When new right to repair laws were announced, a national retailer took the opportunity to examine an existing service site, originally designed for service and repair personnel. There were numerous issues with it, however, and it didn’t serve the needs of intended users, much less consumers. Upper management labeled it “terrible” and knew major improvements were needed but didn’t know exactly what those were or how to properly prioritize. To make matters worse, they lacked internal resources to effectively design, develop or implement a massive update, much less maintain it.

Our approach

We had already started an audit, heuristic, and competitive evaluation of the current site, all revealing numerous issues with branding, functionality, documentation, and more. We wanted to hear directly from users, however, in order to fully understand most critical needs, now and looking forward. To do that, we engaged with site stakeholders, including current and potential users.

Key findings from six focus groups revealed 100+ unique issues with the site, from missing and inaccurate content to functionality and navigation. Participants indicated a lack of trust in the site and reported having to seek information elsewhere. Overall, users emphasized the need for accurate, usable, easy-to-find and well-maintained content on the site.

The results

We provided many actionable recommendations to improve overall user experience, leading to the redesign and testing of a new-and-improved service site. We also provided upper leadership with evidence clearly demonstrating an overwhelming need for a site overhaul, highlighting its potential to enhance efficiency, user confidence and functionality. Focus group insights served as the foundation for recommendations provided to design a service site that better meets user needs and satisfies upcoming right to repair laws.