Spaceship · Usability Testing Round 1
3 moderated sessions · spaceship.com homepage · Nov 2023
Context
3 moderated sessions (Nov 28–30, 2023) testing the search experience on spaceship.com. Participants: 2 designers, 1 product owner — all domain owners. 3 tasks: finding a domain, transferring a domain, and bulk transfer.
Task Results
3 tasks tested across 3 participants. All tasks completed, but most required workarounds or caused visible confusion.
Participants
3 of 4 planned sessions completed
Task Completion
Across 3 tasks, 3 participants
Issues by Task Area
6 distinct issues, 3 task areas
Ranked Issues
6 issues found, ranked by severity. Severity = frequency × impact on task completion.
Issues — by Severity Score
| Rank | Task | Location | Issue | Affected | Severity | Suggestion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Find domain | Homepage | ”Search or transfer a domain” placeholder creates confusion — users don’t understand the difference between search and transfer, especially with the dropdown open. | 3/3 | 6 | Separate search and transfer clearly — different labels, possibly different entry points. |
| 2nd | Bulk transfer | Transfer Results | Clicking “http://” in the domain field triggers an unintended “enter” action, reverting to selected mode. User must re-click and use keyboard to correct. | 2/3 | 4 | Make the domain field freely editable — clicking should position the cursor, not trigger submission. |
| 3rd | Bulk transfer | Homepage / Results | Domains with errors silently disappear from results. Error messages are unclear, shown only after the 3rd attempt. Users unsure what format is expected. | 1/3 | 2 | Block progression if domains have errors. Auto-strip “https://”. Show inline errors immediately with clear format guidance. |
| 4th | Transfer domain | Domains Page | Transfer section is hard to find — requires significant scrolling. Users feel entry points need improvement. | 1/3 | 1 | Add a prominent “Transfer” entry point. Consider a “Domains” submenu with “Transfer” as a distinct item. |
| 5th | Transfer domain | Search Results | After searching for a domain, there’s no option to transfer from the results page. Back button doesn’t work. Users must restart the whole process. | 1/3 | 1 | Add a “Transfer this domain” CTA in search results. Fix browser back button navigation. |
| 6th | Bulk transfer | Transfer Results | ”Bulk Transfer” button on the results page is expected to add more domains, but triggers a new modal instead. Inconsistent with homepage button behaviour. | 1/3 | 1 | Ensure button labels and behaviours are consistent across pages. “Bulk Transfer” should behave the same everywhere. |
Key Quotes
Direct participant feedback that shaped the issue prioritization.
“I don’t understand the difference between ‘Search and transfer a domain’ to the search and transfer button. When I click to start typing it shows more options that I was expecting, it gives options that I didn’t know that existed — this can be confusing.”
“I copy/pasted the three domains in the input field because I thought the ‘transfer’ option would be efficient enough to identify them — like how email fields handle multiple addresses. I was expecting the same happened here.”
“I never done a transfer before. I don’t know if the process will put my website offline, how much time and steps it will take. I wish it had here some bullet points with that information to help me feel more confident.”
“The transfer process is so fast that I’m afraid I’m doing something wrong. I would like to have some information to reassure that everything is ok — that I won’t be charged twice, for example.”
Design Implications
What the data points to — actionable next steps.