Coursework > Yelp.com Heuristic Evaluation
I conducted a evaluation on Yelp.com using a small-scale usability study, surveys of new and existing Yelp users, and a heuristic evaluation of the site's elements. This evaluation included a usability study, surveys of new and existing Yelp users, and an heuristic evaluation of the site's elements. The majority of the site requires minor revisions to ensure consistency of user experience and to fall more in line with user expectations and to enhance a user's perceived value proposition of the tools.
The user surveys revealed that users can recognize the value of Yelp, but not of the user account. They also showed that despite the large number of helpful features built into Yelp's interface, most went unused.
The heuristic evaluation discovered - and classified - parts of the Yelp interface deficient according to good usability and design practices. When discussed, each usability issue is rated by severity:
- Minor issues are those that do not require significant changes in function or design to resolve.
- Medium issues are those whose related processes or organization of information is lacking in crucial ways that can impact the ease of use or rate of success of users.
- Severe issues are those which create detrimental conditions to the use of Yelp due to user frustration, confusion, or because of the difficulty of resolving problems encountered.
Analysis of the site spanned both local and global issues in the interface and user experience. For example, the site's ability to correctly detect a visitor's physical location (ie: city) varied greatly. In two-thirds of the trials the site placed a visitor in a metropolitan area at least 70 miles from their actual location. These types of errors can dramatically skew the user's searches and experience across the entire site.
Locally, issues such as wording, color choice, or coding bugs were noted when such things would detract from the user experience. When only minor revisions were necessary, redesigns for problem areas were suggested.
Right: A minor redesign to improve on state awareness