Contrary to the common beliefs UX is not just about making interfaces look pretty. UX is all about crafting seamless and memorable experiences for users of digital products and services alike. In this highly competitive and ever-changing digital market, staying ahead of the curve is pivotal for the survival of your business so UX optimization should be at the top of your list.
Sit tight as in this article we have collated everything you need to know about optimizing your product’s UX!
Key Takeaways:
✅ UX optimization is all about improving the way that users feel when they interact with a product or service.
💡 UX optimization is an iterative process!
🤩 UX optimization is critical for the success of your digital product as it has a direct impact on the effectiveness of your product or service.
🙌 Continuous UX optimization can be a strategic competitive advantage of a digital business.
📊 An optimized user experience will have a positive effect on conversion rates.
What is a UX optimization?
UX optimization is in essence the process of enhancing the overall user experience of a digital product or service. To put it simply, UX optimization is all about improving the way that users feel when they interact with a product or service.
The ultimate goal of UX optimization is to aid in creating more pleasurable and user-friendly experiences for the users. This can in turn help businesses hit their objectives when it comes to user acquisition and retention as well as overall conversion rates! UX optimization is an umbrella term that consists of a host of different techniques and strategies so let’s dive straight in.
Why is user experience optimization crucial?
User experience optimization is critical for the success of your digital product as it has a direct impact on its effectiveness.
Here are some key reasons why UX optimization is a must:
Improved User Satisfaction
A design that works like a well-oiled machine will beyond a shadow of a doubt boost user satisfaction as it ensures that users can achieve their end goal friction-free! Overall, products with intuitive interfaces are perceived as more enjoyable making consumers more likely to keep using the product over time as well as recommend it to others.
Enhanced User Engagement
A product with an optimized UX design can lead to higher user engagement. Users will want to come back for more when their initial experience with a product or service has been positive or exceeded their expectations. Extended interaction with the product can in turn lead to enhanced user engagement with the users being less likely to use a competitive brand.
Higher Conversion Rates
Another key benefit when it comes to UX optimization is that it can lead to higher conversion rates. The main goal of UX optimization is to remove or at least reduce the friction that might surround a particular interaction.
Hence, through UX optimization, interactions are being simplified and users can complete an action in an easier and more intuitive way. In turn, this boosts conversion rates and has an overall positive impact on the financial goals of the business.
Competitive Advantage
Continuous UX optimization can be a strategic competitive advantage of a digital business. In this competitive market, standing out from the competition is of utmost importance and a flawless user experience can get you there!
Lower Support Costs
Working with a fiddly interface that is prone to interaction issues can be the cause of higher support costs. UX optimization work can lead to a frictionless interface with minimum need for customer support and troubleshooting! In this way, you can save massively on both time and resources!
Trusted Brand Image
Positive digital experiences will undoubtedly lead to a more positive brand image for your business. In turn, a positive brand image creates a sense of trust and of higher perceived security which is of utmost importance when it comes to business models where the revenue comes from online transactions of some sort!
How to optimize the UX of your product?
UX optimization can seem like a huge, daunting task. This is why we have broken down the process into simple, actionable steps to get you started on your product’s UX optimization journey.
1. Identify user goals
The first step of your UX optimization journey is no other than user research. Understanding your intended users is the alpha and the omega of UX optimization done right. User research will help you get a better understanding of your audience and their distinctive needs.
Creating user personas is an excellent way to organize those needs and better understand the different user types as well as their primary and secondary goals.
Furthermore, engaging in user research will help you uncover areas of your product that are delighting the users as well as areas that might be underperforming. By taking the time to observe how users interact with your digital product, you have a huge opportunity to check that your product meets the users’ needs in all the right ways.
Once the main issues have been identified then you can start prioritizing them based on their severity. To put it simply, the issues that prevent the user from achieving their primary goals are the ones that need to be dealt with first.
2. Create a UX testing plan
Step two of the process is to come up with a coherent testing plan. Taking a step back to define your testing objectives and clearly outline your testing goals will ensure meaningful results at all times. Make sure to start testing the most crucial features first! For example, if your business model is e-commerce, you might want to prioritize issues around the checkout process.
Once you have identified the elements that you want to test, it is time to start thinking about the testing methodology. Depending on your objective you might want to deploy one or more methods to test. Here are some common methodologies to keep in mind:
- Usability testing: This method is about observing the users while they interact with a specific element in an effort to identify possible usability issues.
- A/B testing: This is a more advanced method with which you can test two different versions of the same element and decide based on data which performs better.
- User interviews: This method includes interviewing a small sample of your intended users to get a deeper understanding of their wants, needs, and frustrations.
- Surveys: User surveys is another great method when it comes to uncovering user needs and wants. It involves crafting and distributing surveys to your users in order to better understand their experience with a product or to pinpoint their needs and frustrations.
Finally, don’t forget to establish success criteria for your testing so that you can better evaluate the type of UX optimization that needs to be done.
3. Analyze results and propose changes
After the testing comes the part of thoroughly analyzing the data that you have collected during the testing sessions. Analyzing the data and uncovering recurring themes and insights is one of the most important steps of this process. Based on the insights you can then propose changes to enhance the UX of the product.
4. Implement UX changes and test
The last step of this process is to implement the changes based on the collected insights. Before going live with the changes make sure to test thoroughly to ensure that the new solutions are working as expected!
And take note, UX optimization is an iterative process so once you implement the changes, make sure to closely monitor them and continue to iterate and refine based on data and user feedback!
UX optimization techniques to use
To master the art of UX optimization use the below techniques and get a deep understanding of the interaction between the user and the design interface:
Test the first impression
First impressions do matter, so get accurate data by capturing the first impressions that your users have when interacting with your interface for the first time! There are a couple of tried and tested techniques to achieve that.
Firstly, you can use the 5 second testing tool which specifically focuses on understanding the user’s initial reactions to a digital design. During the 5 second testing users are shown an interface for a few seconds and then they get asked questions about their initial impressions.
This way, you can check if your design conveys the intended message at a glance. On the other hand, you can also use the first click test which works in a similar way but it helps you to specifically get insights about the first action that the user would intuitively perform on a website or app.
Usability testing
Usability testing is another great methodology used to observe users while they interact with a design or an interface. This technique helps you uncover areas of the product that are working well as well as areas that are underperforming!
To use this technique, recruit participants who fall under your target audience and ask them to perform a task on your website or app. You can then record how they interact with your product and draw invaluable insights about the usability, desirability, and effectiveness of your interface.
Usability testing helps to easily uncover problematic areas in your UX and pinpoint areas of improvement. You can conduct usability testing using online usability testing tools like UXtweak.
See how usability testing works in these demos 👇
Evaluate the accessibility
Another powerful technique that leads to UX optimization is evaluating the accessibility of a website or an app. To achieve this you can perform an expert review against the widely known, industry-approved accessibility guidelines or use web accessibility evaluation tools to scan your digital product and pinpoint areas for improvement.
A/B testing
Performing an A/B test is another very helpful UX optimization technique to have in your arsenal! A/B testing involves comparing two or more versions of the same design to find the version that performs better according to your set metrics. A/B testing tools allow you to essentially split the traffic on the page that you are testing so that different groups of users can see the different versions of a design.
Perform a heuristic evaluation
Performing a heuristic evaluation is yet another technique that can help you achieve UX optimization. UX experts can perform expert reviews to go through the digital product and evaluate it against heuristics, a set of pre-defined rules to assess a digital product.
Heuristics are assessing mainly the usability of a product and based on the findings, experts can provide recommendations for UX optimization.
Do a cognitive walkthrough
Last but not least, doing a cognitive walkthrough is a unique technique that allows you to step into your user’s shoes and evaluate an interface or product from the perspective of the user. Simply, go through the website or app and try to imagine the potential issues that the user might be facing while performing a particular action!
What is the difference between UX optimization and CRO?
Although interrelated, the terms UX optimization and conversion rate optimization are not identical. An optimized user experience will inevitably have a positive effect on conversion rates but this is just one of the effects that UX optimization can have on the overall user experience of the digital product.
Here is a handy comparison to better understand the difference between the two terms:
Characteristic UX Optimization Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Focus The focus is on enhancing the overall user experience. The focus is on increasing the number of conversions. Key Metrics The key metrics are user satisfaction and engagement metrics. The key metrics are conversion rates and cost per conversion. Benefits The main benefits included improved user retention and higher user satisfaction. The main benefits included increased revenue and higher return on investment.
Ready to optimize your UX?
In this highly competitive digital product landscape, UX optimization is one of the few ways to sustain a competitive advantage over similar brands. UX optimization is far more than just making a product look slick, instead, it is about creating meaningful interactions that align with the user needs.
If you are unsure of how you can start your journey towards UX optimization, register for your UXtweak account to learn how our experts and a set of specialized tools can help you unlock the full potential of your digital product.
