Slimming World – Usability Testing

• The brief
• How we responded to the brief
• What we did
• The outcomes
• Timing

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The Brief

Slimming World is a leading weight-loss company in the UK. Members are able to join a local group or can join online, in order to help them lose weight.

The team at Slimming World developed a new prototype site to update its look and feel, as well as incorporating the functionality of being able to join Slimming World online.

Slimming World wished to conduct some usability testing on the prototype site to obtain recommendations prior to the launch of their new site.

How we responded to the brief

We proposed testing with 3 testers representing Slimming World’s target audience. These were women who were interested in losing weight. This was followed by a facilitated discussion to agree issues and actions.

What we did

We discussed the objectives with the project manager and prepared a facilitation guide to achieve these. We recruited 3 testers fitting Slimming World’s target audience.

The testing was conducted in facilities in Nottingham – convenient for the client. The research session was recorded (audio recording and screen capture with tester picture-in-picture). The observers watched the testing via a video link, and were able to view the tester and prototype during the testing, capturing issues on post-it notes as they occurred. Following the observed testing, a discussion was facilitated by a WUP consultant to agree the issues and appropriate actions.

Following the testing, we detailed the outcomes of the research and the conclusions of the facilitated discussion in a report.

The outcomes

The research identified c. 32 usability issues. Testers found the site inviting and friendly and felt it gave an overall positive impression of Slimming World. However the issues identified interfered with a good user experience, for example presentation of information on the site, labelling and providing key calls to action to join Slimming World.

Slimming World gained a shared understanding of these issues and agreed actions that could be implemented. Slimming World have now launched their new site based on this prototype.

“We all enjoyed the experience and, as three of the team are quite new to our department, it was a good bonding experience too”

Rebecca Robinson, Website and Design Manager

Timing

The project was conducted in October 2010 and took approximately 3 weeks to complete from recruitment to delivering the final report at a cost of approximately £6000.

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