Heuristic Evaluation
Delivered early in my team’s relationship with the client to guide the design process, this evaluation used 10 categories from the ABBY Method across the following sections of Shaker:
- Landing Page
- Creating a Community on the Platform
- Adding Contacts on the Platform
Landing Page
Key Takeaways — Observations
The page has strong foundations but low impact: clear CTAs and a polished, on-brand look, yet contrast issues and multiple reads to absorb it. Navigation promises depth it doesn’t have, and the main offerings are undercut by image-only clicks and near-invisible testimonials.
Key Takeaways — Recommendations
Give the navigation somewhere to go — fixed header, real pages, potentially a search bar. Lead with the main offerings and let visual cues carry the reader down the page. Show recent testimonials, not one.
Creating a Community (Page 1)
Key Takeaways — Observations
Things work, but nothing stands out. Users complete the task and the language is mostly clear, but the layout is sparse, exits and controls are ambiguous, and there’s no visible route to support.
Key Takeaways — Recommendations
Hide the Events tab until a community exists. Replace the “haven’t created one yet?” prompt with Create and Join buttons. Add a back button, a help option, and tighter panel spacing.
Creating a Community (Page 2)
Key Takeaways — Observations
Clear enough to use, but control breaks down: “Go Back” silently saves an unfinished community with no way to delete it. Prompts and the welcome message repeat, Continue lags, and key exits aren’t marked.
Key Takeaways — Recommendations
Stop “Go Back” saving incomplete communities, and give users a way to delete them. Make “Step 1 of 2” visible and let users skip the logo rather than requiring it. Relabel “Community Name” as “Community/Organization Name” with an example. Add a help button, fix the Continue lag, and warm the page with brand imagery.
Adding Contacts
Key Takeaways — Observations
Valuable once working, difficult to get there. Unmarked plus buttons and unclear metrics confuse early on, and profile editing has no standard fields, cramped space and dead-end flows. Visually cohesive with polished animations throughout.
Key Takeaways — Recommendations
Make profile editing intuitive with pre-filled property examples and auto-populated CSV data. Reorganize the view controls, make the back button visible, and keep labels and layouts consistent across pages.