After analysing Zara's competitors, we decided to conduct a heuristic evaluation to review the current user interface and identify possible user experience problems other than the ones found on previews stages. At this stage, we decided to evaluate the interface according to Nielsen’s Heuristics. We highlighted them with green, yellow and red to best visualise what the system does right, what can be improved and what is lacking, respectively.
#1. Visibility of system status: The system keeps users informed on how many steps it takes for them to complete the buying process. However, on product and category navigation, it doesn't show users where they are in the website and there are no breadcrumbs.
#2. Match between system and the real world: the interface is clear and uses words most consumers can understand. The menu follows a logical order and organisation.
#3 User control and freedom: the website allows users to add and remove items from the cart. However, it can only be done by opening the full shopping cart page, not on the preview.
#4. Consistency and standards: the visual interface is consistent in colours, typography, etc. But in some cases, different terms are used for the same thing (i.e. 'shopping bag', 'cart', 'basket').
#5. Error prevention: in the shopping cart, there is no alert message to confirm the deletion of items, so the user can accidentally remove something by mistake.
#6. Recognition rather than recall: the menu and some navigation items not are always visible to the user during navigation.
#7. Flexibility and efficiency of use: users can apply filters to sort their options based on their preference (such as by size, colour etc.).
#8. Aesthetic and minimalist design: the interface is minimalistic with no unnecessary information or clutter.
#9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors: most error messages are clear and informative.
#10. Help and documentation: The system provides help for users to input the correct data in some registration and purchase fields.
Additionally, we also applied some Budd's Heuristics For Modern Web Application Development to complement the study. The results are listed below:
- Design for User Expectations: The system frequently fails to meet user goals and expectations because it focuses on a fashion and edgy look rather than common web conventions.
- Clarity: the interface uses few icons and symbols, however, the language and copy are adequate for the audience.
- Minimize Unnecessary Complexity and Cognitive Load: the menu shows too many unnecessary choices.
