and the other large part is browsing the internet and streaming movies with 35%, and the last bit is for
online shopping with only about 5%. Hoagland has a good grasp on technology and can be considered a
tech savvy individual. Hoagland was chosen for the test because of his connection to the collectible
sneaker industry which is just on the cusp of being an official collector. Hoagland was also chosen
because of his technological skills when it comes to using the computer and online browsing. Hoagland
is also the kind of individual that pays close attention to detail and tends to think more out loud than in.

4. Environment for Tester 2
Location of test: The test was conducted via zoom where Hoagland’s was in his home
living room. His living room is where he can be seen mostly and does an abundance of
his internet usage there. Because Hoagland is mainly in his living room, therefore the
test was conducted here.
Physical Environment: Hoagland has his blinds open to allow for sunlight into the room.
He is not alone in his home with his family in their respective bedrooms. Hoagland has
two large German shepherds that can be heard in the background. Overall, there aren’t
too many distractions within the living room setting from what can be viewed via zoom.
Technical Environment: Hoagland uses his Apple iPad as his primary connection to the
internet. Hoagland’s preferred internet browser is Safari. There are no other browser
add-ons that can be identified. Hoagland is also somewhat tech savvy.
Test results
Initial Site Thoughts
Tester 1: Correll’s first thought when viewing SneakerBarDetroit.com for the first time was that
there was a lot of white on the page. With two initial ads right off the bat. As Correll began
scrolling throughout the screen, she notices that the first couple images of sneakers tend to
“pop” out at the user. The two photos do become bigger as the mouse is scrolled over,
indicating a zoomed in look at the detail of the sneakers. Correll then notices a lot more ads as
she continues to scroll and discovers there isn’t a lot of information regarding the sneakers. One
of Correll’s first thoughts out loud was, “I’m assuming I’m shopping for shoes, but I don’t see any
prices or where I’m shopping from.” Correll continues to scroll down the page and notes that
the photos are not consistent regarding background, location, and other photography factors.
As Correll continued to scroll, the realization that SneakerBarDetroit.com’s homepage has a
limitless article scrolling became very clear. “Oh IT NEVER ENDS, it just keeps going!” said
Correll. “Oh my gosh, now I have to scroll all the way back.”
Tester 2: Hoagland began his initial site thoughts by describing the brands that he was scrolling
past. Featuring such brands as Nike, Air Jordans, Reebok and others. As Hoagland was scrolling,
he notices the advertisements throughout the page as well. He notices a lot of Michael Jordan
were featured. Hoagland then makes a note on specifically the search bar. Hoagland also makes
the statement, “I assume that on this website I can buy shoes.”
Similarities and Differences:
The biggest similarity among the two testers is that they both had the initial thought that they
were “shopping for shoes.” This was an interesting initial thought from both as there wasn’t any
prices or a shopping cart option listed in any of the articles or throughout the website. They
both mention the use of ads throughout the webpage. Correll was more fixated on the limitless
article scrolling that she discovered while looking through the site. Hoagland never mentioned
the limitless scrolling but was more fixated on the brands of shoes that were featured on the
website.

5. Task 1: “Your favorite basketball player is Shaquille O’ Neal. Find the most recent sneaker release
connected to Shaq. Find Shaq’s first sneaker release.”
Summary for Both Testers:
Tester 1 Tester 2 Average
Average Satisfaction 2 5 3.5
Success Rate 50% 100% 75%
Tester 1 Task Completion Process:
It took Correll about 20 minutes to complete Task 1. Once the task was administered, Correll
realized that she didn’t know how to spell Shaquille O’Neal. Correll began the task by going to
the search bar and attempting to spell out “Shaquille O’ Neal.” She begins with typing in “Neal”
within the search bar and came upon several different brands of sneakers. None of which were
belonging to Shaquille O’Neal. Correll then went back to the main page of the website to
attempt to use other tabs in finding the sneaker release. Correll clicked on the “Sneaker Release
Dates” tab and was surprised to see so many sneaker releases dates. In the search to find
Shaquille O’Neal’s, she began scrolling through her findings and ended up not finding anything
about Shaquille O’Neal.
Correll was eventually able to figure out how to spell Shaquille O’Neal’s name after sounding it
out and went back to the search bar to type in “Shaq’s shoes.” A search result that did not bring
about anything. Correll then attempted a search with “Shaq releases” and notices that the
search results are not recent. She ended up clicking on an “Allen-Inversion” shoe article, which
ultimately caused Correll to begin to feel frustrated because she was not sure what was the
most recent. As Correll was beginning another search in the search bar, she noticed as she
began to type in “Shaq”, some listed suggestions appeared below the search bar regarding
recent articles. Correll then clicked on the “Reebok Shaqnosis ‘Spider Web’” article. After
reading through the article, Correll saw that there are a lot of pics for the shoes within each
article. What was also discovered is that each article has more information and websites that
relocate the audience. Correll clicked on the link for “Reebok Shagnosis” and was able to find
more articles on the “Shaqnosis”.
The article “Reebok Brings Back the Shaqnosis” was discovered and held the information of
Shaq’s first sneaker release that Correll was searching for. Correll was able to determine when
Shaq’s first sneaker release date but was not able to determine what is Shaq’s most recent
sneaker release date. Correll made the following thoughts out loud after the task.
“It took way to long for such a simple task that would have taken 1 click on google. These aren’t
even articles, they just appear like an article,” Correll said.
Tester 2 Task Completion Process
It took Hoagland about 6 minutes to complete Task #1. Hoagland begins directly with the search
bar and attempts to spell out the full name. Hoagland types in “Shaquelle o neil”, which
provides no results for the search on the page. Hoagland then types in “Shaq”, which resulted in
a larger selection on the result page. Hoagland wasn’t satisfied with the search results, so he

6. attempted to have a more specific search and types in “1st
edition Shaq shoes” into the search
bar. The results feature one article that is titled “Packer Shoes x Reebok Shaq Attaq ‘Official
Friend of the Program’”. After clicking on the article, Hoagland realized the article was not the
solution to the task that he was looking for. Hoagland then went back to the search bar and
attempted to typing in Shaq’s full name. Hoagland was not sure of the spelling so he asked the
administrator if he could use his phone to google but the administrator would not allow it.
Hoagland did the best he could in spelling Shaq’s full name but was unsuccessful each time and
resulted back to using ‘Shag’.
Hoagland then sees the “Reebok Shagnosis Releasing in Flipped OG White/Black Colorway”
article that is dated Sept. 16, 2020. Hoagland felt that he completed the first part of the task in
finding the most recent Shaq release. Hoagland then continued to scroll down the page to try
and find Shaq’s first sneaker release. With Hoagland’s prior knowledge of sneakers, he was able
to spot Shag’s first sneakers in the article titled, “The Reebok Shaq Attaq Returns in December”.
After the findings of the Reeboks Shaq Attaq, Hoagland felt that the task was completed.
Hoagland found it to be easy to find the sneakers and was satisfied and even found some shoes
that he liked.
Biggest Problem
The biggest problem that was featured in both test results was determining what was
considered Shaq’s most recent sneaker release, as well as the correct spelling of Shaquille O’
Neal. The search results were consistent of relevancy rather than recently. This caused
confusion amongst both testers who were not 100% certain which was Shaq’s most recent
sneaker release. Shaq’s full name, Shaquille O’Neal, is also hard to type if someone is not
familiar with the name. Not being able to have a search suggestion or a solid connection
between the full name “Shaquille O’Neal” and any other sneakers featured on the website
contributed to the problem.

7. Alignment to Heuristic
The Heuristic that aligns most with the biggest problem would fall under the “Flexibility and
Efficiency of Use” category. This heuristic describes the use of accelerators that can be used to
cater to both inexperienced and experienced users to help users tailor frequent actions. This
heuristic basically allows the user to do more or less. This can also look like a form of sorting or
filtering for the user. This task relates to the heuristic because the biggest problem for both
testers was being able to find Shaq’s name using the search bar. Since the user had the
knowledge that Shaq was a basketball player, having the option to filter the search results to a
more relevant search would have allowed the users to find the solution to their tasks more
quickly.
Task 2: “You’re a proponent of voting and you’ve heard there is a 2020 Reebok sneaker that aligns with
your committee to vote in local and federal elections. What is the name of that sneaker, and is it
actually being made?”
Summary for Both Testers:
Tester 1 Tester 2 Average
Average Satisfaction 1 1 1
Success Rate 0% 0% 0%
Tester 1 Task Completion Process
Task #2 took Correll approximately 8 minutes. Correll ultimately gave up on the task and
assumed a sneaker that aligns with local and federal elections did not exist after attempting the
task. Correll began by searching “2020 Reebok” in the search bar. Before clicking on an article,
she made sure to look through the selections and clicks on the view all option. Then Correll
attempted to type “2020 Reebok Vote,” in the search bar, which turned out to be “clearly not a
thing,” Correll said. The next attempt was with “2020 Reebok Election” being typed into the
search bar. One thing had popped up that Correll had not expected. Correll was ultimately
confused as she assumed those two key words/phrases would be the right language for solving
the task. Correll felt very frustrated in the end when she was not able to complete the task.
Tester 2 Task Completion Process
Task #2 took Hoagland approximately 10 minutes. Hoagland began the task by going directly to
the search bar and typing in “Presidential election shoes”. The results displayed two articles, one
of which initially caught Hoagland’s eye was the article titled, “Nike Air Force 1 Low ‘Barack
Obama’ 2012 Custom”. But determined it to not be the right article. Hoagland then went back to
the search bar and typed in “Presidential Shoe” into the search bar. This resulted in a lot more
articles to be displayed. Hoagland was beginning to assume the shoe was not being made due to
not many articles being result. A podcast episode, The Sneaker Box: Episode 104 – “Kicks4Kicks”
peaked Hoagland’s interest and welcomed an article click. Hoagland looked through the article
and read some of the sentences but was able to determine that the article was not what he was
looking for. Hoagland goes back to the search bar and types in the phrase “2020 election”. Upon
reviewing the results on the page, Hoagland became sidetracked and took screenshots of the
shoes on the screen. “Definitely going to have to revisit this site,” Hoagland said. Hoagland was
able to get back on track and needed the question to be repeated because he was starting to get

8. confused on the task. This prompted Hoagland to go to the search bar and type in “2020
election Reebok shoe”. The results displayed featured on article that discussed a Reebok
magazine, but no sneaker.
Hoagland then begins to think of different key phrases to use and types “2020 Reebok” into the
search bar. Several more articles are displayed in the results page, but none having to deal with
the election. Hoagland then goes back and types in “2020 Reebok Election” in hopes of having
the shoe, but still could not find any sneakers regarding the Reebok sneaker in relation to
voting.
Biggest Problem
The biggest problem that both testers struggled with was not being able to find the sneaker that
related to the 2020 Reebok sneaker that aligned with voting. As an administrator I was able to
determine the name of the sneaker after googling for the answer. The article that I found the
answer was featured on SneakerBarDetroit.com but had no language or anything that could
connect the article to any of the search results that the testers were attempting. This causes a
disconnect for the user who would not be able to find the sneaker they are looking for.
Alignment to Heuristic
The heuristic that aligns mostly with the biggest problem is the “Match between system and the
real world” category. Ideally the system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases
and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Making information
appear in a natural and logical order. The user should feel that they know what the website is
talking about. Using the screenshot as an example, the language used in the title and mini
summary for both articles don’t mention voting or election or any of the key words mentioned
in the task. This causes the disconnect as users are not able to understand how the article
connects with what they are searching in that immediately response time.
What the testers searched in the search bar
without the help of Google.
The results when I searched and knew what the
2020 Reebok vote sneakers looked like but had
no description or connection to voting in the title.

9. Task 3: “Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Find coverage of his death. Does the
coverage mention any specific Kobe sneakers?”
Summary for Both Testers:
Tester 1 Tester 2 Average
Average Satisfaction 2 4.5 3.25
Success Rate 75% 100% 87.5%
Tester 1 Task Completion Process
It took Correll about 15 minutes to complete Task #3. She began by going to the search bar and
typing in “Kobe Bryant.” It was during Correll’s scrolling of the search results page that she
stumbled upon the “TSB Podcast Episode 249” article podcast. Correll’s initial thoughts were
unclear as to if the podcast was what she was looking for. Correll felt that it was “Weird a
podcast is randomly in the website.” She believes there could be more podcasts and this one
just happened to be the first one she stumbled upon. After reviewing the article, Correll
assumed the podcast covered the Kobe Bryant death because of the articles first line. In
reviewing the article, Correll made the comment that there are noticeable typos found
throughout. Correll finds the link for the podcasts and begins listening to the podcast. Correll
quickly stops the podcast and goes back to the article overview. Correll was able to deduce that
the article was indeed an overview of the podcast and felt that the “podcast doesn’t seem very
informative,” Correll said. Correll wasn’t completely satisfied and went back to the search bar to
type in “Kobe Bryant Death.” After only seeing the podcast that featured a mention regarding
the death, she felt satisfied with the results.
Tester 2 Task Completion Process
It took Hoagland approximately 5 minutes to complete Task #3. Hoagland began in the search
bar and types “2020 Kobe”. The results page displays several different Kobe sneakers and was
becoming very stimulated. Hoagland then asked for the question to be repeated because he
thought the task was to find the latest “Kobe” shoes. The administrator repeated the question
and Hoagland then went to the search bar and typed in “Kobe Bryant death”. Hoagland then
clicks on the article titled “Kobe Inspired Reebok Question Mid “Yellow Toe” Releasing in
November”. After reviewing the article and skimming the words, Hoagland was not satisfied
with the sneaker being the only coverage related to Kobe’s death. Hoagland went back to the
same search and reviewed more of the articles listed. Hoagland was able to spot the article
titled “Better Nike Kobe 6: ‘Black Del Sol’ or ‘BHM’” and clicked on the article. Hoagland was
able to determine that the shoe was a part of the Kobe Bryant death coverage because of the
mini summary of the article featured on the results page. The article features a paragraph that
discusses the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. Hoagland was satisfied because it was easy to find
thanks to the mini summary.
Biggest Problem
The biggest problem that is displayed for both users is the inconsistency amongst the language
used in attempting to find coverage on Kobe Bryant’s death. Hoagland was able to search “Kobe
Bryant Death” which resulted in two more articles that were not featured in Correll’s search of
just “Kobe Bryant”. Although typing in just the name “Kobe Bryant” does prompt the user

10. content that discusses the death of Kobe Bryant, which is the task. It doesn’t have the same
language that displays the Kobe inspired sneakers that the task also requires.
Alignment to Heuristic
The heuristic that would most closely align with this problem is “Consistency and standards”.
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same
thing. The language in both examples is different but have a similar search that don’t provide a
clear connection between the two. In order to have a more consistent use of language, all three
articles should be found under the same familiar phrase or key words.
Task 4: “You are a supporter of Black Lives Matter and you’d like a sneaker that shows your support.
About how many different sneakers can you find that specifically show BLM support? Did your search
turn up the Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker?”
Summary for Both Testers:
Tester 1 Tester 2 Average
Average Satisfaction 2 2.5 2.25
Success Rate 75% 75% 75%
Hoagland’s “Kobe Bryant Death” search results that
display an article that has a mini summary about the
tragic death.
Correll’s “Kobe Bryant” search that resulted in the
TSB Podcast that talks about the life of Kobe Bryant.

11. Tester 1 Task Completion Process
It took Correll about 7 minutes to complete Task #4. Correll began the task by clicking on the
“News page.” Correll began with the news page tab because she was hoping to be able to see
recent coverage on the subject because of recent events. At this point in time, Correll realized
that many articles were posted on the same day, but nothing was including the BLM support.
Correll then went back to the search bar to type in “Black Lives Matter.” Correll was proud in
finding the one article regarding Black Lives Matter but was also disappointed because it was
published in 2017. Since Correll wasn’t completely satisfied, she then went back to the search
bar and typed in “BLM”. As Correll was scrolling through the results page, she sees another
podcast (Episode 261) and notices the article talks about Black Lives Matter but not about
sneakers. Because of these findings, Correll felt satisfied in finding the one article, but was
disappointed because she assumed there would be more on the subject instead of an article
published 3 years ago.
Tester 2 Task Completion Process
It took Hoagland approximately 5 minutes to complete Task #4. Hoagland begin his search with
the phrase “BLM matter shoes” as well as the phrase “BLM shoes” directly in the search bar. For
both searches, there was no results. Hoagland then typed in the phrase “Black Lives Matter”.
Hoagland then has several search results listed on the page. Hoagland scrolls through the list but
wasn’t sure what sneakers directly supported Black Lives Matter, so he clicked on the article
“Where to Buy the Off-White x Jordan 4 ‘Sail’ on July 25th
”. After clicking on the article,
Hoagland was not able to make a connection to Black Lives Matter. He then goes back to the
search results page and makes the statement that he only sees the article “Air Jordan 1 supports
‘Black Lives Matter’” as a direct support of Black Lives Matter. Hoagland was able to confirm the
article indeed featured a sneaker that supported Black Lives Matter but was not able to find any
more sneakers that did so. He was also not able to find the “Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker”
during his search result.
Biggest Problem
The biggest problem for Task #4 is the inconsistency in trying to find articles and sneakers that
support the movement Black Lives Matter. There are numerous sneakers and events and people
that are connected to the movement but are not directly connected within the search results of
SneakerBarDetroit.com. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have played a role for the movement, but
when you search “Black Lives Matter” into the search bar, the results never display the Sue
Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker within that results page. The tester was never able to make the
connection between the two because of the lack of affiliation.

12. Alignment to Heuristic
The heuristic that best aligns with the problem would be the “Consistency and standards”
heuristic. Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean
the same thing. Looking at the two articles from this point of view, a regular user would not be
able to tell that the two are connected. There is no way that is being displayed that the Sue
Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker is a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Not having this
consistency between the two articles, as well as other movement related sneakers, doesn’t give
the user a full range of the sneakers that they are searching for.
Final Site Thoughts
Tester 1:
Correll’s final thoughts felt okay with the website. Correll would have preferred to have more
knowledge about the collectible sneaker industry going into the tasks as it would have been
more beneficial. Correll went to further explain that, “As something who doesn’t know about
the topic, I would have preferred a (web)site that allows easier access.” Correll felt that
SneakerBarDetroit.com was inconsistent and was difficult to find what she was looking for.
Correll would have preferred to do research elsewhere as the website was “hard to dig in deep”
for many of the tasks asked.
When searching the phrase “Black Lives Matter” into the
search bar. There is only one sneaker that is specifically
dedicated for the movement. It is also dated back in 2017.
In order to find the Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker, the
user would need to type in the name directly. There is no
mentioning of Black Lives Matter anywhere.

13. Tester 2:
Hoagland’s final thoughts felt pretty good with the website. He felt that it was easy, especially
with the search bar. He plans on going back to the website to check out more sneakers and over
all really enjoyed looking at the sneakers.
Similarities and Differences:
There really aren’t too many similarities when it comes to final site thoughts. There are several
differences that discuss the use of the website and how to navigate through it. Correll was not
able to search the answers for the tasks as well as Hoagland could, which caused a lack in trust
for Correll regarding the websites ability to complete a task. Hoagland was able to navigate
through well, thanks to his prior sneaker knowledge. Both testers felt at least okay with the
website, but both also felt that there were issues that could be better corrected.
Recommendations to improve user experience
Single Problem Being Fixed
Task #3 and #4: Users unable to connect articles together due to a lack of consistent language
and searching within the website.
Problem Improvement.
What is clearly shown from the screenshot above is the fact that there is no way for a user to be
able to find a variety of a specific topic or sneaker they are looking for. There is no general term
or a common phrase option for the user to type in that would give the option of a search result
page of every sneaker or article that connects to that topic. A prime example of this issue deals
with the topic “Black Lives Matter”. As stated above in Task #4, a problem with connecting the

14. Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi sneaker with the Black Lives Matter movement is that there is no
verbiage or any other factor that aligns the two topics together. The solution to this problem is
the use of a hashtag. A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media
websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific topic. Although
hashtags are primarily used in social media, their implementation within the website would
greatly help users who are trying to find similar sneakers or articles without having to research
using different keywords or phrases.
With two different articles that features both the “Black Lives Matter” Air Jordan 1 sneaker and
the “Sue Bird/Diana Taurasi” sneaker, there is not direct connection. The side by side doesn’t
include anything that would give the user the impression that the articles are connected. This
can cause problems that leaves a user dissatisfied with their result and use of the website.

15. Here are the two same pictures of the articles that have now been edited. Using a blue border
textbox, the user would be able to see the connection between the two articles and sneakers
because they both feature the hashtag. Since both articles have to deal with the movement in
some way, shape or form, this implementation of a hashtag increases the satisfaction of the
desired search results.
#blacklivesmatter #BLM
#blacklivesmatter #BLM

16. #Shaq #Shaqnosis #basketball
#Kobe #KobeBryantDeath #RIPKobe
#Kobe #KobeBryantDeath #RIPKobe
#Reebok #2020 #vote #election
Other examples with the use of a hashtag include the other
tasks. For Task #2, the use of hashtags such as #Reebok
#2020 #vote #election would have been a direct result when
looking for the sneaker.
For Task #3, the user would have been able to properly
connect both articles in relating to Kobe’s death because of
their shared hashtag.
For Task #1, having the hashtag #shaq would
immediately inform the user that the Reebok
Shaqnosis line of sneakers are related to
Shaquille O’ Neal much faster than having to
read through articles trying to make sure they
are connected.

17. With the use of hashtags, users would be able to more quickly find their sneakers that they want
that are related to specific subjects or topics. The more hashtags, the greater of a chance a user
would be able to find their desired sneaker. The use of hashtags can work more than just with
popular phrases. They can help connect even sneaker brands, sneaker release dates, colors and
even sneaker types. This implementation of hashtags would be featured when a user goes to
the search bar and types their desired sneaker. The searchbar should even have suggested
hashtags that are either popular for the website or that are catered to the user.
The main use of SneakerBarDetroit.com is to provide users the sneaker news updates that they
want. The use of hashtags would allow for the users to have more of a reason to use
SneakerBarDetroit.com because of the quick and easy results of their desired searches. Rather
than having the user scroll through several articles that are mixed with all kinds of various
brands and sneakers, this provides a much clearer and precise way of searching for both
sneakers and sneaker news.
Link for Public Online Viewing.
Search Suggestions…
#blacklivesmatter
#vote
#Shaq
#airjordan