Case study · School project · 2024
Wendbaargroeien
A school project for a coach’s blog. We tested it with five people and gave the coach three fixes. I also designed dark patterns in a prototype, to show how persuasion tricks work.
- The problemReaders couldn’t find their way back on the blog
- What we did5 tests and 3 fixes, most important first
- The resultA fix list for the coach, not built yet
The problem
Readers got stuck on the blog
- There was no back button on the blog.
- The language switch showed the language you weren’t using.
- A typo in search gave “nothing found”, with no suggestions.
From 5 usability tests with 6 tasks each.
What we did
2 choices
Choice 1
Fix the back button first
- Why
- Every reader needs a way back. Search problems only affect people who search.
- Trade-off
- Search stays frustrating until the last fix.
Choice 2
Show the tricks in a prototype, and explain each one
- Why
- You recognise a manipulative trick faster once you’ve designed one. A prototype doesn’t affect real visitors.
- Trade-off
- It shows what not to do, so we explained each pattern next to it.
Result
3 fixes for the coach, most important first
- Breadcrumbs on the blog pageSo readers can go back.
- A language switch that shows the active languageSo readers see which language they’re in.
- Search that handles typos and suggests resultsSo a typo still finds the article.
Not built yet. If it is, I’d check if more readers open a second article.
What I learned
Test with real readers, not fellow students
First-year students were easy to find, but they aren’t the coach’s audience.