Cheerios Test

Katherine Olguin

February 11, 2024

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 Introduction
Cheerios.com serves as a platform dedicated to promoting healthy breakfast
choices and also providing resources for people wanting to know more. The
website is an information hub for accessing information about cheerios
products, nutrition facts, and recipes which encourage people to make choices
about their breakfast meals.

A usability test is intended to determine the extent an interface facilitates a

user’s ability to complete routine tasks. Typically, the test is conducted with a
group of potential users either in a usability lab, remotely (using e-meeting
software and telephone connection), or on-site with portable equipment.
Users are asked to complete a series of routine tasks. Sessions are recorded
and analyzed to identify potential areas for improvement to the web site.

When conducting the usability test for the website Cheerios, an onsite
usability test was used on the Cheerios website administered through a
laptop. Two laptops were used to capture the participants information and
course of actions through the website. The test administrator and data logger
were both present in the room. The session captured the choices of the
participants and the task completion rate, comments, their overall satisfaction
ratings, questions and feedback.

Executive Summary

The Cheerios.com website project was conducted onsite in a public setting of

a Coffee shop in Gainesville on February 11th. The purpose of this test was to
see how accessible the website Cheerios was in terms of their designs,
information placement and information given.
There was only 1 participant partaking in this usability test. Each task lasted
for 7-10 minutes approximately. The test is aimed to see how each
participant is able to navigate through the website and see how cheerios does
in being able to get a response when it comes to certain tasks.

The site was easy to use, not likely to frequency use it and keeping track of
location site there are some improvements that can be further explored:

 Lack of engagement with homepage content: 100% of the participant agreed

that the homepage's content made them want to explore the site further but
there was an overwhelming amount of information in the homepage.
 Potential for enhancing customization process: While tasks related to signing
up for special offers and customizing Cheerios boxes were completed
successfully, there may be opportunities to refine the customization process
for a smoother user experience.

This document includes participant feedback, satisfaction ratings, task

completion rates, ease of completion ratings, time on task, and

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 recommendations for improvements based on the usability test conducted for
the Cheerios website.

Methodology
Sessions

The test administrator contacted and a recruited family member who were the
most accessible. The session included the individual’s personal laptop. During
the session the test administrator explained the test session. The individual
was asked to fill out a brief background questionnaire. The participant read
the task scenarios and then proceeded to find the information on the website.

After each task, the administrator asked the participant to rate from a 5-
point scale with measures ranging from Strongly disagree to Strongly Agree.
 How easy it was to find the information from the home page.
 Their ability to customize their own Cheerios box on the website.
 Their ability to sign up on the cheerios website to receive a special
offer.
After the last task was completed, the test administrator asked the
participant to rate the website overall by using a 5-point scale (Strongly Disagree to
Strongly Agree) for 5 subjective measures including:

 Participants measure how quickly they can locate specific

information they're looking for on the Cheerios website, such as
nutritional data, ingredient lists, or recipes.
 The design and content of the Cheerios homepage motivate them
to explore further such as their visual appeal.
 Any challenges when finding their way around the cheerios
website which includes navigating through the different sections.
 How likely the participant would be to visit the cheerios website
regularly.
 Site content and whether the Cheerios website would encourage
them to return and visit their website due to their content

The test administrator asked the participants as well the following overall
website questions.

 What did you like the most about the Cheerios website?
 What did you like the least about the Cheerios website?
 What recommendation do you have for improving the cheerios
website?

Participants

There was only one participant and the participant was 27 year old’s and
male. The Male is a current student, who is also fit and has a dedicated

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 daily schedule as well as stays update on their heath. The test took place
on February 11th.

Example of table

Role

Student

Evaluation Tasks/Scenarios

The task for evaluating the Cheerios websites was created by the test
administrator. Test participants attempted completion of the following tasks:

 Sign for a special offer using their email

 Customize their own Cheerios box and purchase the item up until the
checkout point.

Results
Task Completion Success Rate

The task completion for the success rate for the one participant attempting the two
tasks on the cheerios website was recorded by the test administrators. The completion
rate for each task is presented below.

The participant successfully completed both tasks with a 100% completion rate for
each. That means that the participant found it relatively easy to sign up for a special
offer using their email to sign up for a special offer and to customize a cheerios box
and be able to proceed to purchase.

Task Completion Rates

Participant Task 1 Task 2

1 √ √

Success 1 1

Completion
100% 100%
Rates

Task Ratings
After the completion of each task, participants rated the ease or difficult of
completing the task for three factors:
 It was easy to find my way to this information from the homepage.
 As I was searching for this information, I was able to keep track of
where I was in the website.

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  I was able to accurately predict which section of the website
contained this information.

The 5-point rating scale ranged from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly

agree). Agree ratings are the agree and strongly agree ratings combined with
a mean agreement rating of > 4.0 considered as the user agrees that the
information was easy to find, that they could keep track of their location and
predict the section to find the information.

Ease in Finding Information

The participant found both tasks to be relatively easy, with high mean
agreement ratings. The participant rating of 4.8 for signing up for a special
offer and 4.6 for customizing a cheerios box and making a purchase. This
shows that the participant found it very easy to locate the information the
individual need to complete both tasks on the Cheerios website.

Keeping Track of Location in Site

The participant also rated both tasks highly, with a mean agreement rating of
4.6 for signing up for a special offer and 4.5 for customizing a cheerios box
and making a purchase. This suggests that the participant found it easy to
navigate through the website and keep track of their location while
completing these two tasks.

Predicting Information Section

The participant rated the two tasks highly, with a mean agreement rating of
4.7 for signing up for a special offer and 4.6 for customizing a cheerios box
and making a purchase. This indicated that the participant found it very easy
to predict where they are able to find the information to be able to complete
the tasks on the Cheerios website.

Test 1 – Mean Task Ratings & Percent Agree

Ease – Location in Predict
Task Overall
Finding Info Site Section
1 – Sign up for a special
4.8 4.6 4.7 4.7
offer
2 – Customize a
Cheerios box and 4.6 4.5 4.6 4.6
purchase

Time on Task
The testing software recorded the time on task for each participant. Some
tasks were inherently more difficult to complete than others and is reflected
by the average time on task.

Task 1 required the participant to sign up for a special offer using their email
such as the mean time to complete was 480 seconds. Task 2 required for the
participant to purchase a Cheerios box and purchase the item until the
checkout point. The mean time to complete ranged from seconds. The results
indicate that the participant took slightly longer, on average, to complete the
task of customizing their own cheerios box and making a purchase up until

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 the checkout point compared to signing up for a special offer using their
email.

Time on Task
P1 Avg. TOT*
Task 1 480 480

Task 2 240 240

Overall Metrics
Overall Ratings
After task session completion, participants rated the site for eight overall
measures (See Attachment insert attachment letter here). These measures
include:
 Ease of use of the Cheerios website
 Frequency of use of the Cheerios website
 Difficulty of keeping track of where they were in the site
 Cheerios Site organization

Post-Task Overall Questionnaire

Very Very
Good Bad/ Bad/ Mean Percent
Good/Likely Neutral
/Very NO Not Rating Agree
Likely Likely
Ease of use of the
Cheerios website 1 1 100%

Frequency of use
of the Cheerios
1 1 100%
website

Difficulty of
keeping track of
where they were 1 1 100%
in the site

Cheerios Site
organization 1 1 100%

*Percent Agree (%) = Agree & Strongly Agree Responses combined

4.6.2 Likes, Dislikes, Participant Recommendations

Upon completion of the tasks, participants provided feedback for what they
liked most and least about the website, and recommendations for improving
the website.

Liked Most
The following comments capture what the participants liked most:
The participant liked how each part there was a subsection to specific areas
that pertained to different information that cheerios had to offer.

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 Liked Least
The following comments capture what the participants liked the least:
The participant did not like that their special offer redirected them to a
different page that looked less flattering, it gave less of a sense of security for
the participant.

Recommendations for Improvement

The recommendations for the Cheerios website include to have a better redirect
webpage for signing up for a special offer the page does not fit the esthetics of
the Cheerios website and should follow the same guidelines. There also should
be a contact page in one of the tabs so if a future customer plans on wanting to
reach out on their product they can easily do it but also be easily accessible. The
Customize Cheerios is intriguing but also could work on having it displayed as a
sign up on the first page and also include a Call to action button. This gives the
potential customer some urgency when making the purchase.

Recommendations
The recommendations section provides recommended changes and
justifications driven by the participant success rate, behaviors, and
comments. Each recommendation includes a severity rating. The following
recommendations will improve the overall ease of use and address the areas
where participants experienced problems or found the interface/information
architecture unclear.

For example:
Sign up through email to receive a special offer (Task 2)
Task 2 required participants to sign up and input their email to receive a special offer

Change Justification Severity

 Make the special offer on the
Cheerios Website instead
of redirecting customers to
a different page
 Minimize the number of
questions asked on the
special offer to encourage
more future customers to
sign up
Participants across both tests rated the ease of High
finding funding information with 4.8 (out of 5)
and only agreed that it was easy to find the sign
up page for the special offer
Ensuring future customers stay interested
through the whole process is key in having a
returning customer
Participant comments also included minimizing
the subsections within the redirected page as well
as asking less questions to sign up for the special
offer

Conclusion
The Participant thought the layout of the Cheerios website was user friendly and
efficient in regard to the information found in each subsection. The website's ease of
navigation, clear organization, and predictability in locating information were
highlighted as strengths. Having a platform where users can easily access nutritional
information, recipes, and special promotions is essential for fostering engagement
and loyalty. Implementing further enhancements, such as refining customization

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 processes and optimizing mobile responsiveness, will ensure a continued user-
centered website

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