The Knot Mobile App Redesign

Role
UX Designer & Researcher

Course
Mobile Design

Tools
Figma

Project Overview
This project was completed as part of my Master’s coursework in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley University. I evaluated and redesigned The Knot mobile app to address key usability issues using a heuristic-based approach.

Goals

  1. Conduct a heuristic evaluation grounded in academic literature and identified key usability issues.

  2. Redesign The Knot mobile app to directly address those issues.

Research

To begin the evaluation, I conducted an analysis of current academic literature on mobile usability heuristics.

Based on this research, I decided to use the Mobile Usability Heuristics developed by Bertini et al. (2009) because it addresses the following factors which Nielsen and Inostroza et al. (2012) fail to consider:

  • Limited screen real estate

  • Privacy and social conventions

  • Ease of input (reducing the need to use both hands)

Next, I decided to use Nielsen’s Five-point Severity Ranking Scale (SRS), the same severity ranking scale used by Bertini et al. (2009). It defines the severity of a usability problem based on 3 factors:

  • Frequency with which the problem occurs

  • Impact of the problem

  • Persistence of the problem

Using this framework, I conducted a critical heuristic evaluation of The Knot mobile app, identifying over 15 usability issues and assigning severity ratings to each.

Usability issues and corresponding severity ratings.

Following the research, I synthesized the findings into key themes and developed actionable design recommendations to address the most significant usability challenges.

Redesign

Based on the key findings, I chose to redesign 7 key screens that had the most critical usability issues.

Lessons Learned

  • While heuristic evaluations effectively identify many usability issues, they should be complemented with user research to gain a full understanding of actual user pain points

  • Defining clear and consistent criteria for severity levels is important to ensure objective prioritization

  • Considering cross-platform consistency is essential, as differences in iOS and Android UI conventions may require tailored solutions

Next Steps

  • Apply a visual design system aligned with The Knot’s brand to improve overall visual coherence

  • Design for both iOS and Android platforms, then test the redesign on real devices to ensure a consistent and accessible experience across operating systems

  • Conduct usability testing with real users to assess how effectively the redesigned flows support key tasks