Pomerleau

The launch of Pomerleau's new website marked a significant milestone, considering the company's extensive reach with nearly 200 active project sites across Canada and a workforce exceeding 5,000 employees nationwide. As part of our strategy, our team conducted usability tests during this phase.

These tests were designed to have users perform specific tasks, allowing us to identify potential usability issues and improve the overall user experience. This hands-on approach ensured that the website met the diverse needs of Pomerleau's stakeholders, from project managers to employees and clients.

SERVICES
LINK TO SITE

Usability tests and analysis

SECTOR

Construction

YEAR

2022

About

A Canadian leader in the construction industry since 1966, Pomerleau is committed to building living environments of tomorrow in a collaborative and sustainable way.

The Challenge

Launching a new brand and website is a significant undertaking, especially for a large company like Pomerleau with thousands of daily site visits. To ensure a successful launch, we conducted 11 usability tests with two key audience segments:

  • Users in the construction industry.

  • Potential Pomerleau employees.

Our Learning Goals:

  • Evaluate website functionalities.

  • Enhance website navigation.

  • Provide actionable recommendations for future improvements.

The presentation outlines the methodology to be used during the usability tests.

Presentation of the demographics for the tests includes 5 participants who work in the construction industry and 6 who are potential Pomerleau employees. The slide includes breakdowns of their age, job, hours spent on screen, and gender.

The objectives of the tests were to: (1) Evaluate the various functionalities of the sites, (2) Enhance the navigation experience, and (3) Provide actionable recommendations for next steps.

Presentation of the equipment that will be used for the tests.

The Test

The usability test comprised four main tasks that users had to complete, with each task being scored based on independent completion, need for minor support, significant support, or failure:

  1. Find a specific piece of content within the project section of the site.

  2. Find a specific piece of content within the general pages of the site.

  3. Locate the company's address.

  4. Apply for a job.

After completing the tasks, users were asked a series of questions to gather qualitative data on their experience. Additionally, we employed a System Usability Scale (SUS) with 10 questions to assess the overall usability of the site.

Presentation of the results from each individual user.

We analyzed users' actions during task completion, categorizing outcomes as success, partial success, or failure.

We asked participants introductory questions such as: (1) What is your current occupation? (2) How many hours a week do you spend on a computer? (3) What types of websites do you use? (4) Have you previously applied for a job on this company's website?

We asked users a series of follow-up questions to gather qualitative data, including: (1) Were there sections you considered too complex? (2) Do you feel any information is missing? (3) Did you find any expressions (copywriting) unclear?

The Results Summary

We presented our results to the team in the following organized format:

  • A quantitative summary of task completion success rates.

  • A quantitative summary of the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire.

  • Observations during task completion, categorized by site sections.

  • Recommendations, categorized by site sections.

Presentation of the summary of results.

A graph representing the SUS results.

Presentation of the results per sections of the site. In this slide, I speak of the recommendations we suggest based on our observations.

Summary of task completion rates: 31 out of 42 tasks were completed successfully, 9 tasks were completed with assistance, and 2 tasks were unsuccessful.

Presentation of the results per sections of the site. In this slide, I show the learnings from our observation of the users and any important notes.

Presentation of the results per sections of the site. In this slide, I speak of what elements we would consider a success based on our observation.

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