By raux
Imagine managing an eCommerce site. You know that visitors find your site through search engines, engage with your homepage, and even begin the checkout process. But at some point, they don’t convert, and you’re unsure why. It could be that your information hierarchy or user flows need updating, but how do you know which areas to focus on?
A User Experience (UX) Audit is the solution. It helps identify parts of your site or app that may be frustrating users and hindering conversions. Similar to a financial audit, a UX audit uses empirical methods to assess a product and provide heuristic-based recommendations for improvement. The ultimate goal of a UX audit is to identify ways to improve user experience and increase conversions, making it easier for users to achieve their objectives on your website or application.
This beginner’s guide will help teams understand the essentials of conducting a UX audit or how to assess the value of hiring an external audit.
What Happens During a UX Audit?
When conducting a UX audit, the auditor applies various methods, tools, and metrics to analyze where a product is performing poorly. This includes:
- Reviewing business and user objectives
- Analyzing conversion metrics
- Evaluating customer care data
- Studying sales data
- Assessing traffic and engagement
- Verifying compliance with UX standards
- Applying usability heuristics
- Using mental modeling techniques
- Reviewing wireframes and prototypes
- Following UX best practices
While UX audits and usability testing may seem similar, they differ in how they gather data. An audit examines a product against established standards or goals, while usability testing evaluates issues based on user actions. However, usability testing can complement a UX audit when available data is insufficient.
What Can a UX Audit Reveal, and What Are Its Limitations?
A UX audit isn’t a cure-all for UX problems. If the recommendations aren’t actionable or followed up on, the audit won’t be effective. Additionally, an internal audit can be time-consuming, potentially delaying other tasks.
Despite these limitations, a UX audit offers valuable insights such as:
- Identifying what works and what doesn’t
- Revealing what metrics should be collected
- Understanding user needs from data
- Analyzing the impact of previous improvements
A well-executed UX audit can provide actionable recommendations based on data, support strategic design decisions, enhance future iterations, and help improve conversions and ROI.
Who Should Conduct a UX Audit, and When?
Tim Broadwater from LibUX suggests that a UX audit is most beneficial early in a redesign project. It’s typically performed on an existing product or service with enough user data to analyze. For new features or products, usability testing is often preferred over a full audit.
Companies without dedicated UX teams benefit the most from audits. In-house teams tend to continually refine their product and may not need an external audit as frequently.
If budget permits, hiring an external team is recommended, as they offer a fresh perspective and avoid internal biases. External audits can range from $1,000 for a few days to up to $10,000 for more extensive, goal-focused audits. However, even if external help isn’t feasible, you can still perform an internal audit using available tools and best practices.
What Do You Need for a UX Audit?
A successful UX audit requires a cross-functional team, including designers, developers, product strategists, and business managers. It also helps to designate an audit lead to oversee the process.
Before starting, define key elements like:
- Audit goals (e.g., conversions, ROI)
- Timeframe (important to avoid overanalysis)
- Resource allocation (time, workforce, budget)
The UX Audit Process: An Overview
Once goals and resources are set, the audit follows six main stages:
- Metrics and Materials Gathering
Gathering relevant data is the most challenging part of a UX audit. If goals were clearly defined, you’ll know which metrics to collect. Useful data sources include: - Heuristic evaluations: Conduct a cognitive walkthrough to understand the product from the user’s perspective.
- Analytics tools: Platforms like Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, and Crazy Egg offer insights into traffic, user flows, conversion rates, and more.
- Sales or conversion data: Useful for understanding how eCommerce or content-related goals are met.
- Stakeholder interviews or user surveys: These can provide insights into product challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Previous product requirements: These help you understand past design decisions and their impact.
- Organizing the Collected Data
Once the data is gathered, use spreadsheets to track and organize findings. Cloud-based documents allow for easy collaboration and tracking of insights. - Identifying Trends and Patterns
This stage involves turning raw data into actionable insights. Methods like data mining and card sorting can help identify recurring patterns that indicate UX issues. - Reporting Findings
Once trends are identified, hypotheses about user behavior can be formed. Compare these findings with essential UX principles, such as relevance, value proposition, usability, and actionability. - Creating Evidence-Based Recommendations
Finally, make specific, actionable recommendations for improving UX. Be sure to back up suggestions with evidence and provide clear, practical examples for the design and development teams to implement.
Basic UX Audit Resource Kit
Your resource kit will depend on your product and audit goals, but essential tools and resources include:
- Analytics tools: Omniture, Kissmetrics
- Usability testing software: UserTesting
- Heuristic evaluation guidelines: Nielsen’s heuristics
- ISO Principles: For comprehensive usability frameworks
Key Takeaways: A Beginner’s Guide to UX Audits
While conducting a UX audit requires significant time and resources, the benefits are clear, particularly for sites or apps with stagnant conversions. By identifying usability issues and implementing data-driven changes, a UX audit can help boost user satisfaction and ROI.
Ready to Learn More? If you’re interested in furthering your expertise, consider taking online courses in Usability Testing or User Experience to gain deeper insights and practical skills.