5 Essential Steps for a UX Audit: Is Your User Experience Truly Optimal?

How do you know if your platform is on track or working as it should? Well, we introduce you to the UX audit, which is a detailed research process that will allow you to identify failures and offer solutions to improve your product since functional, aesthetic, and quality platforms are the ones that dominate the digital market.

First of all, what is a UX audit?

Jennifer Assi and Santiago Gregorini, two of our UX/UI designers at BluePixel who are in charge of performing audits to improve conversions, explain that a UX audit consists of investigating to determine the weak points, failures, or problems that websites, mobile apps or software may have, to improve them and offer a better experience. 

Jennifer comments that, although they work with many websites, mobile apps and software, each project has different problems and their task is to use a variety of tools and protocols to fully understand the points of improvement in each situation. 

“Our job is to play the user's lawyer”, says Santiago and explains that, when developing a product or service, companies can think only at a business level or seek to make it profitable and functional, so with a UX audit we know what the user feels, sees and interprets, and we seek to make the experience when using the product as enjoyable as possible.

According to the article “The role of visual complexity and prototypicality regarding first impression of websites: Working towards understanding aesthetic judgments” published in Google Research, users take 0.5 seconds to have a first impression of a website. That is why audits are useful to detect everything that can be improved so that in those first 0.5 seconds when they enter our site or app, they are convinced to continue exploring. 

Steps to achieve a UX audit

Before detailing the process as such, UX/UI designers understand that all projects are very different, therefore, each process will vary depending on the magnitude of each case, the functions of each website or mobile application and even the line of business of each company.

However, the basic process that BluePixel experts follow consists of the following steps:

Create a lean UX 

The first thing a UX auditor must do is create a lean UX, which consists of a format where the problem that the company thinks their page or app has is placed, then the expected results of the audit are added and the initial solutions are proposed. 

Research

After creating a lean UX, the auditors begin the in-depth research to fully understand the project and begin to approach the problem. Even if the client indicates that they have a problem, sometimes more details can come out with the research. 

Interviews

After the investigation and as a complement, interviews are conducted with the holders, i.e., decision makers and those involved in the subject, in order to know the business problems, and also with the users, to know the needs or pain points. Depending on the magnitude of the project, focus groups can also be used. 

Usability Testing

Although a UX audit is not always a linear process and the same tools are not always used, the aim is to make a heuristic analysis of the project and usability testing is a very useful element, since it is vital to know how the product works and to gather information to improve its functions.

Solutions and improvements

After doing a detailed investigation of the product and applying a series of evaluations, which in many cases vary and may even use more tests than those mentioned here, the auditors will finally obtain the problem(s) that are affecting the user experience, and will be able to provide solutions and improvements that will greatly benefit the product. 

“The range of tests is very wide, and each process varies depending on the product, time given by the client, scope, among other factors,” says our specialist Gregorini.

5 benefits for your company when doing a UX audit

Among the main benefits that a company gets when doing an audit are: 

Improve the navigability and accessibility of the platform.

By identifying flaws in the navigation of your website or application and correcting them, access will be much easier and more fluid, which will be more attractive to the customer. Users have increasingly high usability standards; this means that they will not use pages that are unattractive, old or do not work well.

An example is daily life, as we all want our daily activities to be simple and the last thing we want is for them to complicate our existence. 

Reduce abandonment rate and increase conversions.

This benefit goes hand in hand with the previous one, since having a page that looks and works well will automatically make customers want to stay, learn more about your brand, your services or products, and purchase them. 

Did you know... according to Storyblock's “The State of E-Commerce in 2023: What Businesses and Consumers Think About E-Commerce Websites” study, 60% of users don't complete purchases due to a bad website experience?

For example, if on an e-commerce page the customer has a complicated shopping experience, they may abandon the site and go to a competitor; but if you identify the shopping problem with a UX audit and modify the process, it will be reflected in your conversions. Simple details such as adding a menu organized by product categories, writing the features of each product and allowing users to leave reviews can make a big difference.

Improve the brand

With a UX audit you will not only know if the experience offered by your website or application to the customer is satisfactory, you will also identify how the customer perceives your brand and if what you want to convey to users is really being perceived. 

You will have the option to make adjustments in functions, design and even in the information you have in your platform so that your customers better understand your brand and that will reinforce their loyalty.

Get to know your customers better

Knowing more about your users is the main benefit that a company obtains when performing a UX audit, since they will be the ones who will consume your product and the most important thing is to provide them with the best experience. Remember that the way you treat your customers is how they will react.

Knowing your customers you will know perfectly which things work or not on your platform and the information you will get from the UX audit will be so valuable that it can even help you to create marketing strategies. 

Reduce costs

With a UX audit you will identify the problems of your platform, you will be able to solve them and redirect your efforts and money in aspects that you have already proven to work and generate conversions. 

For example, if you identify that your customers need assistance and you implement an automated chatbot, you will avoid that one person in your team spends time answering messages and you will be able to use their energy in other aspects that help your business. 

According to the report “The 6 steps to justify a better user experience” prepared by Forrester, for every dollar invested in UX there is an average return of $100 or a return on investment of 9,900%.

How often is it recommended to do a UX audit?

Undoubtedly the question that many companies have is when to do a UX audit, and the answer according to our designers and auditors is... it depends, because although UX audits are very important and even mandatory, the time will vary depending on each business, its line of business and even its magnitude. 

For example, our specialist Santiago Gregorini comments that for large companies or startups it is recommended to do UX audits constantly, because by their nature and the level of information they handle, they have to be renewing and differentiating themselves.

While for small companies it is recommended to perform audits every time a new tool or functionality is to be launched, as this way they will be sure that the updates will be adequate and well received by users. 

Jennifer Assi recommends businesses to carry out audits at least once a year, since companies “have the obligation and need to keep themselves constantly updated and not lose competitiveness”. 

We want to close by emphasizing that the best way to know if your website or mobile application needs an audit is to ask for advice. At BluePixel we can guide and orient you so that your platform achieves the best results. 

You may be interested in: Boost your brand with a good corporate identity design.

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