PROBLEM

Mobile Bandit is the ultimate solution to unlocking the best deals in the city. Through a unique gamified rewards digital platform, it helps connect shoppers to their local merchants. Yet, the app lacks change and evolvement. Based on reviews left by users on the App Store, the overall user experience for Mobile Bandit was quite negative. While users were initially excited about using the app to find great deals and save money, many users expressed frustrations with limits on deals and the lack of updates. Though new deals are added every day, the app itself has not been updated since 2015.

HEURISTIC EVALUATION

We scanned and tested the app on our own to verify these issues and identify other potential design opportunities. Out of the 10 usability heuristics, we identified five existing violations to be our core analysis.

USER CONTROL & FREEDOM

RATING = 2 (Minor usability issue)

Issue 

Users are notified if their selected deal is going to override any currently activated offer. Yet, this is not clearly marked. Through the app prompts a message to confirm a user’s action, if the user was to click “OK” by mistake, there is currently no option to cancel or undo a stolen deal.

Recommendation

1.  Allow users to steal two deals at a time

2. Add a cancel button to allow users to cancel or undo stolen deals

RECOGNITION RATHER THAN RECALL

RATING = 3 (Major usability issue)

Issue

Mobile Bandit does not allow users to see their currently activated offer while looking at other deals. In order to access the “My Active Deal” screen, users will have to access the hamburger menu icon, which is only available on the homepage.

Recommendation

1. Add a bottom tab bar, so users can know where they are and where else they can go on the app

FLEXIBILITY & EFFICIENCY OF USE

RATING = 4 (Usability catastrophe)

Issue 

There is no clear identification between novice and expert users, since the app does not allow users to sign up for an account to store any information. There is also no way for advanced users to speed up the process of securing and redeeming a deal, as all users will have to go through the same number of steps.

Recommendation

1. Create the option for users to sign up for an account

2. Create a modal with the options to either steal or save a deal for later. This enables users to quickly steal or save their desired deals in a single action

AESTHETIC & MINIMALIST DESIGN

RATING = 3 (Major usability issue)

Issue

Deals from the same company or restaurants are not grouped into one post. Instead, there are multiple posts for the same company. This makes the whole interface more complicated than it should be.

Recommendation

1. Change from dark to light UI to create simplicity and intuitiveness of navigation

2. Add a search bar with location filter option

3. Add a category carousel

4. Modify the deals card to increase legibility and show more details of the store

HELP & DOCUMENTATION

RATING = 3 (Major usability issue) 

Issue 

When users come across an issue and cannot make out what they are doing, there is no adequate help provided within the application, other than being able to report an issue by email for your current active deal. Mobile Bandit lacks clear instructions for what users can do to resolve an issue, as there is no FAQ section.

Recommendation

1. Keep the report button, but change the copy to “report issue”

2. Add a customer option which will prompt users to a help centre screen with a list of common issues and FAQ

04. Redesign

MOBILE BANDIT REVISION

Mobile Bandit has made it easier than ever to find great deals on everyday items. The best part of using the app is that they can find these savings anywhere with an internet connection and have the ability to instantly steal a deal.

05. Conclusion

SMALL CHANGES, BIG IMPACT

Through this project, I discovered that we don’t always need to conduct a big redesign to improve the usability of a product. While thinking about the entire product and user flow is necessary, sometimes small changes could be great as they are less time and resource intensive. A small update on a design could make a key feature clearer and help users efficiently complete the intended task without any roadblocks. Don’t underestimate the big impact of small changes. Every little detail matters.

NEXT STEPS

• Make more extensive UI changes to make Mobile Bandit more aesthetically pleasing

• Validate and iterate our designs through usability tests/data sources

• Spend more time on exploring user interactivity to build a more polished prototype

GET IN TOUCH

Have a project in mind? Let’s make something awesome together.

elsawu626@gmail.com