A story about UX Analysis
How Data and Testing Helped Transform Webshops
“Intro”
We’ve all had frustrating experiences with apps or websites — buttons that don’t do what we expect, forms that feel like an interrogation, or pages that load at a snail’s pace. That’s where UX analysis comes in. It’s the process of studying how users interact with a product and finding ways to make those interactions smoother, more intuitive, and just… better.
What Is UX Analysis?
UX (User Experience) analysis is like detective work for design. It involves gathering data on how users navigate a digital product, what problems they encounter, and where they get stuck or frustrated. The goal? To improve usability, accessibility, and overall satisfaction.
This process isn’t just for designers — it’s valuable for anyone involved in creating digital experiences, from developers to marketers to business owners. After all, if users struggle to use a product, they won’t stick around for long.
A great user experience isn’t just about aesthetics — it directly impacts business performance and user satisfaction.
Why Is UX Analysis Important?
When UX falls short, users abandon carts, leave negative feedback, and hesitate to return. Conversely, an optimized experience increases retention, builds trust, and improves efficiency, making it valuable for designers, developers, and business leaders seeking to enhance digital interactions. With BBG webshops, I aimed to bridge usability gaps and improve overall engagement.
UX Analysis in Action: A Real-World Case Study
I recently conducted a UX analysis for BBG webshops, including Klarstein, Blumfeldt, and Electronic Star. The goal was to understand user behavior, identify pain points, and make the platforms more intuitive and engaging.
Microsoft Clarity played a key role in uncovering challenges and providing deep insights through heatmaps, session replays, and behavioral analytics. These tools helped me identify user frustration points, such as high drop-off rates, ineffective search functionalities, and repeated clicks on non-interactive elements. By visualizing user interactions, I refined the design approach and leveraged this data to improve internal workflows and enhance digital experiences across different teams.
One of the most valuable additions was custom smart event tracking within Microsoft Clarity. This feature allowed me to analyze user journeys in greater detail, revealing critical interactions and helping me fine-tune campaigns and funnel performance for a smoother experience.
After gathering insights from Microsoft Clarity, I refined the analysis through A/B testing, collaborating with developers and the shop management team to compare design variations, measure their impact, and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Some results were predictable, while others surprised us.
By testing layouts, navigation tweaks, and content adjustments, we identified what genuinely improved user engagement and conversion rates, ensuring that each change had a positive effect.
Identifying and Addressing UX Challenges
The research uncovered several pain points affecting the user experience. To address these issues, I examined each challenge in detail, identifying its impact, researching solutions, and testing their effectiveness. Here’s a selection of the most significant ones:
One Checkout Page
The checkout process was too long, leading to high abandonment rates. Through analysis, I found that multiple steps caused unnecessary friction. I tested a single-page checkout flow against the original multi-step process, measuring completion rates and user satisfaction. The results showed that the single-page version led to a smoother experience and significantly higher completion rates. This change, along with others, contributed to a 5% increase in returning users and a 0.4% rise in the overall conversion rate.
Accessibility Improvements
I conducted a dedicated accessibility study to enhance usability for all users. The improvements focused on essential best practices, covering topics such as color contrasts, common accessibility errors, common accessibility alerts, structural elements, and ARIA guidelines. These enhancements contributed to a more inclusive experience, ensuring compliance with accessibility standards and improving overall user satisfaction. This led to performance scores improving by over 10 points, reinforcing the success of these UX optimizations across the platform.
Intrusive banners
On mobile devices, intrusive banners obstructed product access. Clarity analytics showed that users frequently exited pages when banners appeared. To better understand user preferences, I ran A/B tests comparing different placements, including top vs. bottom positioning and sticky vs. non-sticky banners. Results showed that a top, non-sticky banner provided the least disruption while still delivering key messages effectively. Based on these insights, I redesigned banners to take up less space, improving navigation and reducing user frustration. This optimization also increased overall sessions by 10%, as users found the experience less intrusive and more engaging.
Search Bar Prominence
The search bar lacked prominence, causing difficulties in product discovery. I tested different placements and formats, including an always-visible search field vs. a collapsed one that expanded on click. Results showed that an always-visible search bar significantly improved search usage and user efficiency. This optimization contributed to a noticeable rise in overall sessions. Additionally, with mobile becoming the dominant browsing method, making the search function more accessible was a crucial improvement that enhanced the overall user experience. The change also led to a 5% reduction in dead clicks, meaning users engaged more intentionally with interactive elements. Based on these insights, I updated the layout to ensure users could easily locate and use the search function.
Marketing Communication Complexity
The absence of dedicated marketing areas limited engagement opportunities. My research indicated that well-placed promotions enhanced user interaction. To determine the most effective approach, I conducted A/B tests on different banner placements and formats within the product listing area. The results showed that banners designed as product cards and positioned within the listing performed best, driving higher engagement and conversion rates. Based on these findings, I strategically integrated marketing content across the site to improve product visibility and boost conversions.
Ineffective Assistant Widget
Users struggled with an ineffective support assistant widget, leading to frustration. Analysis showed repeated failed interactions. To determine the best approach, I conducted A/B tests comparing different versions of the widget, including variations in response timing, message phrasing, and suggested actions. Additionally, I tested whether opening the assistant chat when users clicked the ‘Contact Us’ link in the header menu was more effective than directing them to a separate contact page with company information. The results revealed that a proactive, context-aware assistant significantly improved user satisfaction, and opening the chat upon clicking ‘Contact Us’ led to faster resolutions. I refined its responses based on these insights, leading to better user engagement and fewer rage clicks.
Optimizing Product Selection UX
To address the confusion caused by option selectors on product pages, I carried out several usability tests, which I describe in detail below. Heatmaps and session recordings revealed hesitation among users when selecting product variations like size or color.
First, I conducted an A/B test to compare dropdown menus against radio buttons for variation selection. The results showed that dropdowns performed better, as many products had extensive option lists, making radio buttons impractical.
Next, I tested the placement of color selection by introducing visual color samples, which enhanced clarity and user interaction.
Lastly, another A/B test evaluated whether displaying color options directly within product cards on the listing page would outperform keeping them exclusively on the product detail page. The results indicated that listing-page color selection improved user engagement and made product selection more efficient.
These insights informed key design updates that clarified product choices and reduced friction throughout the purchase process.
Insights Gained from Additional A/B Testing
With the Developers and Shop Management team, we tested several other features. One of these is a free shipping upsell notification, assuming it would encourage users to add more items to their cart. However, the test results showed no significant increase in conversions, indicating that users were not motivated by the offer or preferred a different incentive. As a result, we decided to remove the notification and explore alternative strategies to drive higher cart values.
On the other hand, emphasizing next-day delivery with a visually enhanced design next to the call-to-action button increased click-through rates by 5%. This included adding a countdown graphic to show the remaining time for next-day delivery eligibility, which created a sense of urgency among users.
Additionally, redesigning the newsletter subscription area to highlight benefits such as exclusive discounts, product previews, and tailored recommendations led to significant engagement improvements. Streamlining the subscription process by reducing form fields contributed to a 20% rise in subscriptions. A/B testing further highlighted the importance of personalized incentives, such as offering exclusive next-day delivery benefits and welcome discounts for subscribers, which notably boosted engagement and user retention.
Displaying exact stock quantities, which we initially believed would create urgency, surprisingly had no measurable impact on user behavior. Despite the assumption that scarcity would drive quicker purchasing decisions, heatmap data and click-through rates remained unchanged.
Enhancing the image gallery and lightbox navigation significantly improved how users interacted with product visuals. By introducing smoother transitions, zoom capabilities, and swipe gestures for mobile users, we made the experience more intuitive and engaging. These changes allowed users to examine product details more closely, leading to longer engagement times and an increase in product page interactions by 15%. Furthermore, user feedback highlighted that the streamlined navigation contributed to a more satisfying browsing experience, particularly on mobile devices.
Final Thoughts
This project demonstrated how UX research and iterative design directly contribute to business growth and operational efficiency. By continuously testing and refining experiences, we not only improved customer interactions but also set a framework that business teams could use to optimize their digital tools and platforms.
To fellow designers: trust the process, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Not every idea will work, but each step helps you better understand the people you’re designing for. And in the end, that’s what makes UX so rewarding.
Enjoyed this article? Check out my two related case studies UX Analysis and Global Design System.
Or visit my portfolio for more insights and projects mecdesigner.com