Six Recommendations

1. My first recommendation to improve the interface is clearly and more obviously indicated what fields are required when creating a posting. Three examples I can think of are 1) Having large bold font for required fields. 2) Having a colored key to differentiate the optional vs required fields, like green and purple. 3) Using a large symbol to differentiate. 4) Using parentheses to let the user know if it is required or optional. Example) First Name (required). Or Address (optional). Severity level: 3


2. My second recommendation is to improve the navigation buttons. In all three of my participants, they didn't know the appropriate or easiest way to go back and forth between pages. The arrow on the left of the screen is misleading because it just closes the filter navigation. Clicking the CL in the top left corner is what I've found to be the quickest way, but i only know that from using the website multiple times. It is small and not obvious. Severity level: 4


3. My third recommendation is to eliminate the "gigs" tab. Either it needs to be renamed as temporary jobs. Or there needs to be a subcategory under "jobs" listed as temporary. My preference would be to have "temporary jobs" as its own category. Then subcategories could be more specific. This could include things like, seasonal, holiday, this weekend, event, etc. Severity level: 2


4. My fourth recommendation is to modernize the appearance in a way that benefits older and newer generations. This would look more visually appealing, but I really believe it would improve the effiency of the website as well. If the "community" category is bordered/with a light blue background, it is obvious those categories belong together. The same could go for "housing" in green. Stare at the blue font too long the words start to blend some. It is important to choose colors that are easy to read and to that are accessible for everyone, including those with red/green colorblindness. Severity level: 4


5. My fifth recommendation is to have headings be much larger, obvious, and selectable. The navigation on the right shows locations, but they are in small font and don't even have a label. If a big "LOCATION" heading was there, it would be easier for a user's eyes to gravitate to it and recognize it is or isn't what they are looking for. I think that is also very important for the main Craigslist page. The Craigslist button is selectable and takes you to the main page, but it needs to be more upfront and not small. These types of things would help users navigate through the website to easily find what they are looking for, or easily gloss over things they know aren't. Severity level: 2


6. My sixth recommendation is to utilize if not all, but MOST of the webpage. The page itself only utilizes half of it. The margins on the left and right side of the content is HUGE. This writing is tiny and crammed. If they stretched their space that they are using, everything would be easier to read. Font could be larger. The words could be spaced farther apart from one another. Things wouldn't feel so clustered then. Severity level: 3