The document summarizes user testing conducted on the Athens Era website, which is a site for artists in Athens, GA to sell their art. 9 participants took part in testing, with goals of understanding user comprehension and identifying any usability issues. Positive findings were high system usability scores and recognition of the site's arch logo. Problems identified included weak recognition that the site is only for Athens artists and confusion between community pages and login. Solutions proposed were adding clarifying text and redesigning community pages. The document also lists appendices with additional data and materials from the user testing.

1. FEBRUARY 2023
Research Report
Presented By: Kelly May Sheehan &
Zoë Phalen
UGA New Media Institute
JRMC 7015E
Athens Era

2. TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1 Product Overview
Positive Findings
Problems
Solutions
Appendices
2
3
4
5

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GOAL 1
to gauge user
comprehension and
usability levels on
first visit
GOAL 2
identify problems
and their level of
severity
PRODUCT
OVERVIEW
ATHENS ERA | PAGE 1
The Athens Era Team conducted usability testing on the Athens Era site
(athensera.com) with the goal of understanding user comprehension of the
brand and website functionality. Athens Era is a website for Athens, GA
artists to sell their art on. We chose to have two separate research studies
completed for both artists and buyers.
PARTICIPANTS
1
Interests
connecting with community
supporting community
having their art appreciated
connecting with art
5 BUYERS
4 ARTISTS
*STRONG REPRESENTATION OF TARGET MARKET
PARTICIPANT FIT
all participants fit into the age range being (16 - 65),
however there was little representation on 50-65 yrs
7/9 participants strongly desire to support local art
8/9 participants appreciated community connection
90.3
Average System Usability Scale
Score
32.7% higher than the average
according to usability.gov

4. ATHENS ERA | PAGE 2
POSTIVE FINDINGS
include bolded phrases on various pages
explaining that this is art from Athens, GA
artists only
replace tagline with "the online art store to
support art from Athens, GA local artists"
WEAK RECOGNITION OF WEBSITE FOR
ONLY ATHENS ARTISTS
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
2
3 4
Caring
Creative
Professional
Local
Helpful
COMMUNITY PAGE AND FOOTER
LINK ARE TOO DIFFERENT
CONFUSION REGARDING THE JOIN/
LOGIN
NO ABOUT PAGE - ONLY AVAILABLE
AS A FOOTER LINKED PAGE transform the about footer link to a detailed
information page that also links to the About
Page on navigation bar
consider removing/combining other navigation
bar links
include an about page in the navigation bar
include brief messages during search part of the
user journey
BRANDING
APPEARANCE
"The Arch was instantly
recognizable."
"I love the subtle arch in
the logo!"
Participants were quick to notice the Arch
iconography and its correlation to Athens.
Overall, user testing participants described
their experience on Athens Era as:
rename the community section from the footer
link and also link to the community page to
redirect users for more info
redesign the community page to house all
community related info
60%
Success Rate
Buyer Task: find a specific
community event
Participants would check
one community source and
not the other

5. ATHENS ERA | PAGE 3
APPENDICES
5
Data Collection Instrument Links
A Instruments consist of pre-test and post-test surveys for both types of users
(buyers and artists). A universal System Usability Scale was also produced to be
used by both audience types. All data collection was conducted via Google
Forms.
User Consent Forms
B
Prior to beginning any user testing, participants were asked to digitally sign a
consent form to acknowledge and accept the practices being used to collect
data.
Task Table Data
C
Participants provided both qualitative and quantitative data by answering
introductory questions followed by a series of tasks. These tasks were designed to
test a variety of user flows and functionality across the Athens Era site.
Product Reaction Cards
D
After completing the aforementioned task table, participants were asked to
select five words from a universal, predetermined list that most align with their
experience on the site.
System Usability Scale Calculations
E
This resource was used to calculate the System Usability Score of the Athens Era
site.
*click the above link "Appendices" to view the items A-F
User Research Plan
F This plan outlines the practices and procedures that are to be followed during
user testing.