Dropbox offers file-sharing services to both individual users and businesses. Some of Dropbox’s services are free, but others require payment. In Dropbox’s words, the company aims to “reduce busywork” so users can “focus on the things that matter” in a workspace.
Dropbox Basic is free and open to anyone, but we found Dropbox does not make this fact readily apparent. Given the use case of our persona, our team felt it was best to evaluate a version of Dropbox that does not require pay access for its features.
Our team evaluated the average user’s task !ow from accessing Dropbox Basic, through account creation, and sharing files with authorized users. Account creation is free, so this is the most readily available option to any individual.
Weakness: Dropbox.com loads Dropbox Business, and Dropbox Basic Link is difficult to see
Weakness: System does not indicate whether user's sign-up was successful and traps user in a "download desktop app dark pattern"
Weakness: “Home” and “My Files” pages look eerily similar, but are different
Weakness: After creating empty “shared folder” in the “Sharing” page, folder disappears
Strength: "Welcome to Dropbox Basic" sidebar offers initial steps to get started
Strength: Displays a progress bar while uploading files
We strongly advise Dropbox to avoid forcing users into certain actions, such as upgrading to Dropbox Business or downloading the desktop application. This takes away the full control and freedom of users. While Dropbox bene!ts from these forced actions, they are ultimately counterproductive because they decrease the user’s trust in Dropbox.
Additionally, Dropbox’s web application lacks consistency. Among other places, the top- level navigation is inconsistent, which can cause confusion when navigating from page to page and section to section. Dropbox should harmonize its experience, with particular attention to navigation functions, which are critical to its users.
Finally, Dropbox should increase the match between its system and the real world. Users are unlikely to associate a sloth icon with a lack of folders, and the inability to create an empty shared folder con"icts with ordinary user expectations
The final iteration of my team’s heuristic evaluation is below. There are way more details there, good design, and lots of good suggestions. Take a look!
Using Jakob Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics for user interface design, our team performed an expert heuristic evaluation on Dropbox Basic’s web application, under a free, individual user account. We evaluated a user flow where in the user creates a single account, loads a home dashboard, and uploads and shares files.
In this report, we identify the key usability weaknesses and strengths within the Dropbox Basic web application. In addition, we deliver our recommendations for remediating the usability weaknesses we found.
Our analysis revealed 3 key strengths and 26 of key weaknesses.