UX ANALYSIS: ZARA

PURPOSE & OBJECTIVE:

As an avid fashion lover, Zara falls at the top of my list of go-to brands. However, one very crucial touch point in my journey as a Zara customer causes me great frustration: their website. A customer’s experience with and attitudes towards a retail brand extends well beyond just the in-store experience. While Zara’s website does embody the brand’s chic aesthetic, there are numerous areas in which the site can be improved to enhance the user experience.

Using Neilsen's 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design, I conducted a Heuristics Evaluation of the Zara website for my Information Studies class. In this report, I evaluate the effectiveness of Zara’s website in terms of its design and the resulting user experience.

SUMMARY:

My impressions of the Zara website and findings based on both a detailed technical analysis and theories drawn from several research studies, form the basis of this evaluation. My findings indicate that the Zara website is confusing, difficult to navigate, and ultimately frustrating for users looking to make purchases. This analysis presents numerous arguments to support the reasons why the site is not satisfying, enjoyable, or pleasurable and falls short of the design standards articulated in Nielsen’s Usability Heuristics. The study presents a detailed technical evaluation of the root causes of this frustration using the Nielsen framework. For each heuristic evaluation, I also propose design changes that will improve usability and be more aligned with the design standards.

Specifically, for each heuristic, I provide:

– an overview of the heuristic itself,
– an evaluation of Zara.com against that heuristic,
– sample screenshots from the site to evidence my evaluation, – a grade against the standard, and
– proposed improvements

SCOPE:

UI/UX Analysis, Heuristic Evaluation, Research, Web Design, Accessibility

To view the full report, click here.

Sample of Heuristic #1: