Usability project highlight: Nordstrom

Each winter, HCDE master’s and certificate students take a deep dive into usability testing and user-centered research in HCDE 517: Usability Studies. In this hands-on course, students work in small teams to design and conduct usability studies from start to finish—with real clients, real products, and real users.

Over the quarter, they define research goals, develop test protocols, recruit participants, run moderated sessions, analyze findings, and deliver actionable recommendations to their sponsors. 

Partnering with Nordstrom, one HCDE 517 team explored how new or infrequent shoppers browse the company’s mobile website without using the search function. Nordstrom wanted to better understand how users navigate through menus and categories to find products—and where they might get stuck along the way.

The students designed an in-person usability study focused on moderate online shoppers who hadn’t used the Nordstrom site in the past year. They asked participants to complete a series of tasks using only the site’s browsing features, such as locating a specific item or exploring trend-based collections. By intentionally blocking search and filters, the team was able to gather valuable insights specific to the browse experience.

Study sessions took place on campus, and the students observed how users interacted with the site, including their gestures, expressions, and navigation decisions. Their findings pointed to opportunities to improve the mobile experience, such as increasing the visibility of horizontal navigation, streamlining filters, and rethinking how categories are labeled and organized. They presented their results to nearly 50 Nordstrom stakeholders from UX, product, and design teams.