Usability Testing Report Book Swap System
Initial Prototype
- Manage user profile.
- Add desired books to wish list.
- Seller can post an ad to sell books.
- Have chat session through WhatsApp Messenger.
- Also have checkout session in app-purchase.
1. Introduction
1.1 Project Background
Book Swap System is a mobile application designed to . The goal of this project is to create a convenient, secure, and sustainable campus-only platform for students to exchange textbooks, reducing costs and waste while fostering community engagement.
1.2 Purpose of Usability Testing
This usability testing serves as a crucial validation step to ensure the Book Swap System effectively meets its design objectives. Through systematic evaluation, we aim to:
1. Evaluate User Interactions:
- Assess how intuitively students can navigate core functionalities
- Determine if the swapping process aligns with student expectations
2. Identify Pain Points:
- Discover obstacles in key workflows (searching, listing, and chatting)
- Uncover interface elements causing confusion or hesitation
3. Gather Actionable Feedback:
- Collect qualitative insights about feature preferences
- Understand emotional responses to the swapping experience
4. Optimize for Launch:
- Prioritize refinements based on empirical evidence
- Validate design decisions before full development
5. Focus Areas:
- Learnability: Measure how quickly new users achieve competency with core features
- Efficiency: Time-task analysis for critical swapping operations
- Satisfaction: Assess perceived value and trust in the platform
- Moderated Testing : We conduct guided testing sessions where participants complete specific tasks while a moderator observes. This approach lets us ask questions in real-time to understand how users think and why they make certain choices. It helps uncover both obvious and subtle usability issues as they occur.
- In-Person Testing : Testing takes place in natural campus settings like classroom (SMMTC1). By observing students in their actual environment, we see how they would realistically use the app - dealing with distractions, time pressures, and other real-world factors that affect usability.
- Explorative Testing : Participants freely explore the app without strict instructions, mimicking how they might naturally discover features. This reveals what catches their attention, how they expect features to work, and where the design matches (or conflicts with) their mental models of a swapping platform.
- To evaluate the usability of the second-hand book selling app.
- To evaluate the ease of navigation and user interface design.
- To gather feedback on the visual design and feature usefulness.
2. Methods & Procedure
Location :
SMMTC1, SMMTC Building, UUM
Participants :
User 1 : Male
Matric No. : 281668
Age : 23
School : SOC
User 2 : Female
Matric No. : 291341
Age : 22
School : SOC
User 3 : Male
Matric No. : 296768
Age : 23
School : SOC
Testing Environment :
- Quiet and Controlled : The room was kept quiet and free from distractions, helping participants focus fully on the tasks without interruptions. This ensured accurate feedback and reliable test results.
- Technical setup : The laptop was used to display the Figma app prototype so participants could see and interact with it. A stopwatch on the laptop helped track how long each task took during the test. Two phones were used, one for the participant to test the prototype (to simulate real smartphone use) and the other to record the session for notes and review later. And also Figma was the tool used to create the app prototype. Participants could tap and swipe through the design like a real app, helping test usability and gather feedback easily.
Briefed Task :
- Task 1 : Use search function
- Task 2 : Apply filters for condition and price
- Task 3 : View book details
- Task 4 : Upload book photo
- Task 5 : Publish the listing
- Task 6 : Add a book to your favorite books page
- Task 7 : Find the messaging/chat feature
3. Results & Analysis
The usability testing of the Book Swap System involved three participants from the School of Computing (SOC) at UUM. Each user was asked to complete seven tasks, including searching for books, applying filters, viewing details, uploading a listing, using the favourite feature, and accessing the chat function. The testing combined direct observation, timing, and user satisfaction ratings.
Quantitative Results:
Analysis:
-
All users completed the assigned tasks successfully, indicating that the core functionality of the app was usable.
-
User 3 completed tasks the fastest on average, while User 2 had the shortest total completion time overall.
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User 1 spent the most time and gave the lowest satisfaction rating, suggesting possible friction during usage despite successful task completion.
Qualitative Findings:
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Icon Confusion: User 1 reported that the favourite icon was hard to recognize and too similar to the chat icon. This likely contributed to lower satisfaction.
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Feature Accessibility: User 2 requested a shortcut to add books to favourites directly from listings. This reflects a desire for streamlined interaction without extra clicks.
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Feature Gap: User 3 noted the absence of a checkout button, which highlighted a missing step in the transaction flow and points to opportunities to improve end-to-end functionality.
Overall, while all users achieved their goals, the test uncovered critical design issues affecting satisfaction and efficiency. These findings directly informed several improvements.
4. Improvements/Action Taken
User 1
Findings: The participant mentioned that the favourite icon was confusing and could be mistaken for a chat icon.
BEFORE
The favourite icon used in the app was visually similar to the chat icon, which caused confusion among users. Some users might click the wrong button, thinking they are messaging a seller when they actually added a book to their favourites.
AFTER
To resolve this, the favourite icon was changed to a universally recognized heart symbol, while the chat icon was updated to a speech bubble for clearer distinction. This change helps users quickly identify each function, reducing mistakes and improving overall navigation clarity.
User 2
Findings: The participant suggested adding a favourite button directly on the book listings on the homepage.
BEFORE
Users could only add books to their favourites after opening the book's detail page. This added unnecessary steps and made the process less efficient. Users looking to quickly save books while browsing found this frustrating and time-consuming.
AFTER
The favourite (heart) button was added next to each book item on both the homepage and school-specific book lists. Now, users can directly favourite a book without needing to view its details. This made the experience quicker and more user-friendly for those who like to save multiple books at once.
User 3
Findings: The participant recommended adding a checkout button so users could buy books directly through the Book Swap app.
BEFORE
There was no clear way for users to proceed with buying or swapping books after finding one they liked. The app lacked a checkout or transaction initiation feature, which limited the usefulness of the platform.
AFTER
A checkout button was added to the book detail page and the favourites page. This allows users to start the buying or swapping process directly within the app, creating a more complete and efficient experience for both buyers and sellers.
5. Conclusion
The usability testing for the Book Swap System provided valuable insights into how real users interact with the platform. All participants were able to complete the assigned tasks, indicating that the app’s basic functionality is solid and user-friendly.
However, the testing also revealed specific areas that needed improvement, such as confusing icon designs and the lack of quick-access features. By acting on this feedback, several meaningful changes were implemented, most notably, replacing the favourite icon for better clarity, adding the favourite button directly to listings, and introducing a checkout feature to facilitate transactions.
These improvements have helped align the app more closely with user expectations and the overall goal of making book swapping on campus easier, faster, and more enjoyable. The results confirm that the Book Swap System is ready for further development and deployment, with strong potential to support sustainable and community-based textbook sharing among UUM students.
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