prismplus.sg

Unmoderated & Moderated Testing case study for PRISM+ website.

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Unmoderated & Moderated Testing

Case study
Published on November, 2023 · 5 min read

As part of the PRISM+ website improvement initiative, I conducted both unmoderated usability testing and moderated UX interviews to uncover user pain points, assess task success, and validate design assumptions. These two research approaches complemented each other.

View Project

🧭 Objectives

  1. Evaluate the current PRISM+ website’s shopping experience and identify usability issues.
  2. Compare real user behavior (unmoderated) vs. internal stakeholder expectations (moderated).
  3. Validate task flows, content clarity, and decision points related to key PDP features.
  4. Build a structured research workflow for future usability testing rounds.

🧱 Methods Used

Unmoderated Usability Testing (General Users)

Purpose: Gather natural, unbiased user behavior on the live PRISM+ site.

Setup:

  1. Conducted online using an unmoderated testing tool
  2. Duration: 20–25 minutes per participant
  3. Participants completed 6 tasks related to browsing, comparing, and purchasing PRISM+ products
  4. Tasks covered PDP navigation, collection browsing, cart interactions, and promotional understanding

Key Deliverables:

  • Task scenarios and success criteria
  • User behavior recordings
  • A quantitative scorecard for: Task completion, Usability score, Frustration level

Insights Uncovered:

  • Natural friction points in live shopping flows
  • Real browsing hierarchy and information-seeking patterns
  • Pages where users struggled to make confident decisions
  • Input for navigation, PDP improvements, and content clarity

🌍 Moderated Usability Testing (Internal Stakeholders)

Purpose: Deep-dive into usability issues with people who understand the ecosystem—BD, CS, Marketing, Ops, Developers

Setup:

  1. 1-on-1 interviews conducted via Google Meet
  2. Duration: 30–60 minutes each
  3. Booking process handled using Calendly
  4. Dates scheduled: 28 July – 6 August
  5. Participants shared screens while performing tasks

Prepared Materials:

  • Updated UX Interview Prep Kit (script, structure)
  • Refined participant tasks
  • Usability scorecard for task success + frustration
  • Probing questions tailored to stakeholder-specific insights

Why Moderated?

  • Ask “Why?” in real time
  • Clarify reasoning behind each decision
  • Identify internal expectations vs. actual user behavior
  • Gather suggestions from people who understand business constraints

🧠 Analysis: Affinity Mapping & Synthesis

After all moderated sessions, I performed Affinity Mapping to categorize findings across themes:

  • Navigation challenges
  • PDP clarity issues
  • Checkout friction
  • Misalignment between business expectations and user behavior
  • Content hierarchy gaps
  • Visual clutter vs. decision-making

This resulted in clear problem clusters, allowing the team to prioritize fixes. I also documented all interview sessions, including timestamps, pain points, notable quotes, and recommendations.

📊 Key Findings

From Unmoderated Testing:

  • Users struggled with inconsistent PDP sections
  • Some bundle information was unclear during comparison
  • Mobile experience showed gaps due to viewport issues
  • Users often missed secondary features like installation, warranty, and specs

From Moderated Interviews:

  • Stakeholders highlighted gaps in product differentiation
  • Internal teams wanted better clarity for promotions (e.g., Climate Voucher)
  • Strong insights on content prioritization and hierarchy
  • Identified mismatches between internal assumptions and user expectations

🧩 Key Outcomes

  1. Updated UX Interview Preparation Kit used as a reusable template for future testing
  2. Provided consolidated task success scorecard and action-oriented recommendations
  3. Influenced the design direction for the upcoming PRISM+ website revamp
  4. Strengthened alignment between actual user behavior and internal expectations
  5. Provided actionable insights for improving PDP, navigation, filters, and checkout flows

⚙️ Tools Used

  • Google Meet
  • Calendly
  • Testing platform for unmoderated tasks
  • Figma (documentation, notes, kit updates)
  • Miro / FigJam (affinity mapping)

📌 Reflection

Running both moderated and unmoderated testing was highly valuable:

  • Unmoderated testing helped observe unbiased behavior patterns at scale
  • Moderated sessions helped uncover context, intent, and nuance

The combination ensured true user behavior was captured while still aligning improvements to business goals.