Goodreads is a widely popular web-based social platform specifically made for readers. It is primarily used for reviewing and rating literary works, getting book recommendations and tracking books that one wants to read, is reading or has read. An evaluation of the usability of the running version of Goodreads.com was conducted on 26th to 29th September 2020.
Read full reportThis video presents an overview of the study methods, key findings and recommendations
A total of 6 users were recruited through a screener questionnaire to participate in a live usability test and our Optimal Workshop Treejack Test. Another 14 users were recruited to participate solely in the treejack test. The target user of Goodreads.com is book-readers.
The live usability test sessions were conducted remotely due to the imposed COVID-19 restrictions. Tools used for the study include Zoom, Loop11 and Optimal Workshop. This suite of tools allowed the group to perform user observation as normal. All users participated in the test from their homes, and during the session, we encouraged them to use the think-aloud method, and speak their thoughts while completing tasks.
The study aims to uncover underlying usability issues within the site, and suggest potential solutions and recommendations to further improve the user experience of the site by gathering qualitative and quantitative data from our usability test sessions and treejack study. Our usability goals are derived from Quesenbery’s 5Es (2004) - Efficient, effective, engaging, error-tolerant, easy to learn.
Participants for our live usability test sessions were given 5 tasks to complete, while asked to “think out loud”, which is to verbalising and describing their thoughts during the tasks. The tasks were presented to them through imaginary scenarios. They were asked to fill out a post-task questionnaire after every task. At the end of the session, participants completed the System Usability Scale questionnaire. Each usability test lasted around 35 minutes on average.
Goodreads is a site optimised for regular readers and technology users. Users had positive comments about the rating controls, search bar and the ‘Ask the Author’ feature during the usability test session.
However, the site scored a SUS score of 45 out of 100 according to our users. The study revealed certain aspects of the site impeded their ability to succeed at the tasks. These included (1) information architecture, (2) visual design and layout, and (3) conciseness of content.
The current site structure is convoluted and the navigation bar hasn’t been optimised to help users navigate.
Recommendation: Design a page that lets users browse preview content of each page.
The poorly designed laid out buttons, links, and textual content of the site affect users’ ability to complete tasks on the site.
Recommendations: Simplify and standardise page layout, place focus on buttons and controls & implement a style guide.
Users were overwhelmed by the amount of content on the pages.
Recommendations: Enlarge book covers, remove excess text on page, use more concise wording & group similar genres together