The main problem Placemate’s users face is an unclear journey to register, fill in their profile and apply for their first job. The user flow is currently unclear and signposting is non existent.

After meeting with the stakeholders, it was clear that the existing site needed to be tested by a suitable number of users from their target demographic.

By undertaking a heuristic evaluation of the site I was able to understand the pain points user where currently having with it.

Once the Usability Testing was complete, I had over a dozen users who had experienced similar issues with the site and had trouble achieving the tasks I challenged them with.

I already knew that by simply removing a lot of the unnecessary noise from the site and by focusing on only what the user requires, the site would be vastly improved.

What was uncovered when I tested the existing site was consistent with what the client had already informed me, that users where experiencing issues and were continually failing to achieve their goals.

Ultimately, along the user journey the users were getting frustrated. What the user testing managed to do was pinpoint the exact location users lost their patience.

After a brief questionnaire, followed by some open conversation, I was able to understand what the users expected from the site and how basic affordances weren’t being applied.

The project was a great example of how, as designers we need to encourage our clients, to understand that when it come to designing any user interface, it's imperative that we keep it simple.