The Easiest Online UX Methods
The UX experience is complex and layered, at its most basic level it involves a close examination of how a user experiences a product or platform. The research process involves determining the end user’s needs and working backwards from there. To determine this you need to know who your users are and what do they want when using this product or platform. User testing is critical to discover system flaws and to unearth any possible confusion that may not be immediately apparent to the designers of the system. The earlier these flaws are discovered the more time and resources it will save later on. Ultimately the designer must take responsibility for each system add-on and feature, any addition should always be driven by user needs. It is also wise to have different volunteers test the sites before launching any updates and to give verbal feedback as they explore the new changes or features available. Data analysis and other feedback options will provide a good snapshot of what the users want from the site.
User experience testing is not something that is done once prior to launch, it needs to be performed regularly for a product or platform to stay competitive and relevant. Fostering a culture of regular testing will allow designers to consistently improve a site’s performance and delight its users.
There are two broad categories of research; quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative turns information into measurables such as statistics. This is a key element of research but some argue that qualitative research is even more important. There is only so much numbers can tell you e.g. data showing how little time someone spent on a certain area of your site doesn’t actually provide an explanation as to why that is. Actual feedback from users is the most valuable as this is what drives real and supported change. Qualitative research is an exercise in observation. Information can be gathered through user interviews, field studies, etc.
So, with all that said, here are the top 10 user research methods you can start implementing right now!
Data Analytics
Data analytics is a type of quantitative research. There are four categories of data analysis; descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive. It will inform designers and system administrators on the amount of traffic that the site is receiving, which pages are the most and least popular, where the site’s users are based, and how much time is spent on each page. This information can give those behind the site a good indication of what is working and what is not. But beware, no business decisions can be made just off data analysis alone. User feedback needs to be gathered to back up any changes to be made going forward. Once this is done and examined with the analytics, system designers are better to equipped to proceed with changes.
User Reviews and Ratings
There may already be useful user feedback available to the public online. Searching for your site or platform online could prove interesting and help you to gain a new perspective on your site by looking at it through someone else’s eyes. Be sure to check different sources to get as much feedback as possible.
Market Research
Market research and user experience research are not the same but both can lend themselves to the other. Those working in market research will have an aerial view of the users and be able to provide system designers with information relating to demographics, age, gender, and income level (which will determine their buying power). User experience is more granular and does not involve broad data.
Card Sorting
Card sorting can be done with pen and paper or through free resources available online. This will involve a group of people coming together and grouping parts of the site together that makes the most sense from their perspective. The card sort is then reviewed and discussed among the working group. This should lead to better navigation of the site for the end-user. This should be done prior to the launch of a site and during periodic reviews. Each category should be allotted a certain amount of time and the participants should be made aware of the decided time constraints before beginning.
Moderated User Testing
Moderated user testing can be performed online through a discussion group. The participants will explore the site (or parts of the site that has undergone changes) and report their findings or questions back to the moderator in real-time. This type of testing can have its challenges though as silence at the other end could mean that the user is either immersed in content or silently confused. As a rule of thumb, if the user is confused there is most likely an issue at the design level.
Availability and Accessibility
We have all encountered broken URLs before (a common UX pain). Regular auditing for these kinds of issues is essential to keeping traffic and download numbers high. Accessibility entails making sure that the site is usable for as many people as possible; the site should have a clear layout and be easy to navigate with clear icons.
First Click Testing
First click testing shows what visitors to your website first go to. It is usually used in a type of moderated user testing scenario to determine how the site performs in action (live). The participants will be given specific tasks to carry out and their performance will be tracked using specific software to track the experience. If the participants face difficulties in completing the assigned tasks or are slower than anticipated then this is an issue at a design level that will require further examination.
Heuristic Evaluation
Heuristic evaluation is not intended to replace user testing but gives designers and system administrators quick feedback by drawing comparisons between the existing site and user experience best practices. It is a good base to begin before doing a deep dive into user testing to ensure that there are no foundational flaws. This type of testing should only be performed by UX experts who then aggregate their collective results.
Parallel Design
This will involve the design team splitting up to work independently to formulate their own site layout. They will then come back and review the results as a team and create the site together. Improving System Usability Through Parallel Design Site exit disclaimer (1996), Jakob Nielsen was in favor of parallel design as it generated the best results.
Prototyping
Prototyping can be done on an HTML interactive page allows the design team. The goal of this type of testing is to ensure the site is efficient and effective for the user. A participant will also be able to provide strong and reliable feedback after use.
