Hitting the perfect drive with User Research

Practice makes perfect

Immediately following the heuristic evaluation a user research study was conducted with twenty-two representatives familiar with the VRC in hopes to learn which areas were most effective in helping users accomplish their tasks. We conducted the study with four different SolidWorks’ organizations: VAR Sales and Marketing personnel, and Technical Services and Order Management groups. The following sections of the site were targeted in the study.

Time to put the adjustments to the test

Results from the usability study showed that the existing VRC was only marginally useful to participants as they used the site to accomplish scripted tasks. Based on these results, our recommendation was to redesign the VRC with a particular focus on making improvements in the overall navigation structure and focusing on internationalization and localization, personalization and customization, adhering to user experience best practices, and improving the search and filter experience for users as additional improvements.

Following our recommendation which was accepted with gusto, the work towards redesigning the VRC site experience commenced. We conducted card sort sessions and crafted a brand new navigation experience for the VRC which was extremely well-received by end-users. Thus by following this well-crafted usability process, Solidworks saw fantastic results and a much improved user experience for the redesigned VRC.