Redesigning application UI to follow accessibility guidelines and allow for a better user experience
The goal of this usability testing is to gauge how well the features within Notion Calendar function and how intuitive they are. It also explores the integration of Notion with Google Calendar and how successful those features are.
Testing Environment
- Software used: Lookback, Zoom
- Nynika’s personal Notion Calendar and Notion were used for the sake of ease on the participants.
Participants
I had recruited participants with a variety of Notion experience but all of whom have never used Notion Calendar. However, familiarity with Notion was not essential to complete the tasks within Notion Calendar for this usability testing. Participants consist of friends and family.
| Person | Age | Education | User of calendar apps? | Used Notion? | Used Notion Calendar? | where | Date | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | First year Masters | no; doesn’t use any planning things | (beginner) no | no | in person | October 13, 2024 | ||
25 | First year Masters | yes, google calendar; use it often, daily events and classes; change stuff a few times | (intermediate) yes; use it everyday for school work | opened it maybe once; | in person | October 14, 2024 | ||
22 | First year Masters | google calendar; every week; refer to it often ; school and career things | (beginner) have used it before; for class notes; doesn’t use anymkre | never heard of it | in person | October 14, 2024 | ||
22 | First year Masters | yes, outlook calendar; everyday for scheduling | (intermediate) yes, tasks and notes; productivity; school related | never used; never heard of it | in person | October 14, 2024 | ||
23 | First year Masters | sparingly uses apple calendar | (beginner) never used notion | never heard of it | in person | October 15, 2024 | ||
18 | Freshman in Bachelors | apple and google calendar; google calendar for class schedule; apple for everything else | (intermediate) yes, and class logistics; syllabus; use databases | no, and never heard of it | online | October 15, 2024 | - used zoom and lookback; screen recorded and gave screen access to participant in order to use my account |
Tasks
Before the task list was used for testing, I ran a pilot test with user P1. I still decided to use the insights gathered from that interview even though I implemented some tweaks to the tasks afterwards.
| Task | Why this Task | Scenario | Success if | Notion features used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The most basic action one can do in a calendar application | Scenario: There's a pottery club on campus you want to start attending. The club meets weekly on Wednesdays at 5 pm at Stamp union. You've created a new page in your Notion called "pottery!!" that you want to connect to this calendar event. Please create a calendar event and link the pottery Notion page for this event. | Event is visible in google calendar with all the mentioned features specified: 1. event name 2. recurring 3. day of the week 4. time 5. location 6. connect notion page | ||
This is the main defining feature that Notion Calendar has - integrating Notion databases into the calendar application | Scenario: You're taking a class called "arbitrary class" and have created a database in Notion to track assignment due dates. You want to see these due dates in your Notion Calendar so they appear alongside your other events. For this task, you’ll be working specifically within Notion Calendar. Please add the database "arbitrary class" from "Nynika's Notion". | New database is viewable on the left bottom under “Nynika’s Notion”. The events in “arbitrary class” populate the calendar | ||
This is one of the main features offered by Notion Calendar and promoted with the initial release | Scenario: Schedule a quick meeting with yourself (use your UMD email since this account is connected to my UMD email). It should be on Thursday, December 19 from 2-3 pm in Central time zone. Point out where you'd connect a Zoom meeting link and where you would connect a Notion page. | Meeting shows up in calendar |
Participants were asked to speak out loud as they conducted these tasks. The time taken for each task is an approximation (includes the time to read the task, perform the tasks, and questions in between).
Task 1 Results: Create an Event
| Person | Event name | Recurring | Set date | Time | Location | Connect Notion page | Time (minutes) | Success? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1:27 | Partial | - I ACCIDENTALLY had it so that edit event was on the right side bar - couldn’t figure out how to add notion page, explained that she needed to type in order to search for page - successfully created event | |||||||
1:50 | Yes | double tapped to create event; | |||||||
1:37 | Yes | double tapped to create event; | |||||||
1:02 | Yes | said hard to see what time selected in calendar; wish there was a submit button | |||||||
3:40 | Partial | managed to double click but didn’t see the side bar change to editing; clicked around and then went back to double clicking; went to settings; got confused by the keep editing pop up; clicked to see pending change | |||||||
3:51 | Partial | struggling to find how to make event; ended up clicking and dragging to make it; unsure where to connect notion page; |
Task 2 Results: Connect Notion Database
| Person | Time (minutes) | Success? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
- | No | **invalid test because wording of scenario was not easy to follow wording wasn’t good for what to do; didn’t know what to do; didn’t realize the application open was notion calendar - when I pointed out the area where to add the database; had a hard time finding the plus button to add a new database; I had to point it out | |
2:25 | Yes | needed to look around for the feature; tried search bar; used shortcut for command menu; took some time | |
2:42 | No | - looking around the interface; tried add calendar; in settings but not finding where it should be; tried the top bar; | |
1:25 | Partial | looking around; clicking around; tried settings; got it by clicking “go to calendar” within notion application instead; did not complete task while in Notion Calendar | |
1:00 | Yes | quickly explained not to use email stuff; went to nynika’s notion and found where to add database; was most successful | |
3:50 | Yes | struggled a lot; only thing that she could do was explore shortcuts; found it by using shortcuts |
Task 3 Results: Schedule a Meeting
| Person | Time (minutes) | Success? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
2:00 | Yes | straightforward; completed it quickly | |
1:37 | Yes | very straightforward | |
1:45 | Yes | went to quick meeting; in december but when scheduling went back to october; didn’t find send invite immediately | |
2:04 | Yes | started from normal event; still worked by adding person to the event | |
1:34 | Yes | went to quick meeting; hates the all day bar; successfully pointed out where zoom and notion page would be added; | |
1:35 | Yes | started by creating an event rather than creating a meeting; still worked |
Insights from Follow up Questions
Participants were asked follow up questions about how they felt each task went. They were also asked to talk about feature they liked and disliked, how it compares to other calendar applications, and whether they would use Notion Calendar.
Responses have been clustered into categories in this FigJam board:
Suggestions for Improvement
Many issues mentioned in the usability testing were ones I addressed in my expert evaluation. This includes a more obvious way to create an event with a “Create Event” button and darker gridlines and selections. These fixes won’t be covered in the following section but will be included in the final suggested design.
1. Discoverable way of connecting Notion Database
Before
After
2. Reorganize Sidebar Features
Before
After
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3. Reorganize Schedule Meeting Features
Before
After
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Accessibility Considerations
- Current Notion only accessibility extension: https://www.skynettechnologies.com/notion-ada-compliant-widget