Usability Testing for an Onboarding App

As part of my bachelor’s thesis, I developed and tested an onboarding app concept for the purchasing department at BMW.
Through usability tests with potential users, I evaluated a Figma prototype and derived concrete recommendations to improve the overall user experience.

The Challenge

The goal of this project was to improve the onboarding experience for new employees at the Purchasing department of BMW. The existing onboarding process was time-consuming and unstructured, leading to inefficiencies and inconsistent training outcomes.
The concept aimed to streamline this process through a digital app that guides new employees through a personalized training plan, tailored to their specific role and schedule.

My task was to evaluate the usability and user acceptance of the first prototype and identify concrete recommendations for optimization.

The Approach

To define the scope of evaluation, I first created use cases and user stories describing typical user goals and requirements within the onboarding process.
These scenarios formed the foundation for all subsequent testing activities.

I began with a heuristic evaluation, systematically assessing the prototype against established usability principles.
This allowed early identification of potential interface issues related to clarity, consistency, and feedback.

Building on these insights, I conducted usability tests in which participants interacted with the existing prototype based on the defined use cases.
Their observations, comments, and behaviors were analyzed to validate or challenge the heuristic findings.

In addition to qualitative feedback, I used the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire to quantitatively measure user satisfaction and overall usability perception.
Combining both methods provided a balanced view of objective usability issues and subjective user experience.

The Result

The study revealed actionable insights that guided the refinement of the onboarding app’s structure and interaction design.
By integrating heuristic analysis, user testing, and quantitative measures, the evaluation provided a comprehensive understanding of user needs and system performance.
This project deepened my experience in usability evaluation and user research, demonstrating how analytical UX methods can uncover valuable design opportunities even without creating new interfaces.

#usability #ux #figma #prototyping