Outcomes, findings and creating the future — It’s time to engage!
How Greenpeace tested new engagement features for the future websites (Part 4 of 4)
👈 Part 1 | 👈 Part 2 | 👈 Part 3| Part 4
As presented in previous chapters, the Planet 4 team created two interactive prototypes to validate the concept of the engagement platform and tested them through qualitative & quantitative user research.
This last part of the story gathers the key takeaways and learnings from both user testings, leading us to see how we can move forward to build the future of Planet 4.
It is important to underline that the qualitative & the quantitative usability testing had to be complementary to get reliable results. If the goal of the qualitative user testing was to gather feedback & insights on the user experience, the purpose of the quantitative one was for data to confirm or not the qualitative outcomes.
A lot of positivity
Feedback from the qualitative user testing indicates that the new engagement features of the prototypes represent both an opportunity to gain new supporters and a chance to radically improve the reputation of Greenpeace among non-currently engaged audiences.
Moreover, users said that such a platform would help them raise awareness among their friends and communities, one of the main goals of Planet 4.
Then, the research confirms that such engagement features would also boost users’ motivation to keep on taking daily actions, and encourage them to come back to check for new challenges and their personal impact progression.
In a nutshell, both prototypes were received really positively by the users and that gives us the green-light to finally engage people with Planet 4!
Top features
At the end of each testing, we asked testers what features they liked most. The features that users appreciated the most where the following:
Challenges
We tested 2 different approaches for the challenges: in the 1st prototype, we asked users how much time they were willing to spend on taking actions. Whereas, in the second prototype, we provided users with daily personalized challenges based on their preferences.
Findings from both testings showed us that challenges could be the pillar of the engagement platform and are key to drive people to take action in their daily lives.
Time-based challenges with a preference for shorter and one-time actions would fit more users that do not always find proper time in their routine to contribute. However, longer actions should also be suggested for more engaged users that are willing to give time & to deeply contribute to make the world a better place.
Users also expressed that having access to a collection of daily personalized challenges would encourage them to incorporate these actions into their daily lives.
Impact visualization
Users were really interested in checking their impact after having performed some actions, especially when they could view a concrete impact of their actions, for instance when the amount of waste was quantified and the social reach as well.
This feature received strong positive feedback. However, as mentioned in the post by UX Studio, showing percentages for the impact visualization created a bit of confusion and didn’t make sense for some users.
Achievements progression
The second prototype tested 2 different approaches to show users the achievements' progression: if the 1st one showed the progression of completed actions for personalized challenges, the second one was based on a gamification mechanic with badges. This feature was visible in the user profile section.
Both have their pros & cons, but findings indicate that a better gamification mechanic may lead to a more meaningful and relevant feature for users.
Follow a campaign
This feature wasn’t the most successful and didn’t receive a lot of feedback from the user testings, but it may be interesting to consider as an engagement feature for users to see more content based on their interests.
Therefore, we should review and explore alternatives to provide users with more tailored content that is based on their topics of interest.
Local content & events
There is a strong desire from users to see local content and events on the platform. They are more likely to engage and take action in real-life when they can do it in their local area. The connection “Planet 4 < > Local realities is key to engage with users both online and offline.
Login / Sign up
When it comes to the Login / Sign-up feature, we wanted to test 2 different approaches as well.
The 1st prototype allowed users to see some personalization features before signing up, whereas the second one provided personalized content only after sign up, proposing an onboarding journey aimed at selecting personal preferences.
Both approaches have pros & cons, but the key takeaway is that users are more likely to sign up after having completed a couple of actions and seen the impact of such activities. On the other hand, triggering the sign up after the first action also has benefits, since not everyone will take multiple actions in a row.
Prototype 01 presents a higher conversion, presumably because it allowed users to explore further actions and see their impact before asking them to sign up. At that point, however, the benefits of creating an account are still not 100% clear.
In prototype 02, users were also really enthusiastic about having a user profile section that allows them to track their achievements progression and receive invitations from friends.
Hence, what we learned is that users are willing to have a Greenpeace account to save their impact and track their progression, but Planet 4 should trigger the sign-up user journey at the right moment, with clearer value propositions.
Time to move forward
The user testing validated the Planet 4 initial concept and the engagement features, confirming that we are in the right direction to fulfil a strong desire and need for an innovative engagement platform. Especially at the moment when human kind is facing one of the biggest global crises of our generation, it is more important than never to provide a set of tools that will empower people to take action in critical times. That is mission number one of Planet 4.
Prototypes indicate that a successful engagement through Planet 4 means more than taking action from time to time, but more a matter of creating habits and providing users with simple ways to contribute on a daily basis. Whether it’s participation in a local event, read an article relevant to their topic of interest or give users the opportunity to raise awareness amongst their community — a product allowing users to visualize their impact and track their progression would definitely deepen engagement and enable repeated conversions.
We know that we have a long journey before we reach the final destination to build the best user experience for the product. But the bottom line is that a lot of positivity came out from this user research that helps us to see how we can move forward for the next coming months.
Which is why it’s not the end of the story, but just the beginning of it.
Time to get to work!
To be continued… ;)
