jwjohnsonatl@gmail.com
Company website reviewed: WHOLE FOODS
For this exercise, I went to the Whole Foods web site and navigated to the Site Map. I made a note of the number of categories and sub categories ( cards). Using a card counting website, these categories were entered into the exercise and all of the subcategories were placed in one large list. Users were asked to sort the "cards" into the proper categories. It seems simple on the surface -everything goes in its place. However, we all don't think alike or act alike and therefore we don't categorize thinks alike either. What seems obvious to me, may not make any sense to someone else. And what happens when the same information is repeated, presented three times or more? And where do you put a card that could possibly go in more than one category? The results are amazing and interesting and reveal that while there items we can generally agree to group together, there are also items we all categories differently.
For my test involving the Whole Foods web site, there were a total of 130 cards to be sorted among 18 categories.
The results of the test can be viewed at the following link:
websort.net/r/4BB9E2/30fd9048faf8/
The following are some trends that I noticed as a result of this exercise:
1. Users were able to link together all blog and podcast cards almost every time. These terms are not mistakable with other terms and having a category heading BLOGS & PODCASTS
made this sorting selection almost a no brainer. These results reflect this opinion.
One anomaly that did arise in this section involved blogs or podcasts that had titles but did not identify the specific blog or podcast as such. Therefore, these items - like "Secret Ingredient" were often mis-categorized because users did not understand what it was.
2. Users were also very successful at sorting the recipe related cards together most every time they attempted the test. The actual RECIPE category only had two cards, and these two made it into the right stack every time. However, other cards that seemed related were also included in the RECIPE category. What was exposed was user confusion over the content included in the HEALTH STARTS HERE category. These cards - including Meal Planning and Cooking were often included in the RECIPES category. This is a logical mistake - most people would like recipes with cooking - like medicine with doctors or music with singers.
3. Users also had a very high success rate when sorting the STORES cards. These included national and international locations and Stores in Development. However, the success rate for this category fell to almost zero when you realize that cards like Gift Cards, Order Gift Cards, and Find Cooking Classes also fell under the STORES category. I don't find either of these to be a logical fit with this very defined category involving geography and location, Keep the focus on "where" and move "what" items like Gift Cards and Cooking Classes to a more appropriate category.
4. STORE DEPARTMENTS - this category was an easy one for users to sort cards for - but only when they were familiar with the department names. As you might expect, cards like Meat & Poultry, Produce, Bakery, Seafood, and Wine were sorted to this category successfully almost every time. Cards like Coffee & Tea, Whole Body, and Pets were not always sorted correctly. There is a fairly uniform set of departments we expect to see in a grocery store and these common names were often sorted properly. Newer or less familair names like Whole Body tended to be sorted incorrectly because they were unfamiliar, unclear in meaning, or misunderstood.
5. The most confusing category to sort cards into was the PRODUCTS category. What do you think of when you think of products in a Whole Foods store? Food? Meat? Produce? Bakery items? Prepared Foods? Each of those could be sorted into this category for one reason or another - but what about cards with names like 365 Everyday Value, Whole Trade, Premium Body Care, or Gift Boxes? These are the actual cards belonging to this category and I think they are wildly open for interpretation and as such, were often improperly sorted.
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