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Digital products such as websites, applications or even individual functional features are today subject to constant change processes that are driven by trends, technological developments or optimization expectations from users and stakeholders. Creating a consistently positive experience for website and application users (UX) is an ongoing challenge.
Through a UX audit or website audit, both product managers and owners as well as the design and development teams can develop a common understanding of potential gaps and problems in a product and identify possible solutions.
A UX audit reviews digital products such as websites or applications from the users' perspective and assesses various aspects of how the user sees or experiences the product. It is important to ensure that the accessibility requirements for design consistency and traceability (information architecture) are optimally met.
Possible reasons for an audit:
It is also useful to carry out an audit regularly in order to meet rapidly changing user requirements on the web or even trends - in addition, changes, especially technical ones, are becoming increasingly difficult and complex over time.
Before you start a UX or design audit, some requirements should already be clarified:
To optimize the experience with an application, it helps to have a solid understanding of users. Demographic information and data about their behavior on the website, for example, are essential. Where and how users come to the digital product or website (social media, search, etc.) is also important information for further evaluation. So update persona models, user journey assumptions, and set up meaningful website analysis tools such as Matomo or Google Analytics before they get into the audit.
Just as important as knowledge about our users is a clear definition of what you expect from a UX audit as an outcome. What are the goals of your website? What are the success factors of the project? Do you want to improve the number of qualified B2B leads — i.e. look at conversion — or do you want to achieve a better time spent on specific content offers? The more specific the goal definition, the better and more effective the UX investigation.
Who from your company should be involved in a UX audit? Sales and customer service employees, for example, often have a good eye on the needs and questions of potential customers. The production depth and scope of the audit can also be determined more precisely in this way and a budget and resources can be specified.
... 1. Data and flows lie down. In other words, on and off page analytics to first identify problems and solutions to the question of what the data tells us about the motivation of their target groups, how they behave on your website and navigate through the offer. Whether you find and receive relevant content (information architecture)
... 2. Brand, UI, web and content design lie, This examines how understandable your design is, does it follow UX principles and does the design of the brand and the intended goal fit? Is content like headlines Microcopies and descriptions understandable and legible? Does the language suit the product and target group?
For Uhura Digital, the following procedures have proven effective in a UX audit:
In order to collect as much valid data as possible and to develop a more precise understanding, it is useful:
This involves using on-page analytics to record user flows and their behavior, conversion or even abandonments. It is also particularly interesting where users came from before visiting a website or an application. More individual data can also be easily collected using tools such as Hotjar.
The easiest way to collect attitudes from real users and qualitative information is through direct feedback. This is usually done through user interviews or, more extensively, during discussion in focus groups. Internal stakeholders often also offer interesting insights. Product managers, customer services or sales people often provide excellent advice.
Direct and indirect competitor analysis, which not only identifies user-friendliness but also their traffic and search engine rankings, allows you to quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of your own product. User expectations determined by competition and the market environment can also be quickly narrowed down and improvements described.
When valid data has been collected, it is important to organize it and identify deficiencies and frustrations in using the product under investigation.
Uhura uses various data services and tools for data research and analysis in order to analyse as comprehensively and focused as possible.
When analyzing each individual screen and template, the user flow is quickly reflected. The various pages and their possible interactions should be mapped and correlated with the collected data. This is how you recognize the problems and confusing content that stand in the way of an optimal UX and that needs to be improved.
When the data and results of the analysis are organized, they can be further processed by design teams, strategy experts, content managers and developers in a heuristic analysis. As a rule, optimization potentials are clustered in the following areas:
Is the underlying design system consistently maintained? Does the overall visual design comply with brand guidelines and develop them further? For example, have image tonalities been met and typographical requirements implemented? Challenges arising from the interplay of design, content, structure and function are also discussed here.
All content should be checked here, really all content from copytexts and headlines to service content and micro-content. So-called explainer content, possible help texts or hover elements, must also be checked. Sections of text are often ambiguous, headings and buttons (buttons, etc.) are confusing or even missing. The scope of such optimization suggestions can be comprehensive as brand-specific requirements for tonality or SEO-relevant requirements may also have to be taken into account.
More than 15% of the world's population lives with a disability. For this reason alone, it also makes sense to comply with EU and national accessibility requirements. More and more brands are also placing great value on offering websites and apps. Technical aspects, such as page speed and SEO, etc. should also be considered. Design and development teams can identify optimization potential using various tools.
Data and measurement methods are often not future-proof. Relevant KPIs are not collected or worthless reports are passed around without any reflection methodology. Questions from management or individual departments cannot be answered validly. Here, the audit provides options for realigning a professional measurement of important KPIs, aimed at the corporate strategy.
The final audit documentation should categorize and prioritize opportunities, describe critical UX problems and quick wins as well as A/B test suggestions and other challenges.
A UX audit is a process that can be organized at different levels of production and orientation - But don't panic - Eat an elephant bit by bit. Completed successfully, the company provides a clear picture of the current status and guidelines for further optimization in terms of design, usability, content, data and function.
Uhura can help you plan and implement a UX audit — call or send us an email.
