Enhancing Clear Path: Insights from a User Testing Study

User testing is essential for validating whether a tool meets user needs, uncovering friction points that may not be immediately obvious, and ensuring that features are both discoverable and intuitive. To assess these points, we conducted a combination of surveys and user testing sessions on Clear Path, a Jira application used to visually manage dependencies in backlogs, understand the critical path, and plan sprints effectively. By observing how internal employees navigate Clear Path, we can make data-informed design decisions that enhance usability and efficiency, ultimately improving the overall user experience.

Developing the Survey to Recruit Participants 

Before conducting the user tests, we needed to ensure that our participants represented a diverse range of Agile roles. We designed and distributed a survey to internal employees representing a range of Agile roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and Release/Project Managers. The survey aimed to collect background information on their familiarity with Jira and Clear Path. The survey helped us to not only understand participants’ experience levels, but to also ensure that we had a comprehensive pool of participants with varying experience levels.

User Testing Sessions

With a diverse participant pool in place, we proceeded with user testing sessions that aimed to assess how easily users could navigate Clear Path’s core functionalities. Participants were given tasks mapped to common Agile workflows, ranging from backlog management to sprint planning. They were rated on their level of success in completing each of the tasks. Upon completion of the user sessions, feedback and observations were analyzed and grouped into categories. Our analysis revealed several recurring pain points related to feature discoverability, unclear functionality, and feedback gaps.

Key Findings and Recommendations for Improvements

Based on our findings, we developed targeted recommendations to enhance Clear Path’s usability and overall user experience:

Finding #1: Users struggled to locate and identify key features within Clear Path.

• Criticality: High

• Observation: Many users had difficulty discovering essential features, such as search and critical path visualization, due to the placement and/or styling blending into Jira’s interface.

• Business Impact: Poor discoverability of core features reduces user efficiency and adoption, potentially leading to frustration and decreased retention.

• Recommendation:

  • Improve search visibility by relocating the search function or applying distinct styling to the icon on the toolbar to differentiate it from Jira’s interface.

Before: Toolbar Styling

After: Toolbar Styling

• Recommendation:

  • Highlight the Critical Path label with a more prominent color or design to ensure it stands out.

Before: Critical Path Label

After: Critical Path Label

Finding #2: Users lacked guidance on how to use specific features which lead to confusion.

• Criticality: Medium

• Observation: Participants often hesitated when attempting to use filters, create issues, move tickets between sprints, or select multiple tickets. The absence of clear onboarding, contextual guidance, and real-time feedback contributed to uncertainty.

• Business Impact: Users who struggle to understand functionality may abandon key features, limiting Clear Path’s effectiveness and decreasing overall satisfaction.

• Recommendation:

  • Provide onboarding guidance when users first launch the application.

Before: Create Issue

After: Create Issue

• Recommendation:

  • Add tooltips for Story Points, Sprints, and Bottleneck filters to provide clear explanations and reduce confusion.

  • Enhance toast notifications by extending their duration or repositioning them for better visibility.

Conclusion

This user testing study provided valuable insights into how users interact with Clear Path and where usability improvements could make a significant impact. By enhancing discoverability, refining key interactions, and improving user guidance, Clear Path can better support Agile workflows and deliver a more intuitive experience. Our next steps are to iterate on these findings, implement recommended design updates, and conduct further testing to validate improvements.

Moser’s expertise in user testing can help you uncover valuable insights, improve usability, and create more intuitive digital experiences for your product. Contact us to learn more about how we can help!

Disclaimer: This study and the associated design updates were completed before the Atlassian design system update. As a result, the “after” screenshots may not fully reflect the current Clear Path design.

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