Build Me Up: Usability Testing Report
To evaluate the effectiveness of the design and uncover areas for improvement, I conducted usability testing with target users. Through a mix of task-based scenarios and open-ended feedback, I identified both pain points and moments of delight. Insights were then mapped using frequency matrices and used to drive iterative design decisions.
Summery
The participants responded positively to the interface. They found the clickable elements clear and experienced no frustration while using the prototype. Overall, the platform was seen as user-friendly and easy to navigate, even for first-time users.
The most important elements identified by participants for improvement was the clarity of the "Start Challenge" and "Add Own Meal" features, ensuring a more intuitive and seamless navigation experience within the app.
Total Number
5
83%
35
3 hrs 50 min
15
14
94%
96%
2
Testing Hours
Total Issues
Countries
Completed Tasks
Total Delighters
Confidence
Ease
Success
Avg Scores
Participants
Test Data
Findings
Conducting Usability Testing
Research Participants
Occupation
Experience Level
Location
Interview Link
Textile Student
Naman is a textile design student. He eats healthy meals but skips them when busy. He tried taking snack but often forgot.
USA
P1
Student Visa Counselor
Dhaval works as visa counselor. He sits at his desk all day and eats balanced meals. He tried high-calorie snacks but didn’t stick with them.
India
P2
Software Developer
Tushar is a software developer. He focuses on healthy eating but doesn’t work out. He tried eating extra meals but stopped after a week.
India
P3
Agriculture Student
Mahesh is an agriculture student who spends time outdoors. He eats fresh farm food but avoids heavy meals. He tried portion food but couldn’t finish them.
India
P4
IT Student
Mandakini studies IT. She eats light, healthy meals and avoids junk food. She tried taking meal on time but didn’t keep up.
USA
P5
Analyzing
Research Participants
Participants
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
Avg. Score
Final Score
S
S
S
S
S
S
P
P
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
P
P
S
100%
100%
90%
75%
75%
75%
100%
100%
100%
100%
60%
70%
S
S
S
S
P
P
S
S
S
S
S
P
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
83%
83% tasks were successfully completed by the participants. All the 5 participants completed all tasks in the usability testing session.
User Testing Tasks
Complete the onboarding process.
Receive and Respond to a notification.
Complete today’s calorie intake challenge to maintain your streak and earn freeze.
Find and save healthy recipes for future use.
Use your freeze and complete 30th-day of streak to earn a coupon.
View the saved coupons.
View the saved recipes.
View Testing Synthesis
Task Difficulty Bar Graph
Tasks 3 and 5 had the highest difficulty, with 4/5 and 3/5 participants, respectively, expressing confusion. Improvements in task clarity and feature explanations are needed.
Number of Tasks
Task Difficulty
Easy
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
Medium
Hard
4/5 participants were not able to understand from where to start the task.
3/5 participants were not able to understand the freeze feature.
Participants’ Confidence and Ease Rating
Most participants felt confident and found tasks easy, except for Task 3 where ease ratings dropped notably. This indicates usability friction and highlights a need for feature clarification or improved UI cues.
Participants
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
Participant’s
Avg
Normalized
Task’s Avg.
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
10
10
9
10
8
8
10
8
10
8
7
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
8
10
8
7
8.6
8.6
8.6
9.4
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
10
8
8
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100%
9.9
99%
9.4
94%
9.2
93%
9.1
92%
10
10
10
9
8
10
8
8
P2
P3
P4
P5
P1
Conf.
Conf.
Conf.
Conf.
Conf.
Conf.
Conf.
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Number of Tasks
Confidence and Ease
Task 1
10
8
6
4
2
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Confidence
Ease
Task 6
Task 7
Frequency Matrix
To synthesize usability testing insights, I created two frequency matrices—one for negative feedback (based on severity) and one for positive feedback (based on value).
The Positive Feedback Matrix highlighted which features resonated most—such as the clear visual hierarchy, motivational aspects, and overall ease of use. These were frequently mentioned and marked high in value, validating them as strengths to retain and build upon.
The Negative Feedback Matrix helped identify high-priority pain points, such as users struggling to start the challenge, unclear instructions, and overwhelming text on the recipe page. These issues appeared frequently and had medium-to-high severity, guiding our key design fixes.
View Matrix
Usability Metrics and Critical Tasks
Critical Tasks
User Story
Measurement
Start Challenge
As a user, I want to understand from where to start the challenge and add my meals so I can start without confusion.
Percentage of users who find to from where to start challenge and add meal after first interacting with the app.
Percentage of users who attempt to add food and how many successfully find the manual meal adding feature.
Percentage of users who got the detail information whatever they are looking for to cook meal.
As a user, I want to be able to add my own food items so that I can fully add my customize meals.
As a user, I want to see clear, engaging visuals such as images or videos along with recipe instructions so that I can quickly understand how to cook the meal.
As a user, I want to clearly understand how and when to use the 'freeze' feature, so I can take full advantage of it.
Percentage of users who successfully use the freeze feature without any instruction.
Add Own Meal
Text-heavy page
Freeze feature
Creating insights, hypothesis and testable design ideas
Hypothesis
Simplest Change to Prevent the Problem
Users are confused about where to start the challenge, as the current "Start" button lacks clarity in its purpose and functionality.
Making the button more visible and renaming it to "Start Challenge" or "Log Your Meal" will improve clarity.
Make the "Add Meal on Own" feature more visible by repositioning it or renaming it to something more intuitive
Add images or videos alongside the text on the recipes page to make it more visually engaging and easier to understand.
Users struggle to notice the "add meal on own" feature, suggesting that it is not prominently visible or easily accessible.
Users find the recipes page text-heavy, indicating a need for more engaging visuals to simplify understanding.
Users are unclear about the 'freeze' feature and how to use it.
Add a small pop-up or tooltip on the "Freeze" feature page that explains how to use it.
Rating System
This is a quality problem, for example a cosmetic issue or a spelling error.
“Minor issues but too many will affect the brand”
Low
Critical
This usability problem will make some users unwilling or unable to complete a common task.
“Fix urgently”
Serious
This usability problem will significantly slow down some users when completing a
common task and may cause users to find a work around.
“Fix as soon as possible”
Medium
This usability problem will make some users feel frustrated or irritated but will not affect task completion.
Fix during the next “business as usual” update
How to Read the Findings
Insight
Description of the issue,
delighter or idea discovered
during the testing.
Quote
It represents directly the
voice of the participants.
Users felts the dashboard is too busy. User felt overwhelmed by the amount of information on the card and the number of cards displayed.
“It looks kinda busy to be honest - P2”
Type of Usability Finding
The color of the card indicates the typology of the finding. It has 4 variants.
Dark Red: Critical
Red : Serious
Orange: Medium
Yellow: Low
Frequency indicator
This indicator has 5 values based on how many participants pointed out an issue or delighter.
Five
Four
Three
Two
One
Task Analysis
Users were confused about how to add a meal or start the challenge.
“I was not able to understand first from where to start.”- P5
Users find recipes page text heavy.
"There could be videos or images which make it way easier to follow..”- P2
Users did not realize there was a feature to add food items on their own.
"I think there might be an option to add items on my own.”- P1
Users are unclear about the 'freeze' feature and where to use it.
"I'm not sure what 'freeze' means”- P4
User notices the grammar error.
"It is grammatically incorrect.”- P2
Users feel the background is plain and suggest adding elements to make it more attractive.
"I don't need to read the questions, but just from the image itself I get to know,”- P5
Recommendation
To generate creative solutions for the identified issues, I used the SCAMPER technique (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse). This structured approach helped me rethink existing features, enhance clarity, simplify workflows, and introduce new ideas—especially for improving onboarding, reducing cognitive load, and enhancing feature discoverability.
Link to revised prototype
Start Challenge | SCAMPER - Substitute
The current "Start" button lacks clarity, causing users to feel confused about its purpose and functionality. To address this, the solution involves making the button more visually prominent through design enhancements, such as increased size and distinct color. Additionally, renaming it to "Start Challenge" provides clearer direction, ensuring users understand its purpose at a glance. This improvement aims to enhance user engagement, reduce confusion, and create a seamless onboarding experience.
Before
After
Add Food Items | SCAMPER - Eliminate & Adapt
The existing "Search" button create confusion for users by not clearly indicating where they can add their own meals. To address this issue, the proposal involves removing the "Search" button, which simplifies the interface and reduces potential distractions. In its place, a new, visually distinct "Add Own Meal" button will be introduced and positioned prominently where users can quickly and intuitively access the feature, streamlining the process and improving overall user experience.
Before
After
Text-heavy page | SCAMPER - Modify
Users find the recipes page text-heavy, making it overwhelming and difficult to follow. To address this, modify the page design by incorporating engaging visuals such as images and videos alongside concise, well-structured text. This adjustment will break up the text, making the content easier to navigate and more visually appealing. By balancing text with visuals, users will find it simpler to understand and follow the recipes
Before
After
Freeze Feature | SCAMPER - Adapt
Users are unclear about the 'Freeze' feature which creates confusion and limits its utilization. It is solved by adding a tooltip on the "Freeze" feature page. This adaptation provides users with clear, immediate guidance on the feature's purpose and functionality without disrupting their experience. By integrating this simple explanation, users will feel more confident using the feature, enhancing their understanding and engagement with the application.
Before
After
Usability testing has been a valuable tool for uncovering usability issues in the Build Me Up app. By observing users and listening to their feedback, I discovered key problems like confusion about starting challenges, adding meals, and understanding certain features. These insights helped to focus on critical tasks and come up with ideas to improve the user experience.
The SCAMPER method helped create simple and creative solutions, like making features easier to find, improving recipe pages with visuals, and adding clearer instructions. These changes aim to make the Build Me Up app an intuitive, engaging, and seamless experience for its users.
Conclusion
