A platform that offers educational resources, robotics kits, and innovative learning solutions.

CLIENT

CREATIVEHUT

TASK

UX AUDIT

INDUSTRY

EDUCATION

OVERVIEW

Design Task

Conduct a comprehensive UX audit of CreativeHUT, considering the outlined project objectives. Your audit should identify key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and actionable recommendations for improvement.

"A unique learning environment for young people in our region to engage in STEM and digital technology."

- Craig Wilson

Heuristic evaluation

Strengths:

  • Clear Value Proposition: The homepage clearly communicates CreativeHUT's role as a "Creative Education & STEAM Partner," offering educational resources, training, and engaging experiences.

  • Trust Indicators: Displaying partnerships with reputable organisations and showcasing awards like "BETT 2025 Company of the Year" enhances credibility.

Weaknesses:

  • Visual Clutter: The homepage features multiple banners, videos, and sections that compete for attention, potentially distracting users from key actions like exploring products or services. There are also too many announcement bars, ideally, there should only be one.

  • Lack of White Space: There is a lack of white space between sections, adding to the cluttered visual. This could potentially overwhelm the user and prevent them from exploring CreativeHut further.

  • Navigation Complexity: The main navigation menu contains numerous categories and subcategories, which may overwhelm users. Simplifying or consolidating menu items could improve usability. The main links in the menu lack margins and seem to merge into one line.

  • Lacks Introduction: It would be beneficial to have a quick overview that details exactly what CreativeHut is, which could then link to the About page.

  • Image titles and alt tags: The image titles are lacking and should be more descriptive to improve SEO. There are currently no alt tags, therefore the site lacks features that support accessibility.

  • Search Functionality: As an example, when you enter “About“ into the search bar, 3 pages appear:

    • About Us

    • About Us Page

    • [Gem Backup] About Us

    The pages need to be amended/removed.

  • Error Handling: There is a lack of informative error messages or guidance when users encounter issues, such as broken links. For instance, if a user mistakenly enters “https://shop.creative-hut.com/pages/about-us/1234567” instead of “https://shop.creative-hut.com/pages/about-us/”, they are still taken to the About page rather than receiving a clear error message like “This page does not exist.” Providing clear instructions can enhance user experience during errors.

  • Videos: The videos on the website do not autoplay. This could harm the user journey because many users won’t take the extra step to manually press play. People tend to favour effortless interactions, and if engaging with content requires additional effort, they may simply scroll past it.

  • Contact form: Lack of contact form for initial contact. Contact should also have it’s own navigation link, rather than sitting within “About Us.”

Alignment with Key Objectives:

  • Enhancing Customer Experience: A more intuitive interface improves usability.

  • Driving Revenue Growth: Easier product discovery leads to increased sales.

  • Optimising Operations: Faster load times lead to better user retention.

  • Innovating and Growing: Inclusive design fosters a broader audience.

WHO IS THE COMPETITION?

Competitor analysis

User flow & Journey Analysis

Strengths:

  • Logical Navigation Structure: Whilst the navigation is overwhelming, it is still hierarchical, making it relatively simple for users to browse categories.

  • Smooth Checkout Process: The checkout process is relatively straightforward, with clear steps guiding users from cart to payment, reducing friction and potential drop-offs.

  • Consistent Design Elements: The user journey benefits from a consistent layout, colour scheme, and typography, reinforcing brand identity and creating a familiar browsing experience.

  • Engaging Product Pages: The site provides detailed product descriptions, images, and pricing information, helping users make informed purchasing decisions.

  • Trust-Building Features: User testimonials, brand partnerships, and visible contact details instil confidence in users, particularly educators and professionals seeking educational tools.

Weaknesses:

  • Inconsistent Call-to-Action Placement: Some pages lack prominent or clearly defined CTAs, making it harder for users to take the next step, such as adding items to the cart or requesting more information.

  • Search and Filtering Limitations: The current search functionality is not optimised with advanced filtering or predictive search, making it harder for users to find specific products quickly.

  • Lack of Personalisation or Recommended Products: There is no visible personalised recommendation system based on user behaviour, which could improve engagement and increase conversion rates.

Alignment with Key Objectives:

  • Expanding Global Reach: Localised experiences can make navigation easier for international customers.

  • Optimising Operations: A streamlined checkout reduces friction and improves conversion rates.

Mobile Responsiveness Testing

  • Responsive Design: The website adapts to various screen sizes, but some elements, such as navigation menus and banners, may require optimisation for smaller devices to ensure a seamless mobile experience.

  • Lack of Margins/Padding: The margins also need to be increased in certain areas. Increased usage of colour would be beneficial in separating sections.

  • Touch Interactions: Interactive elements like buttons and links should be adequately sized and spaced to accommodate touch inputs on mobile devices.

  • Chat Functionality: The chat icon in the bottom right-hand corner hides the cart button in the bottom menu.

  • Announcement bar: The bar takes up too much space on mobiles.

Alignment with Key Objectives:

  • Enhancing Customer Experience: A seamless mobile experience improves engagement

IMPROVEMENTS

Actionable Recommendations

SIMPLIFY NAVIGATION

Consolidate menu items and implement intuitive categorisation to facilitate easier product discovery.

ENHANCE VISUAL HIERARCHY

Prioritise key content and reduce visual clutter on the homepage to guide users toward desired actions.

MOBILE OPTIMISATION

Refine the mobile design to ensure all elements are user-friendly on smaller screens, enhancing the mobile shopping experience.

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

Compress images and optimise multimedia content to enhance page load speeds.

BOOST ACCESSIBILITY

Add descriptive alt text to images and ensure full keyboard navigability to accommodate all users.

PERSONALISE USER EXPERIENCE

Develop targeted landing pages with personalised content for distinct audiences, such as public and corporate clients, to supercharge lead generation.

IMPLEMENT USER-FRIENDLY ERROR MESSAGES

Develop clear and concise error messages that inform users of issues and provide actionable steps to resolve them, enhancing overall usability.

ADD BREADCRUMBS

As this is a large website, it would benefit from adding breadcrumbs. This would make it easier for the user to understand where they are within the site.

CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

The site would benefit from having customer accounts, as this will allow users to view their previous orders.

By addressing the identified weaknesses and implementing the above recommendations, CreativeHUT can enhance the user experience of its online store, supporting its objectives of global expansion, improved customer experience, operational efficiency, revenue growth, and innovation.