Redesign Proposal: Novaspaceart.com

Novaspaceart.com
Preparedby@gary_schroeder
December2016
RedesignProposal

Executive Summary
Novaspace started life in 1978 as a mail-order service dealing in
the space-themed artwork. In the 1990s, they expanded their art
offerings and became an outlet for selling items autographed by
astronauts. That end of the business quickly began outselling the
art. Their original website, novaspace.com supported all of their
products, but because of the total volume of inventory, they
eventially spun off their autogrpah market to a new website called
astronautcentral.com. NovaspaceArt.com remains dedicated to
selling space-themed art.
Business Requirements
The business requirements are clear: sell product. This company
fills a bit of a niche market so it’s not clear that they have any
direct competition, in which case, they don’t have to be concerned
about adding features to their site that other companies may offer.
They may, however, have business requirements dictated by the
artists and artifact sellers that they represent. What these may be
is hard to discern from looking at the public end of the website.
They may also have business requirements that are driven by
their site users and customers. Again, from the public side, we can
only speculate as to what those requirements might be but they
might include offering an easy interface through which to browse
inventory and simple, reassuring methods of accepting online
payment. Some users will undoubtedly expect the website to be
useable on a mobile device.
Marketing Requirements
As for marketing requirements, it’s difficult to determine. This is a
small company, probably a “mom and pop” operation, not driven
by the demands of shareholders or quarterly stock performance.
It’s reasonable to expect from what can be seen that their main
marketing goal is to be easy locatable via search, so good SEO
might be one of their goals.
Competitive Analysis
Three competitors were reviewed: Art.com, RedBubble.com, and
FineArtAmerica.com. Each offered significant advantages over the
design of Novaspaceart.com. Of these, the most important were
responsive web design that supports mobile use, reassuringly
contemporary visual aesthetics, faceted search for narrowing
down search options, a simple “favoriting” mechanism for saving
items for later recall, and a smooth, intuitive purchasing
experience.
User Scenario
To help the development team craft an online experience that
matches user expectations, a typical user scenario was
constructed. In this scenario, the user is someone who has a
passion for seeing artwork in their home and office but either
hasn’t the time or doesn’t enjoy the process of shopping in
brick-and-mortar stores. The user is comfortable and proficient
with e-commerce websites. A typical use case involves the
following steps: (1) accessing a computer (possibly a tablet or
@gary_schroeder / ICM 514 / December 2016

other mobile device); (2) opening a browser; (3) using a search
engine to locate companies that sells art prints; (4) evaluating
which online company looks most promising; (5) selecting a
vendor; (6) using the company’s website and/or search feature to
browse inventory; (7) selecting an item to buy; (8) reviewing
framing options; (9) reviewing shipping options; and (10) placing
an order.
Research Interviews, Diary Studies, and Surveys
Research interviews were conducted to find out what makes
potential customers more likely to purchase from one online art
dealer than another. The information gathered can be used to
redesign Novaspace.com in a way that better meets user
expectations. [Note: had actual interviews been conducted, the
summary would appear here.]
Expectations, mindsets, moods, and social or physical contexts
color user experiences. A diary study was conducted to capture
these influences, shedding light on how the user experience is
formed. The Novaspaceart.com website has a dated design and
was likely designed by amateurs, so the diary study focused on
collecting information on how the browsing and purchasing
experiences could be improved. The participant tasks were
designed to find out how site users expect the site to work and
what they would like to see in an ideal experience. [Note: had
actual diary data been collected, the summary would appear
here.]
Surveys were also conducted to better understand who the
audience is for Novaspaceart.com products and what their
purchasing preferences are in order to design the best possible
online user experience and, ultimately, sell as much product as
possible. The surveys were used to answer the following
questions: What demographic group do our customers belong to?
What’s the income level of likely customers? How
familiar/comfortable are potential customers with online shopping?
How often do potential customers make online purchases? What
types of devices do they use to make online purchases? How do
they prefer to shop for art (or shop in general)? And what kinds of
features do they want to see in an e-commerce website? [Note:
had actual survey data been collected, the summary would appear
here .]
Navigation & Information Architecture
A card sorting exersize was conducted to test the existing
navigational structure of the site.Three test subjects were told
what the function of the website was and were then asked to sort
printed note cards into predetermined categories reflecting the
structure of the Novaspaceart.com website. This was done in
hopes of revealing weaknesses in the categories in use as well as
any points of confusion over word choices used to represent
categories and the items contained within them.When the
participant data was collected, a Popular Placements Matrix was
used to determine where participants were most and least certain
as to under which category they would find a particular page. On
the whole, there were many cards which had 100% agreement
between all three participants, suggesting that the current
structure of the website is reasonably logical and intuitive.
Usability Studies
Usability tests were conducted against Novaspaceart.com using
three participants who were asked to complete five discrete tasks
using the website. The tests were conducted by one test manager
in a closed conference room with a participant provided with a

Macbook Air laptop and a Chrome web browser. The tests were
conducted in order to determine what if any usability problems
existed so that they can be corrected.
The tests revealed that (1) the visual aesthetics of the site are
perceived to be unattractive and out-of-date; (2) the meaning of
some of the labels used to define various sections are unclear and
don’t immediately suggest what is associated with them; (3) the
shopping cart UI is confusing; (4); the lack of a direct path to the
FAQ page is a glaring omission; (5) the customer satisfaction
guarantee is challenging to find; and (6) the Want List function is
far too difficult to use.
Recommendations for Improvement
Recommendation 1
To increase user confidence in the site and enhance the overall
user experience, Novasapceart.com should be redesigned by
experts to give it a contemporary look and feel that more closely
mateches what users expect from a reputable ecommerce
website. Any such redesign should seek to standardize the look
and feel of all pages within the site. The site should also be
redesigned according to responsive design principles to make it
accessible to mobile device users.
Recommendation 2
Users consistently reported that the meaning of some of the labels
used to define various sections of the website are unclear and that
they don’t immediately suggest what is associated with them.
Correct this by including brief descriptive text with all major
category headings that make it plain to the user that they can
expect to find within these categories.
Recommendation 3
Redesign the UI for the “Create Account” and “Add to Want List”
functions such that the first time user is affirmatively guided
through the personal account sign-up process and then shown
how to add items to the Want List. The current site provides the UI
for some items, but not others. The cart/Want List UI should be
consistently presented with every item available for purchase. If
for some reason, the item is not available for Want List inclusion,
the reason should be visibly provided.
Recommendation 4
Include a clear path to the FAQ page, or incorporate the
information contained on the FAQ page directly into the main site
content so that a separate FAQ page is unnecessary.

1. Competitive Analysis
Art.com
✔ This site provides an ability to see what
framed artwork would look like in different home
environments. Preview includes configurable wall
colors.
✔ Live customer assistance via on-screen chat
is available.
✔ Provides a powerful and flexible faceted
search that allows users to search art by
subcategories..
✘ One drawback is that Art.com has such a vast
product catalog that it might be overwhelming for
the user.
Redbubble.com
✔ Includes a display of "trending products."
✔ Presents a clean visual design, generous
white space, intuitive navigation.
✘ Part of the value proposition is to help
independent artists sell their art through the site
but this is hidden behind a primary focus on
selling art to the public like any other art
distribution site.
Fineartamerica.com
✔ Offers an embed code for showing artwork on
other websites available.
✔ Strong home page makes it clear what the
value proposition of the site is.
✘ The home page relies on a carousel interface
to explain the full value proposition of the site.
Carousels are often interpreted as advertisements
and have other UI drawbacks.

2. User Scenario: Browsing Online Art
Situation
Alexander has received a promotion and has moved to a new, larger
office at work. He now has more wallspace than he used to. He loves
to surround himself with art that’s personally meaningful to him.
Rather than simply fill up the available space with imagery (as a hotel
or corporate interior decorator might do), he tries to find art that
resonates with his personal interests. But Alex is a busy person with
a lot of work responsibility and he doesn’t have as much free time as
he’d like. Since the boom in ecommerce swept the world, he rarely
shops for anything in person anymore. He has a strong preference for
locating what he wants online and having it shipped directly to his
office. He’s willing to pay extra in shipping as a trade off for
convenience.
Method to Address the Situation
1. Access computer
2. Open a browser
3. Use a search engine to locate companies that sells art prints
4. Evaluate which online company looks most promising
5. Select a vendor
6. Use the company’s website and/or search feature to browse
inventory
7. Select an item to buy
8. Review framing options
9. Review shipping options
10. Place an order
Execution Path
When he gets home from work, Alex reaches for his iPad and opens
a browser to start his search for new artwork for his office. He opens
the native Safari browser and types “art prints” int the address bar
which also doubles as a generic search box that submits queries to
Google.
A number of different websites are returned which look promising. He
could pick one at random, but instead chooses the site which is at the
top of the results page and evaluates its home page. He scans the
home page to get a sense for the kinds of products and services that
the company offers. He looks for search options, broad catalog
categories, navigation options, and sorting controls which will make it
easy to sift through the online catalog. After reviewing the types of art
subject matter offered, he zeroes in on the area that interests him,
and makes a selection.
Next, he moves to discover what his framing options are and
discovers that multiple options exists and that each can be visually
previewed with his selected art print. After reviewing the options, he
makes a final framing selection and clicks the “check out” button. He
prefers to use PayPal because it doesn’t expose his credit card data.
He enters his shipping address and completes the transaction.

3. Diary Study
Expectations, mindsets, moods, and social or physical contexts color
user experiences. A diary study captures these influences, shedding
light on how the UX in each time span has formed. The goal is to
understand not just what people do but why. Diary studies are a
challenge in the case of Novaspace.com since it’s not the type of
product--like a fitness tracker or a news website--that one interacts
with on a regular, repeating basis. Novaspace.com sells art and
articfacts. It’s the sort of website that a customer may use only a
handful of times over the course of years. A plan for a diary study
was assembled while bearing this limitation in mind.
Purpose
The site has a dated design and was likely designed by amateurs, so
this study focused on collecting information that indicates how the
browsing and purchasing experiences could be improved. The
participant tasks were designed to find out how site users expect the
site to work and what they would like to see in an ideal experience.
Strategy
People in the market for art were targets of this study. The net was
widened to include people who are in the market for any type of art
because Novaspace.com represents a niche market and we weren’t
able to find enough people to assemble a meaningful group. A target
sample size of 10 people was established. Since the study could be
conducted remotely, there was no need to meet participants in
person. Given that freedom, Twitter was used as a recruitment tool.
Since this is not a website that anyone would use daily, more useful
data could be obtained by asking about their expectations for this
type of online art seller. They were asked how they imagine that a
“good” online art distribution site would work, and what they expect
from it. They were asked about their experience with similar
purchasing sites. This information is a benchmark for Novaspace.com
and was used to see where it does and does not align with these
expectations and previous experiences.
Participants Questions/Tasks
Participants were asked to use the Novaspace.com site once a day
for a week. Each day, the assignment was to simulate purchasing a
different product that they did the day before. That is, to go through
the browsing, selection, and purchasing process but stop short of
actually placing an order. They could choose any item they wish
(poster, framed print, autographed item, flown object, etc.) as long as
it’s not the same as one they’ve chosen previously. Participants will
be asked to report their feelings and reactions to the site during use.
An interval-contingent protocol was used in which just one entry a
day for the week was required. Since there’s no daily activity which
would naturally trigger the daily evaluation, it was important that the
participants remain disciplined. Since the participant pool was small,
a group text message was sent each evening reminding them to
complete the activity if they hadn’t already. Since the evaluation isn’t
connected to a natural daily activity, there was a good possibility that
participants would lose enthusiasm for the project. Encouragement
was included in in the daily text message to mitigate this. Other
messages like “how’s it going?” were sent separately to each
participant.

Reviewing the Data
In the collected feedback, participants who provided the most
complete evaluations with the greatest detail were identified. Those
participants were contacted via email or Twitter and asked to agree to
a short, 15 minute debriefing interview via Skype during which a fuller
account of their experiences and frustrations with the site was
collected.
The assembled results were examined for emerging patterns and
common themes between respondents.

4. Research Interview Script
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study. Our goal is to
find out what makes potential customers more likely to purchase
from one online art dealer than another.
● Before we start, please tell me a little bit about yourself.
What do you do for a living?
● How long have you been working at that job or career?
● Do you remember the first time you bought something
online? That is, the approximate year? (5 years ago, 10
years ago…?)
● How often do you buy things online now?
1. First, tell me about a recent purchase that you made online. What
was the very last thing you bought through a website? If you can’t
remember, just tell me about the last one you clearly recall.
a. Is that item something that you buy frequently online or
just once in awhile?
2. What kind of device did you use to make that purchase? Was it a
home desktop computer, a laptop, a smartphone, or something
else?
a. Was that unusual or is that the device you typically use to
make online purchases?
3. Now please think of your favorite e-commerce web site, perhaps
one that you’ve gone back to more than once.
a. Why did you decide to return to that site?
b. Are there things about that site that stand out from others
that you’ve used?
4. What about a website gives you confidence that it is reputable?
a. [Possible prompts if struggling to answer] Looks like a
contemporary visual design, has a Better Business
bureau rating on the homepage, looks like it was updated
recently?
b. Is there anything about an online store that makes you
feel that it’s untrustworthy?
c. What does “untrustworthy” mean to you in the context of
online commerce sites?
d. [If SSL certificates hasn’t come up in conversation] Do
you look for a green lock icon in your browser’s address
bar?
i. If not, have you ever seen this symbol before?
ii. If yes, does it mean anything to you?
5. Let’s imagine that you’ve just moved into a home that’s larger than
where you’re living now and that you have a lot of new wallspace
to fill. If you were going to buy artwork, how would you decide
where to buy it?
a. [If answer is not “online”] If purchasing art in a
brick-and-mortar store wasn’t an option for some reason,
how would you go about looking online?
b. [If answer is “use google” or similar] What words would
you use in your search for an online art dealer?
6. If you’re able to see an image of the entire artwork, do you feel like
you need to see details or is a representative image enough for
you?
a. [If not enough] How would you like to see more detail?
b. [If having a hard time articulating an answer to (a)] For
instance, would you like to be able to place a magnifying
glass over a small area and move it around to see
details? Or would you perhaps want the opportunity to
zoom in and out at a level of your choosing?

7. If you encounter a large catalog of items to sift through on a
website, what’s you favorite way to look through it?
a. [Prompts if struggling] Do you prefer to just go exploring?
Do you like to narrow your review by looking through a
specific category and ignore everything else? Do you
prefer to try and use the local search engine to hunt by
specific keywords?
b. Which way of reviewing the online catalog is most “fun” for
you?
8. Do you look through online catalogs just for relaxation, like you
might do with physical magazines?
a. Why or why not?
9. How do you like to make your online payments?
a. Would you abandon the website if it supported a type of
payment you could make (like a particular credit card that
you hold), but did not support your preferred method of
payment (like some other credit card, or PayPal, for
example).
10. If you run into trouble using the site or have a question, is it
important that you be able to reach someone right away?
a. If so, how would you like to reach a person to ask a
question?
b. [If not online chat] Have you ever used online chat?
Would you consider using it to get an answer to a
question? Why or why not?

5. Surveys
Purpose
This survey supports a company whose mission is to sell
space-themed art and aerospace articles of historical significance
online. We want to understand who the audience is for these
products and what their purchasing preferences are so that we
can design the best possible online user experience and,
ultimately, sell as much product as possible.
The Objective of our questions are to learn:
[A] What demographic group do our customers belong to?
[B] The socioeconomic background of likely customers.
What’s their income level?
[C] How familiar/comfortable are potential customers with
online shopping?
[D] How often do potential customers make online purchases?
[E] What types of devices do they use to make online
purchases?
[F] How do they prefer to shop for art (or shop in general)?
[G] What kinds of features do they want to see in an
e-commerce website?
NOTE: We’re going to survey only those people who have a
computing device, have Internet access, and have made online
purchases before. Those who don’t will be excluded.
Question 1: Which best describes your age?
Important to ask because it helps to establish our buying
demographic. Knowing this may guide how we market the product
to our customers. Supports Objective A.
● < 18 years
● 18-24 years
● 25-34 years
● 35-44 years
● 45-54 years
● 55-64 years
● 65+ years
Question 2: Which of the following best describes your highest
level of completed education?
Important to ask because this tells us something about the types
of purchases that our audience is likely to make. This question
might be sensitive for some, so an option to abstain is available.
Supports Objective B.
● Some High School
● High School Graduate
● Some College
● College Graduate
● Post Graduate
● I prefer not to say

Question 3: What is your annual income?
Important to ask because it establishes how much disposable
income the audience has for art and artifacts. This question might
be sensitive for some, so an option to abstain is available.
Supports Objective B.
● < $20,000
● Between $20,000 and $40,000
● Between $40,000 and $80,000
● Between $80,000 and $120,000
● > $120,000
● I prefer not to say
Question 4: What is your home zip code?
Important to ask because we can make additional inferences
about demographics based on the geographic region in which the
customer lives. Also tells us about how far we might have to ship
the product or to what region we might have the most shipping
traffic. Supports Objective B.
Question 5: Which of the following is your prefered way to shop?
Important to ask because it establishes if the respondent is in our
target group that prefers to shop online. Supports Objective C.
● In-store browsing
● Order from paper catalog
● Order online
● My favorite shopping method isn’t listed here
Question 6: How long have you been using the Internet by
yourself?
target group that is familiar and comfortable with online shopping.
Supports Objective C.
● Less than 6 months,
● Between 6 and 12 months,
● Between 1 and 2 years,
● More than 2 years
Question 7: How comfortable are you using the Internet to make
purchases?
target group that is familiar and comfortable with online shopping.
Supports Objective C.
● Not comfortable at all
● Slightly comfortable
● Moderately comfortable
● Very comfortable
● Extremely comfortable
Question 8: What devices do you use to conduct online
shopping? Check all that apply.
Important to ask because it may tell us where we should focus our
design efforts when building the sales website. Supports Objective
E.
● Home desktop
● Laptop
● Tablet (like an iPad)
● Smartphone
● My device isn’t listed here

Question 9: How often do you shop online?
Important to ask because it tells us about the customer’s online
purchasing habits and corroborates their answers to other
questions related to Objective C.
● Daily
● At least once a week
● At least once a month
● At least once a year
Question 10: What payment method do you use when making
online purchases?
Important to know because it will tell us what types of electronic
payment options our website will have to support. Supports
Objective G.
● Visa
● Mastercard
● American Express
● Discover
● PayPal
● Other

6. Heuristic Evaluation
Design for User Expectations
● Choose features that will help users achieve their goals
● Use common web conventions
● Make online processes work in a similar way to their offline
equivalents
● Don’t use misleading labels or buttons
As a first-generation website, the types of UIs used are limited to clickable
images, drop-down menus, and direct hyperlinks, though it’s not always
clear what images are clickable and which aren’t. The user is forced to rely
on trial-and-error to discover how the interface works from page to page.
Clarity
● Write clear, concise copy
● Only use technical language for a technical audience
● Write clear and meaningful labels
● Use meaningful icons
The home page of the site fails to state its value proposition. Instead of
simply stating “we sell space-themed art,” the user is left to infer the purpose
of the site. Insider terminology is used for one of its key products: the giclee
print. The term is defined on a sub-page, but not up-front.
Minimize Unnecessary Complexity and Cognitive Load
● Remove unnecessary functionality, process steps and visual clutter
● Use progressive disclosure to hide advanced features
● Break down complicated processes into multiple steps
● Prioritise using size, shape, colour, alignment and proximity
The site is relatively simple and only supports a few functions: browsing art
by type or artist, creating a favorites list, and purchasing art. The only slightly
advanced feature is the ability to create an account that allows ability to save
‘favorite’ works.
Efficiency and Task Completion
● Provide quick links to common features/functions
● Provide advanced features like the ability to delete multiple
messages
● Pre-check common options, like opt-out of marketing emails
● Allow defaults to be changed, cancelled or overridden.
● Remove unnecessary steps
The site navigation menu does allow for quick access to all major portions of
the site.

Provide Users with Context
● Provide a clear site name and purpose
● Highlight the current section in the navigation
● Provide a breadcrumb trail
● Appropriate feedback messages
● Show number of steps in a process
● Reduce perception of latency by providing visual cues (e.g.
progress indicator) or by allowing users to complete other tasks
while waiting.
The site is spotty in this regard. Some pages are clearly labeled with a
prominent title, others are not. The current navigation selection is not
highlighted in the navigation menu bar, but a breadcrumb list does exist to
mitigate this shortcoming.
Consistency and Standards
● Use common naming conventions
● Place items in standard locations like search boxes at the top right
of the screen
● Use the right interface element or form widget for the job
● Create a system that behaves in a predictable way
● Use standard processes and web patterns
This site has two serious problems with consistency: (1) the visual design
varies dramatically from page to page; (2) some portions of the site--such as
cart checkout--are in a differently branded page template which may cause
the user to think they've been shunted to a completely different website. This
undermines confidence in the online buying process and may cause some
users to abandon the purchase. Novaspace is part of a separate but linked
site called astronautcentral.com. Failing to cleanly separate these two sites
is bound to confuse the first-time buyer.
Prevent Errors
● Disable irrelevant options
● Accept both local and international dialling codes
● Provide examples and contextual help
● Check if a username is already being used before the user registers
There are only a few ways to interact with this site: create a user account to
store ‘favorited’ items, make an online purchase, or submit a comment. It’s
not clear from looking at the UI if it will check to see if the user is attempting
to register with a name that’s already taken. It certainly doesn’t guide the
user through the process of creating a Wish List, which requires that the
user first create login credentials, then login as a registered user.
Help users notice, understand and recover from errors
● Visually highlight errors
● Provide feedback close to where the error occurred
● Use clear messages and avoid technical jargon
The comment form does provide clear feedback if the user fails to fill in
required fields.

Promote a pleasurable and positive user experience
● Create a pleasurable and attractive design
● Provide easily attainable goals
● Provide rewards for usage and progression
This site fails to provide a pleasurable user experience on multiple fronts.
Most significant of these are the garish visual design and the failure to
appear current. An appearance which conforms to the design standards of
the early 2000s may cause users to feel that the site is not reputable or that
it is not being actively maintained.

7. Card Sorting
Three test subjects were told what the function of the website was
and were then asked to sort printed note cards into predetermined
categories reflecting the structure of the Novaspaceart.com
website. This was done in hopes of revealing weaknesses in the
categories in use as well as any points of confusion over word
choices used to represent categories and the items contained
within them. Note that if this sort exercise were being conducted
for the purpose of actually refining a commercial website instead
of an academic exercise, at least 15 participants would have been
sought.
Methodology
Category and page names were copied from the
Novaspaceart.com website and entered into a spreadsheet. The
spreadsheet was uploaded to an Avery online application which
generated printable pages compatible with Avery adhesive labels.
These labels were affixed to note cards. Computer-generated
labels were used to eliminate any bias that non-uniform
handwriting might introduce. A conference room with a large table
was secured for the exercise. Printed cards were spread out on
the table before the participant arrived. The participants were
asked to think aloud while sorting. Any notable reactions were
recorded in hand-written notes.
Collected data was entered into OptimalSort,
optimalworkshop.com. This exercise calls for 38 cards and 10
categories in the closed sort. The free version of OptimalSort only
allows for a maximum of 30 cards (beyond named categories) but
a number of the cards were repetitions of the same page type.
That is, a number of them were pages dedicated to individual
artists within the “paintings” category. Some of these duplicates
were eliminated to reach the limit under the free plan. The free
version allows up to 10 respondents. OptimalSort was used to
generate a Results Matrix (the darker the blue for a particular
card, the more often the card was sorted into that category) and a
Popular Placements Matrix (shows the percentage of participants
who sorted each card into each category. It suggests the most
popular groups based on each individual card's highest placement
score).
Results
The Popular Placements Matrix is the most instructive for
determining where participants were least certain as to where they
would find a particular page. For example, the “About Credit Card
Security” page was placed in a different navigation category by
each of the three participants. It was placed into “Cart”, “Privacy”,
and “FAQ.” Each of these selections makes a certain amount of
sense.
Information about credit card security makes sense on a shopping
cart page since users would be making a decision about
submitting their personal card information during checkout; credit
card security is also related to privacy in the sense of keeping
such information safe from malefactors; and it also makes sense
for inclusion in an FAQ since many customers might have
questions about how the site protects customer credit card data.

Other pages where participants disagreed over their placement
included “Get Our Free Catalog” (split between the home page
and Contact category), “Visit Our Store” (split between the home
page and the About Us category), “Miniatures” (split between the
Prints and Miscellaneous categories), “Budget Print” items (split
between the Prints and Sale categories), “Ordering Original
Paintings” (split between the Originals and FAQ categories), and
“What is a Giclee?” (split between the Prints and FAQ categories).
On the whole, there were many cards which had 100% agreement
between all three participants, suggesting that the current
structure of Novaspaceart.com is reasonably logical and intuitive.

8. Usability Testing
A usability test was conducted against Novaspaceart.com using
three participants who were asked to complete five discrete tasks
using the website. The tests were conducted by one test manager
in a closed conference room with a participant provided with a
Macbook Air laptop and a Chrome web browser. The tests were
conducted in order to determine what if any usability problems
existed so that they can be corrected.
Findings
The tests revealed that (1) the visual aesthetics of the site are
perceived to be unattractive and out-of-date; (2) the meaning of
some of the labels used to define various sections are unclear and
don’t immediately suggest what is associated with them; (3) the
shopping cart UI is confusing; (4); the lack of a direct path to the
FAQ page is a glaring omission; (5) the customer satisfaction
guarantee is challenging to find; and (6) the Want List function is
far too difficult to use.
Methodology
The tests were conducted by one test manager in a closed
conference room with a participant provided with a Macbook Air
laptop and a Chrome web browser. The tests were conducted in
order to determine what usability problems existed--if any--so that
they might be corrected.
Description of Participants
All participants were recruited from a pool of work colleagues.
Each possessed a high degree of experience and comfort with
electronic media, the Internet in general, and ecommerce websites
in particular.
Participant 1 was a 52 year old male working as an office manager
for a media and public relations organization. Participant 2 was a
30 year old female employed as a science writer. She also blogs
in her spare time and has deep experience managing social media
campaigns. Participant 3 was a 45 year old male employed as an
internal communications manager responsible for authoring and
distributing electronic newsletters.
All participants were able to answer the opening questions and
complete the five tasks in under 35 minutes.
Opening Questions
Each participant was asked the following questions in order to put
them at ease and solicit information by which to gauge their
Internet competency.
● First, what’s your occupation? What do you do all day?
● Roughly how many hours a week altogether—just a
ballpark estimate— would you say you spend using the
Internet, including Web browsing and email, at work and at
home
● And what’s the split between email and browsing—a rough
percentage?
● What kinds of sites are you looking at when you browse
the Web?
● Do you have any favorite Web sites?

Task Development Strategy
The purpose of the Novaspaceart.com website is to sell original
paintings, prints, posters, and other space-themed paraphenalia.
Since its entire reason for being is to promote awareness of the
company’s existence and sell the products it carries, the most
important tasks the website must facilitate are those which
promote and sell. Each task was selected according to that
premise.
In the opening exercise prior to the first task, I wanted to gauge
user responses to the site’s visual appearance since that can both
support or undermine the perceived credibility of the site.
Trustworthiness is critical when asking a user to input credit card
data and other personally identifying information.
The tasks were designed to gauge how easy it was for users to
browse the inventory of items available for sale. If the inventory is
too frustrating to browse or if major sections go unnoticed, there’s
an opportunity for lost sales.
The site offers the ability to create a personal account and save
items to a wishlist for later recall, but the vague instructions and
unintuitive interface provided for this action suggested this part of
the site as one which should be tested with actual users.
Lastly, the task list was rounded out with some simpler tasks (like
finding a contact page and the satisfaction guarantee) so that the
participants could feel a sense of accomplishment on the premise
that an unbroken series of frustrations could cause them to lose
their open mindedness during the usability test and bias the
results.

Usability Task Script
Open the Novaspace home page
“First, I’m going to ask you to look at this page and tell me what
you make of it: what strikes you about it, whose site you think it is,
what you can do here, and what it’s for. Just look around and do a
little narrative.You can scroll if you want to, but don’t click on
anything yet.”
Allow this to continue for 3 or 4 minutes at most.
“Thanks. Now I’m going to ask you to try doing some specific
tasks. I’m going to read each one out loud and give you a printed
copy. I’m also going to ask you to do these tasks without using
Search. I’ll learn a lot more about how well the site works that way.
And again, it will help me if you can try to think out loud as much
as possible.”
Hand participant Task 1 and read it aloud
“Just browse through the available works of art for sale so that you
get a sense of what their catalog of items includes. Tell me what
you’re thinking as you look around.”
“Some websites to have a list of frequently asked questions--or
FAQs--to help explain how to use the site. Not every site has an
FAQ. Tell me if this site has a list of FAQs or not.”
“Tell me if they offer any kind of guarantee of satisfaction that
allows for refunds in case you’re not happy with the product.”
“Let’s say that you’re pressed for time and that you don’t have
time to go through the process of placing an order right now, but
you don’t want to review the catalog all over again in the future.
See if you can find a way to mark certain items as ‘favorites’ that
you can easily find again if you come back later.”
“Imagine that you’ve found one or two pieces of work that you’re
interested in purchasing, but you have questions about your
options that aren’t answered by the information available on the
website. See if you can find a way to ask for more information.”

Initial Participant Reactions
Comments/Observations
Participant 1
▶ “This looks like an artist’s personal site.”
Participant 2
▶ “My first impression is that it’s not nice to look at.“
▶ “I’m not sure what some of these categories mean. I have no idea what ‘after
market’ means. Why would something be ‘limited edition’?”
▶ “It looks like it was made by a sad template.”
▶ “I think the yellow text [breadcrumb below the main nav] is really hard to
read.”
Participant 3
▶ “It looks like a site that was made, 10, maybe 12, 13 years ago. It hasn’t been
updated in its design since then...it doesn’t mean its content hasn’t been
updated.”
Takeaways
● The purpose of the site may not be immediately obvious.
● Two participants were particularly bothered by the visual aesthetics of
the site which they found to be both ugly and out-of-date. Surprisingly,
the third did not assume that the site’s retrograde looks meant that it
wasn’t being actively maintained, he gave it the benefit of the doubt.
● The meaning of the labels shown over the thumbnail images is unclear
and doesn’t immediately suggest what will be found by clicking on the
thumbnail images.

Task 1 - Review the catalog of items for sale
Participant 2 found this shopping cart interface overly confusing.
Participant 1
▶ Never used the main navigation to investigate the catalog. Navigated straight
from the home page examples. He eventually used the “Originals” tab instead of
always using the browser’s back button.
▶ “I like that! If you hover over images, it gives a description of the artwork. It
depends, though. Sometimes it’s an image description, sometimes a description of
the artist.It should be consistent.”
Participant 2
▶ Was surprised that clicking on thumbnail image of one painting led to an artist’s
entire catalog.
▶ “I don’t know why they’re telling you what’s SOLD.”
▶ Kept using the browser’s back button to navigate, not the main nav menu.
▶ Depending on the artwork format (paintings vs. posters, etc.), got different pages
for the same artist. “I don’t know why they’re not just grouped together.”
▶ “The purchase section is really hard to understand. This is just way too
complicated.”
▶ “Miniatures--what does that mean?”
Participant 3
▶ From the home page, he clicked on a thumbnail image and was confused when
the page it took him to did not feature the same image anywhere.
▶ “After market? I don’t know what that means.”
Takeaways
● Participants prefered to use home page links and browser back button
rather than navigation menu to explore.
● Words used for labels are unclear/confusing
● Shopping cart UI overly complex/unclear
● Links did not always lead to expected results

Task 2 - Determine if the site has an FAQ page
The only direct link to FAQs appears in a breadcrumb. It can only
be discovered by accident.
Participant 1 interpreted this text as a clickable link that would take
him to the resource he wanted and was frustrated to find that it
didn’t..
Participant 1
▶ Went to the “About Us” tab as the first option. Saw text on the About Us page
that said “Novaspace FAQs” and tried to click it but discovered that it wasn’t a link.
He really puzzled over the task and accidentally discovered a breadcrumb link.
▶ “Yes, it has an FAQ, but I can’t figure out how to get there without doing what I
did.”
Participant 2
▶ “I don’t see any obvious signifier [in the main navigation menu].”
▶ She looked under the “About Us” menu tab as Participant 1 did.
▶ She looked directly at the FAQs at the bottom of the About Us page but failed to
see them...then noticed the same breadcrumb link that Participant 1 did.
▶ “I found it, but I don’t know why I found it,” echoing the sentiment of Participant
1. “Also, it’s set up really poorly.”
Participant 3
▶ Went straight to “About Us” as Participants 1 and 2 did. Didn’t find anything on
that page, then he tried the “Contact” link in the main navigation menu.
▶ Failed to find an FAQ and quickly concluded that there wasn’t one on the site.
(He discovered it later by accident while conducting a separate Task.)
Takeaway
There is no direct navigation path to the site FAQs. They can only be discovered
by accident. Users are baffled by how the content can be found. A lot of potentially
valuable information for customers is obscured.

Task 3 - Find the satisfaction guarantee
This is one of the pathways to finding the satisfaction guarantee, but
this path depends on finding the FAQ page--which is a serious
problem as found in Task 2.
Participant 1
▶ Perceived “Sale” as terms and conditions rather than items being sold at
discounted sale prices.
▶ Found the “terms” hyperlink on the Originals page but that took him to
information related to layaway plans. He went back to the FAQs and successfully
found the guarantee policy.
Participant 2
▶ Looked in FAQs under “Ordering, Shipping, Customer Service.” Found the
Guarantee there, which led to a badly formed page.
▶ “This is the worst page I’ve ever seen. It looks fake.”
Participant 3
▶ Looked at the footer first.Thought it was odd that they feature a Facebook link in
the page footer, but not an updated website. [That link is actually a way to post
the existence of the website to your own Facebook timeline.]
▶ “Maybe this site is abandoned and they want you to go to Facebook.”
▶ Went to the About us page and stumbled onto the FAQs. He was surprised
since he had declared that the site had none during Task 2. He used the FAQs to
find the Guarantee policy.
Takeaway
There are multiple paths to locating the satisfaction guarantee. Participants were
able to locate it, but not without some difficulty.

Task 4 - Find a way to save favorite items
Adding catalog items to a wish list is one of the most challenging
features of the site. To be successful, users have to recognize that
they first need to create an account via Link 3, and then they have
to login with that newly created set of credentials. The interface
completely fails to explain this. A further point of confusion on this
UI is that links 2 and 3 seem to do exactly the same thing even
though they use different language. Link 2 says “New Wish List
System Users”. Link 3 says “New Wish List System users Sign up
Here.” Which one should be used? Why are there two?
Another significant problem is that many items do not feature a
button by which to add them to the Want List. (See the image in
Task 1 for an example of one that does.) There doesn’t seem to
be an obvious explanation as to why some items feature this
button and others do not.
Basically, this is just a terrible interface that puts a lot of
unnecessary cognitive load on the user.
Participant 1
▶ Found “Want List” in main navigation but initially thought he could favorite an item
by going directly to a specific item.
▶ Read the instructions and signed up for an account and saw that he was then
presented with an empty Wish List.
▶ Saw “”Registered users login here” link and entered his newly created login
credentials.
▶ Was stymied by the fact that many artworks don’t feature a “favorites” feature,
what the site shows as a “Want” button.
▶ Looked for a Wish List FAQ but found none.
▶ Eventually stumbled onto an item that featured a “Want” button, but never noticed
that it was there. Task failed.
Participant 2
▶ “I noticed before, there’s a Want List.” Tried an example item but found that it
couldn’t be added to a list even though an earlier item that she saw could be.
▶ “Maybe I can only do it on prints?”
▶ Found the login creation form, created login credentials but couldn’t figure out
how to add anything to the list.
▶ “I’m at Astronaut Central” now. Is this the same thing? I don’t think it is.”
Abandoned task without success.
Participant 3
▶ “My way of doing it would be just to email the link to myself.”
▶ “There’s nothing on here that tells me how I can save this.”
▶ Never saw the “Want List” navigation tab, gave up immediately because he had a
preferred alternative.
Takeaway
The Want List feature is too difficult to use.

Task 5 - Find a way to get more information
Contact page.
Participant 1
▶ Found the contact page right away.
Participant 2
▶ Quickly found Contact button in main navigation.
Participant 3
▶ Found “Contact Us” link in the page footer
Takeaway
There’s no problem here. Users can easily find contact information.

Recommendations
Recommendation 1
The tests revealed that the visual aesthetics of the site are perceived to be unattractive
and out-of-date. This may have serious consequences for the site’s effectiveness as a
sales tool. Sites that are beautiful are perceived as being easy to use. The converse is
also true. To increase user confidence in the site and enhance the overall user
experience, novasapceart.com should be redesigned by experts to give it a
contemporary look and feel that more closely mateches what users expect from a
reputable ecommerce website. Any such redesign should seek to standardize the look
and feel of all pages within the site. As it stands now, one is able to abruptly navigate
between Nova Space Art and its sister site Astronaut Central without being aware of the
change in domain names. This results in a negative user experience and may also result
in lost sales as users question why they’ve been dumped to a site with a completely
different name and visual template. Some may even interpret this as a nefarious
hijacking attempt. Lastly on the design front, the site should be mobile-friendly.
Importance Level: HIGH
May cause site to fail in its primary function
of facilitating sales.
Recommendation 2
Users consistently reported that the meaning of some of the labels used to define various
sections of the website are unclear and that they don’t immediately suggest what is
associated with them. Notable examples include “After Market”, “Miniatures”, and
“Limited Editions.” This can be easily corrected by including brief descriptive text that
makes it plain to the user that they can expect to find within these categories.
Importance Level: MEDIUM
May cause difficulty in site navigation.
Recommendation 3
Test revealed that the shopping cart UI is confusing. Since the cart and Want List
functions are bundled into the same UI, these should be considered two parts of the
same problem. The recommendation is to redesign the UI for these functions such that
the first time user is affirmatively guided through the sign-up process and then shown
how to add items to the Want List. The current site provides the UI for some items, but
not others. The cart/Want List UI should be consistently presented with every item
available for purchase.

Recommendation 4
All participants reported serious difficulty in locating the site’s Frequently Asked
Questions page. This page contains a lot of important clarifying details about the
vendor’s service, guarantees, shipping methods, etc. While the FAQ page can be
stumbled on by navigating to other pages within the site, it’s important enough to be
listed prominently in the site’s main navigation menu, or on the home page at a minimum.
This is a simple change that could have significant payoffs.
An alternative suggestion is to incorporate the information contained on the FAQ page
directly into the main site content. For example, rather than having a question titled “what
is matting and framing?” on a separate page, simply include that text on every
item-for-sale page under a link labeled “framing options.” Place contextual information on
pages where it can do the most good for the user. Reduce their workload, don’t make
them dig through a long list of unrelated questions.

Redesign Proposal: Novaspaceart.com

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