My Role
Team
Duration
UX Researcher
4 teammates
3 weeks
Tools Used
Figma, Miro, Figjam, Google Forms
Research goals
1. Assessing user experience:
To assess the user experience, identifying aspects that enhance or hinder usability, satisfaction and efficiency.
2. Identify issues:
To perform task analysis and uncover any pain points or usability issues users encounter while completing the tasks.
3. Improve Usability:
To use the findings from the various methods to inform potential usability improvements, enhancements or refinements.
4. Gather feedback
To gather feedback from the participants, and use the feedback to provide insights into user expectations, preferences and areas of concern.
User Research
Method 1: Online Survery
A comprehensive survey was conducted to gather quantitative demographic data from DoorDash users. The survey had key demographic categories, including age group, gender, marital status, working status, educational status, and accommodation situation. Additionally, respondents were queried about their preferences in terms of food delivery services and the frequency with which they utilize these services.
Key Findings
This survey gave us valuable quantitative insights into the user profile and behavior patterns of DoorDash's customer base such as people between the ages of 18-27 use doordash the most. Mainly ordering when they are tired to cook their own food.
Method 2: User Interviews
Team members conducted interviews with 10 DoorDash users, providing essential qualitative insights. These interviews informed our understanding of user needs, preferences, and challenges. The insights gathered from these interviews were instrumental in shaping the team's understanding of the user landscape. They provided valuable context, shedding light on the real-world scenarios in which DoorDash was utilized. Extracting common themes offered a comprehensive view of user experiences and real-world scenarios, guiding our approach to better meet their needs.
Key Findings
1) Most Loved Features (Identified code: Features) :
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Ease of Use: Convenience for users to order a quick snack, meal, or groceries.
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Cash-related Benefits: participants value the discounts, subscriptions, and offers provided.
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Quality and Variety of Items: DoorDash offers a diverse range of food and grocery options
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Customer Engagement: fosters customer engagement through user feedback and review.
2) Common Challenges (Identified codes: UI concerns, User Frustrations):
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UI-related Issues: participants have frequently encountered challenges related to the user interface, such as the inability to track the exact location of the dasher in real-time. Additionally, concerns about the color palette and lack of transparency in displaying taxes alongside item prices. Other problems include difficulty in editing orders post-placement, especially location changes, and food items lack accompanying photos, making it difficult for users to judge their selections (‘the look’ is missing).
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Service-related Concerns: While most dashers are well-trained, there have been reported incidents of some dashers displaying rudeness toward customers and making errors with orders. In certain cases, food was delivered to the wrong address or was missing.
Problem Synthesis
Method 03: Affinity Mapping
Through our primary and secondary research, we collected raw data focused on our problem area. To move from the broader problem area to a more defined problem framing, we conducted multiple sessions to create an affinity diagram to make sense of the data collected. We used affinity diagramming to analyze the data gathered, which helped us categorize and prioritize problems, issues, and challenges.
Method 03: User Persona
Based on our interview findings, we created personas that helped us gain a clear perspective of our target users and their goals and interests.
Usability Testing
Method: Think Aloud
To further understand the intricacies of the application experience, we incorporated “think aloud” sessions. This qualitative research method allowed us to delve into the minds of participants as they navigated through the app, shedding light on aspects that enhance or hinder usability, satisfaction, and efficiency.
Selected Tasks:
Participants engaged in two distinct tasks, mirroring real-world scenarios:
Task 1: Customizing a Vegan Order
Task 2: Reporting a Problem with a Delivery Order
Average Task Completion Times
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Task 1 (Customizing Vegan Order): Ranged from 2:08 to 3:29
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Task 2 (Reporting Order Issue): Ranged from 0:22 to 4:18
Issues Found During This Evaluation:
During the Think Aloud sessions with all participants, several issues were discovered. We found some issues that were common among most participants and some that were unique to few.
No clear signifiers
No filter for filtering vegan food items
Method: System Usability Score (SUS)
The SUS scores were calculated and analyzed to assess overall user satisfaction and perceived usability. The System Usability Scale (SUS) played a pivotal role in our comprehensive DoorDash usability study. The SUS calculations provided a quantitative measure of how users perceive the DoorDash application’s usability
Five Raters
Results:
The System Usability Scale (SUS) score, calculated from participant ratings, yielded an average of 53.75. While below the industry average, this score justified the reported problems and issues faced by users during the DoorDash application usage.
Design Recommendations:
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To deal with the inconsistency, the DoorDash app should establish a clear and hierarchical navigation structure. Make sure that the app's menu and navigation elements are logically organized and easy to understand.
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To improve the discoverability, positioning of essential features should be improved. Place the "Report a Problem" option in a visible location, such as the order details screen, where users are likely to look when they encounter issues.
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To make the app less confusing, DoorDash should analyze user flows within the app and simplify complex processes. Minimize the number of steps and decisions required to complete essential tasks. Also, make the iconography better to understand which dish is vegan and which dish is not.
Next Steps:
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Similar issues can be found in other flows as well and we can provide a holistic research for the application
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We can pitch our research to doordash to provide an overview of the issue found
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Competitive analysis can be performed to compare the efficiency and user satisfaction.
What I'd do differently:
If I were to conduct the research study again, I would consider the following improvements and adjustments:
1. Expanded Participant Pool: To gather more comprehensive data, I would aim for a larger and more diverse pool of participants. While the initial study provided valuable insights, a broader range of user backgrounds and experiences would yield a more complete understanding of the application's strengths and weaknesses.
2. Incorporate Heuristic Evaluations: I would incorporate heuristic evaluations. This would help identify issues that might not be apparent to users but could significantly impact usability.