LATICRETE

Testing & refining a new website design to engage younger audience before launch

WHAT I DID

Kickoff agenda, participant profile, heuristic evaluation, test plan, usability testing, analyzing data

DURATION

Aug ‘23 – Dec ‘23

TEAM

Nagasai Vardhan
Betsy Visconti
Krystal Zhang
Mary Honard

Notable Data

66.7%

of participants thought the old website was difficult to use

83.3%

of the participants preferred using the new design

12%

of participants thought the first task was confusing due to being unfamiliar with the product names

Company’s Logotype

Goal for The Project

①
Creating a new design to improve the usability of the website

②
Before moving on to development, they want to test the usability of their prototype

Project’s Workflow

Kickoff Meeting Insights

Who are the users?

Architects, contractors, distributors, and the homeowner/DIY. 

Based on past experience, the general demographic is likely male, and middle-aged or above. This user data is based on involvement with the North America LATICRETE insider-track facebook page and may not be fully representative of all the users. 

Expectations for this project?  

New designs need to be tested with a younger age group (ex: younger DIYers around college age).  

Mostly qualitative data. This would cover usability and impressions of the site. I’d like a summarization of the data found, because this can affect site changes suggested in the future.  

What are the  challenges faced?

The site is currently hard to use; finding information and/or specific products is unnecessarily difficult. This makes it unapproachable for the DIY audience.  

Site navigation is challenging, with hidden pages and hard-to-find information

What would you like us to test?

Search function
Global navigation menu
Visibility of the “Where to Buy” tool.
Make sure the contact information is easily discoverable.
Ease of finding information on a product page.
General impression of the site.

Screenshot 1 From The Evaluation Report

Screenshot 2 From The Evaluation Report

The four evaluators reviewed the website individually and met to consolidate the findings to create one cohesive defect list.

To create the defect list (starting on page 24 of this document), the evaluators used the card sorting method in Figma.

Heuristic Evaluation

Architects and Designers

Distributors

★ DIY’ers/Home Owner

3 undergrad and 3 graduate  
No professional experience in installing tile or stones  
Never used LATICRETE products

Participant Profile

Contractors

Why

It is Important for contractors, architects or DIY/end-customers to find a store to purchase Laticrete (LATICRETE is mostly a business-to-business or B2B model)

Task #1
Where to buy page

Why

The most common use-case for LATICRETE Customers

Task #2
Find a product

Why

Distinguish themselves from their competitors with 24/7 customer service on their products.

Task #3
Customer Support

Study Limitations
and Conclusions

Limitations

Small sample size
Compressed testing timeline
Broad features tested, not specific features
User confusion over product names

Further Research 

More tests, fewer tasks per test
Larger sample size
Compare between the prototype versions instead of with the current site

Commendations 

Current version is a good prototype
Users said it was very streamlined and intuitive
New features improve clarity for first time users (map on the store finder, color picker on product pages, etc.)

Recommendations 

Further user testing once new design goes live
Accessibility feature testing on live site
Retain some features from the current live site, such as the contact buttons being in the top menu

LATICRETE

Testing & refining a new website design to engage younger audience before launch

Notable Data

66.7%

83.3%