Development of a web application with focus on navigability : How is the usability on a web application for E-commerce of plants and cuttings affected by its navigability?

Abstract: The purpose of this project was to determine how the experienced navigability of a web application affects its usability. In order to further investigate this, a web application called Sprouty was created, an easy-to-use web application that promotes individuals to buy and sell pre-owned plants and cuttings. The reasons for choosing this business concept are rooted in the marketing surveys that were first conducted before the webpage was developed. The results from this survey showed that there was a high demand among individuals to be able to buy plants online. This segment had previously been trading and selling plants through online social platforms such as Tradera, Blocket and Facebook Marketplace and sought a more structured platform to conduct these activities. Throughout the development of the web application, theories have been applied from peer reviewed articles regarding subjects such as layout, design, navigability and consumer behavior. To later test the efficiency of these theories and tools, two iterations of user tests were conducted by using the methods Lostness and Think aloud. In addition to this, a questionnaire was used for both tests. After the first iteration of user tests had been conducted, changes were made according to the feedback received in order to improve the user experience and the applications over- all functionality. To test the impact of these improvements, another round of user tests were conducted in order to measure how the changes impacted the navigability and experienced usability. The results showed that having a search engine, filter function and theory based layout improved the navigability of the "Shop" page of the web application. Lastly, the re- sults showed that having an intuitive design similar to other known websites is important to minimize confusion when performing tasks. This lead to the conclusion that the overall web application’s layout, design and filter functions all are important aspects impacting the experienced navigability and therefore the usability of the web application.