A UX audit is a process in which specialists evaluate the quality of a user’s experience on a website or mobile application. Their goal is to find problems and errors that hinder the user experience, and to propose solutions that will improve the quality of the experience.Now that competition (especially in the e-commerce industry) is increasing, it is important to make the product as user-friendly as possible.
What is a UX Audit and why should you invest in it?
A UX audit allows you to improve customer satisfaction, increase conversions and revenue, and make your business processes more efficient. In order for a website/application to convert well, we need to make sure that it is designed in a user-friendly way.
From a business perspective, the problem arises when users using a service or product notoriously face the same problems, which can lead to a loss of customer loyalty. According to a study by Harvard Business Review, it is 5 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
Is this right for you? When does it pay to conduct a UX audit?
There are situations in which conducting a UX audit is especially advisable:
- When a website or application is difficult for users to use – a UX audit helps identify and resolve navigation, interface and accessibility issues.
- Before a project begins – a UX audit helps understand user needs and requirements, which is essential for developing an effective design strategy.
- When success metrics, such as number of users, time on site or engagement rates, are low – a UX audit helps identify reasons for this and develop solutions.
- When new features or enhancements are introduced – a UX audit helps ensure that the new features meet user needs and do not cause additional usability problems.
- When a website or application is already on the market, but does not meet user expectations – a UX audit helps understand why and develop corrective actions.
- When a site or app is in competition with other sites or apps – a UX audit helps understand what the strengths and weaknesses are relative to the competition and develop corrective actions.
- When a site or app has been on the market for a long time, but success rates are starting to decline – a UX audit helps understand the reasons for the decline and develop solutions.
- When a client wants to improve user experience and increase user loyalty – a UX audit helps to understand user needs and develop actions to improve user experience.
In each of these mentioned cases, the answer to your business problems is to conduct a professional expert audit.
What is an Expert Audit and how does it work?
An expert audit is a process in which specialists (in our case, they are experienced UX Designers) evaluate the quality of the user experience on a website or mobile app, using their expertise in user-centered design. The specialist’s task is to examine your digital product/service and describe all the difficulties a user may encounter when visiting, for example, a product subpage.
When conducting the audit – the specialist bases his decisions on good practices from the market and, among other things:
- Heuristic analysis (Nielsen-Molich) – a tool for evaluating and improving the usability of the user interface, which involves an expert inspection to identify potential problems and context of use.
- Usability principles analysis (Schneiderman, Connell) – a method for evaluating a user interface based on design principles such as accessibility, reliability and usability.
- User path analysis (information architecture, wireflow) – a user interface design and evaluation tool that analyzes how users use a product.
- Affordance – a design theory that states that interface elements should suggest their functions and allow for easy use.
- Cognitive wandering – a user interface design and evaluation tool that involves analyzing how users discover and understand a product.
A specialist using his years of experience in UX design (which includes a range of knowledge from psychology, cognitive science and human-interface interaction, among others) is empowered to provide the business with specific and proven guidance that is backed by theory and patterns used in practice.
What are the business benefits of conducting an audit?
A well-conducted UX Audit, and the implementation of recommended improvements, can bring many benefits to a business, including, but not limited to:
- Improving the quality of the user experience. An audit identifies navigation, interface and product functionality issues to improve the quality of the user experience.
- Increasing conversions and revenue. By improving the efficiency of business processes, the audit allows you to increase conversions and thus revenue.
- Increase business process efficiency. The audit allows you to improve communication between users and the product, increasing the efficiency of business processes.
- Increase brand trust. The audit allows you to improve the quality of the user experience, helping to increase trust in the brand.
In summary, the specialist checks the service for any obstacles . that could make the user likely to abandon further use. A well-conducted UX audit saves money, regardless of the stage the digital product is currently at. Detecting errors in time and making the appropriate corrections allows you to avoid large losses related to the functioning of the site in the long run.
It’s worth investing in UX – many reports show staggering returns on usability spending. A study published by Forrester shows that companies investing in UX reap many benefits – lower customer acquisition costs, higher retention rates and greater market share.
An example of an Audit performed by us for our client:
Our client recently was a large multi brand Sportano, bringing together in one place the best brands and top products from almost all sports. As part of the work, we focused on improving the usability and functionality of the user interface elements. We provided the client with a new screen design and a report with recommendations for changes and best practices in user experience design. In particular, we paid attention to the vocabulary used on the buttons and the layout for displaying subcategories.
Thanks to our activities, Sportano has recorded an increase in the number of satisfied customers, which has translated into increased sales and a positive impact on the company’s image.
Get to know the details of this project: Sportano – Case study.
UX audit at Kreatik. What do we offer?
We guarantee the best set of research methods and techniques to identify and understand the problems faced by our clients’ users.
We always select research methods individually to the needs of the target project. The scope, the tools used by the experts and the method of conducting the audit may vary depending on the needs and the current situation of the company. At Kreatik, conducting a UX audit consists of three stages:
- Debriefing meeting -The purpose of the meeting is to orient the project team and stakeholders to the goals, objectives and expectations of the project. It is an opportunity for the team to exchange opinions and experiences and to present their perspectives.
- Expert audit – Conducted by a specialist or team of specialists with knowledge and experience in a particular field. The purpose of an expert audit is to identify weaknesses and potential for improvement, and to propose solutions and recommendations.
- Report delivery – After the audit is completed, you will receive a professionally prepared report from us in the form of a presentation with tips and recommendations from our experts.
We will audit any product for you: website, e-commerce or application. Our offer is divided into variants that will allow you to tailor the service to your needs.
