Creating a website with the right feeling, or one that hits the right note with your target audience takes research, insight and quite a lot of practice
User experience describes how a person feels when interacting with technology. It’s a simple enough concept, but online business owners the world over so often get it wrong.
Creating a website with the right feeling, or one that hits the right note with your target audience takes research, insight and quite a lot of practice.
It means asking questions like:
'Are my users able to navigate around my site easily?'
'Can they find everything they want within a few seconds?'
'Are they being distracted by confusing design features?'
'Are they frustrated by hidden information?'
But exactly how important is user-experience and how can you ensure your website is up to scratch? In this brief blog, I’ll provide you with the answers.
How important is user experience?
Creating captivating designs…
Search engines are now using data-driven factors to determine how relevant your website is to a particular search query
The practice of search engine optimization (SEO) has experienced monumental changes over the course of the last 15 years. When SEO first broke onto the scene, it was quickly discovered that webmasters could manipulate search results and make their websites rank well merely by packing their target keywords into the website as many times as possible – a practice known as “keyword stuffing”.
This majorly skewed and distorted Google’s and Bing’s search rankings, since low-quality, “spammy” websites were quickly able to outrank reputable and relevant websites. In response to this unfavourable outcome, these search engines rolled out several rounds of algorithm updates, permanently changing the way in which websites are ranked.
Presently, Google and Bing each use hundreds of different factors – with varying levels of importance – to rank websites, helping to ensure…
Chart of the day: the more senior someone is in a business, the more they believe that they offer a good customer experience (CX).
The Customer Experience industry report 2018 by uisertesting.com has found that executive level professionals and those who work in CX management think they have a good CX, whilst UXers, product manager, and researchers believe their CX is less good. Executives may be far too confident about their CX which leads the report and me to suggest that the more senior managers could be less aware of the real CX in their business.
Respondents also reported that good CX is critical to their businesses success, CX is recognized as being incredibly important to the success of a business.
User research is also recognized as helping business growth. The majority also want more user testing…
Chart of the day: Most user research is conducted to understand customers and their needs
Understanding customers needs and testing prototypes or wireframes are the primary reasons for customer research, according to a survey of over 2000 professionals by UserTesting.com
Interestingly, over half (53%) conduct user testing, or use user testing results to inform senior management or stakeholders. It's great to see research is being used to show management and stakeholders evidence for a particular cause and to influence change, based on customer needs.
The power of user research is profound
The study also found that UX research is influencing better quality products and services, as well as that the voice of the customer is considered hugely important.
User research is also having a positive effect on marketing campaigns too. It's great to see marketing teams are bought…
Chart of the day: Most user experience (UX) research is conducted during the design and prototyping phase
76% do UX research during the design and prototyping phase, whilst 72% do user research before design and development.
Just over half (52%) also do user research after launching. It isn't recommended to only do testing after launch, though doing user testing at all is better than not doing it at all. It just makes it harder to make changes after launch. It's certainly best to get the feedback early, to make changes early. It might take more time to test before launch and at various stages, but it certainly saves time in the long run. Those surveyed certainly seem to think the same as the vast majority test before launch. Some of those testing after launch will also be testing at other stages before launch…
Chart of the day: Most marketers are not using Bandit, a CRO testing method.
Most marketers are doing A/B testing, whilst Multivariate testing and Bandit testing, are less used.
What are the differences between each method?
A/B testing involves testing two versions of a page. There is a challenger and a control (usually the original page if you’re testing a different version against an existing page). Visitors are randomly assigned a version. Tests usually continue until a page (or version) is statistically (and significantly) better than the other.
Multivariate testing (MVT) is very similar to A/B testing but involves testing more than two versions
Bandit is similar to MVT except, increased traffic is sent to the most successful option, rather than sending equal numbers of visitors to each version. This allows you…
