Nowadays, getting a website up and running isn’t nearly as difficult as it once was. Optimizing the website design for improved user experience (UX), on the other hand, continues to be something that marketers struggle with.
- Given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain. (Source: Adobe)
- 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. (Source: Adobe)
- Once on a company’s homepage, 86% of visitors want to see information about that company’s products/services. (Source: KoMarketing)
I began conducting usability testing around five years ago when I started digging into UX. I found that the experiences and interfaces that my team and I were crafting, did not always resonate with our intended audiences. The reason being that we were attempting to solve the business problem first and not putting ourselves in the shoes of the Customer.
We spent around 20 – 25% of our time gathering feedback from users in the real world. Comprehensive UX not only takes into account the needs of the business and supporting functionality, but places the importance on customer interaction.
Our research sought to answer the following:
- What are they thinking (or not thinking) about at that moment? • What’s in their immediate environment?
- What are other things that are taking place in their life that intersect with that touchpoint?
- What other external influences, human factors, etc. play a factor in use?
Over time, I learned and began applying Design Thinking frameworks which help to inform design through research and analysis. A national retail brand commissioned our services to conduct usability testing on their e-Commerce website. We worked with 20 candidates over the course of two days, conducting a guided usability test with their internal team while watching via streaming video in a remote location. The results produced a comprehensive usability report along with new insights and recommendations that continue to influence their very successful site.
At the end of the day, our job is to provide a guiding voice for the user to turn their input into informed data points and highlight opportunities to help us create better design solutions.
Customers want to feel inspired – and we want to help them feel more connected to the brand.
