Exploratory Testing on Cars.ng

I explored Cars.ng, a popular Nigerian car marketplace, to identify bugs,usability issues, and provide suggestions for improving the platform's overall user experience. This post will walk you through my testing experience, the issues I encountered, and my recommendations for enhancing the site’s functionality.

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Testing Methodology

For this exploratory testing session, I focused on the core user flows of the website, such as:

• Searching for cars
• Filtering results
• Viewing car details
• Contacting sellers

I performed the testing on both desktop and mobile versions of the site using Google Chrome Version 132.0.6834.160 (Official Build) (64-bit) for a comprehensive assessment. Each issue was recorded with visual proof (screenshots or videos) and categorized by severity (High/Medium/Low).

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Key Findings:

Here are the major issues I encountered during testing:

1. Clicking on "View Phone Details" or "Chat on WhatsApp" Leads to No Action
   
   Severity: High

   • Description: Clicking on the "View Phone Details" or "Chat on WhatsApp" options does not trigger any action, preventing users from reaching sellers or contacting them via WhatsApp.
   • Steps to Reproduce:
     1. Navigate to any car listing page.
     2. Click on "View Phone Details" or "Chat on WhatsApp".
     3. Observe no action or response.
   • Expected Result: The phone number or WhatsApp chat should open or prompt for action.
   • Actual Result: No action or response occurs after clicking.
   • Visual Proof:

2. The Financial and Lease Filters Are Not Working
   
   Severity: High

   • Description: The Financial and Lease filters do not function as expected and fail to update the search results based on the selected criteria.
   • Steps to Reproduce:
     1. On the home page, input a car brand like "Kia" into the search bar.
     2. On the new page, click on the "Financial" and "Lease" filters on the left.
     3. Observe that no results are filtered based on these criteria.
   • Expected Result: The Financial and Lease filters should narrow down the results as per the selected criteria.
   • Actual Result: The filters do not affect or update the results.
   • Visual Proof:

3. Incorrect Spelling
   
   Severity: Low

   • Description: There is a spelling error in the FAQ section of the website.
   • Steps to Reproduce:
     1. Go to the footer of cars.ng.
     2. Click on FAQ.
     3. Select "How can I use cars.ng to buy a car".
     4. See incorrect spelling in the first sentence: "To" instead of "o".
   • Expected Result: Correct spelling ("To" instead of "o").
   • Actual Result: Wrong spelling of "To".
   • Visual Proof:

4. Unresponsive Section in "Available Cars for Sale"
   
   Severity: High

   • Description: On mobile, the "Available Cars for Sale" section appears unresponsive, with cars lumped together instead of displaying neatly in vertical cards.
   • Steps to Reproduce:
     1. Go to the Home page.
     2. Scroll to the "Available Cars for Sale" section.
   • Expected Result: Responsive screen with vertical cards for the cars and their specifications.
   • Actual Result: The cars appear lumped together.
   • Visual Proof:

5. Unresponsive Section in "Recently Added Cars"
   
   Severity: High

   • Description: On mobile, the "Recently Added Cars" section does not display properly, with cars lumped together instead of showing neatly in vertical cards.
   • Steps to Reproduce:
     1. Go to the Home page.
     2. Scroll to the "Recently Added Cars" section.
   • Expected Result: Responsive screen with vertical cards for the cars.
   • Actual Result: The cars appear lumped together.
   • Visual Proof:

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Suggested Improvements

While the website offers a strong user experience overall, there are several areas where improvements could enhance its usability and functionality:

1. Fix "View Phone Details" and "Chat on WhatsApp" Buttons: Ensure that these buttons properly open the phone number or initiate a WhatsApp chat to facilitate communication with sellers.

2. Resolve Financial and Lease Filter Issue: The filters should dynamically update the results based on the selected criteria to provide a more efficient and accurate search experience.

3. Correct Spelling Errors: Fix any spelling mistakes to maintain professionalism and improve the site's overall quality.

4. Improve Mobile Responsiveness: The "Available Cars for Sale" and "Recently Added Cars" sections should be made fully responsive on mobile devices, ensuring that the cars are displayed neatly in vertical cards for easier browsing.

5. Add Confirmation for Seller Contact: After contacting a seller, users should receive confirmation that their message has been sent successfully to improve user confidence in the platform.

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Conclusion

Overall, Cars.ng provides a useful platform for buying and selling cars, but there are several usability issues that could be improved to enhance the user experience. By addressing issues such as broken image links, mobile filter responsiveness, and inconsistent UI elements, Cars.ng can provide a smoother and more professional experience for its users. You can view the full list of the issues I encountered, including the severity levels and visual proof, in my detailed bug report here. For anyone interested in exploring Cars.ng further, I highly recommend checking out their Cars.ng and experiencing the platform firsthand!

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• Thank you!
• Feel free to leave questions in the comments.