SLACK
Usability Study

Duration
9 weeks
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Team/Role
Test Planning, Recruiting,
Usability Testing, Data Analysis
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Tool
Slack, Figma, Zoom, Google Survey

TL;DR

Key Findings

Overview

Study Objective

The purpose of this usability test was to learn how usable the Slack workflow in the desktop application is for joining/removing a workspace and creating a private channel. Through this study, we focused on finding the pain points and opportunities for improvement associated with Slack’s workspace and channel functionalities.

Study Process

Research Questions

Method

Recruiting Screener

Primary attribute

Slack Experience

Secondary attribute

Technical Proficiency

Key Tasks

Join a workspace from an email invite

Success
Join a workspce via an email, and participant submits a message on the #general channel of the workspace

Join a workspace from an invite link

Success
Join a workspace via an invite, and participant submits a message on the #general channel of the workspace

Create a private channel

Success
Participant submits a message on the new channel of the applicable workspace

Remove you account from a workspace

Success
Participant receives a confirmation that account has been deactivated from the workspace

Usability Test Process

 Consent form
  Pre-questionnaire
  Remote moderated
  usability test
  Post-tast questionnaire
  Post-study questionnaire

  Consent form

  Pre-questionnaire

  Remote moderated usability test

  Post-task questionnaire

Results

Data Analysis

After the usability sessions, we analyzed the quantitative and qualitative data.
Key findings were then evaluted and prioritized based on the severity rating.

  Affinity maps

Findings

  Severity rating

We identified key usability issues and rated them based on the following scale.

  •   High  

       Prevents task completion.

  •   Medium  

      Creates annoyance or hinders task completion.

  •   Low/No issue  

     Limited/does not impact task completion.

Areas for improvement

#1: Discoverability

  High  
  • 4 out of 5 participants could not remove their accounts from a workspace.
  • Average score of 1.8/5 (1 = not easy/5= very easy) in how easy the task was to complete.
  • There were 9 steps in order to complete this task successfully. Participants struggled to find the correct path that would allow them to remove themselves from the workspace.

#2: Vocabulary

  High  
  • 5 out of 5 participants showed confusions about some terms that Slack uses for the interface.
  • Confusion terms included:
    ‍
    1. Deactivate Your Account: “I don’t like the word deactivate. That sounds so like termination, I’m done with you. Define it better.” -P5.
    ‍
    2. Sign-Out/Removing the workspace: Participants have difficulty differentiating these terms. Average score for this task was 1.8 (1=Not easy/5=Very easy).
    ‍
    3. Channel/Workspace: Mixed up the terms “channel” and “workspace.” -P3.

#3: Annoyance

  Medium  
  • For joining the workspace from both an email and link invite, 4 out of 5 participants expressed annoyance when being asked to create a new username/password.
  • While the average score for adding a workspace was 3.8 (email) and 4 (link), based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not easy, 5 = Very easy).
  • “Oh, I already created another account. I don’t want to create another one...” -P3.

What went well

#1: Joining a workspace

  Low/No issue  
  • 5 out of 5 participants successfully joined a workspace from both the link and email invite.
  • Average score of 4 (link) and 3.8 (email) in how easy the task was to complete (1 = not easy to 5 = very easy).
  • “I clicked the link and was able to join after signing into the Slack account.” -P4.

#2: Creating private Slack channels

  Low/No issue  
  • 5 out of 5 participants had no issues creating a private channel.
  • Average score of 4.4 in how easy the task was to complete (1 = not easy to 5 = very easy).
  • “The channels were easy to find and adding a new one was clearly labeled” -P1.

Next Steps

Recommendations

  Further Research and Exploration:

  Slack Design Changes:

Final Reflection