UX Audits: Uncovering the key to digital success

When a potential client approaches us seeking a website refresh due to the site’s underperformance in certain metrics, there are a few things that we do before jumping right in with a new look and feel. Perhaps surprisingly, we often discover that a redesign isn’t the immediate solution, and that there are simpler, quicker and more effective steps to remedy problems with a product or platform. To uncover the root cause of these issues, Refresh Studio starts by conducting a UX audit — a cost-effective approach to determine why a website isn’t meeting its goals.

What is a UX audit?

A UX audit is a comprehensive evaluation of how a user experiences any digital product or platform: a website, an app, or any other digital platform where they might need to interact. When we conduct a UX audit, our goal is to identify areas for improvement, so that we can make sure the product is user-friendly, accessible, and successful in meeting business objectives — which can often be achieved only if customers or other users are able to make use of the site or app easily and enjoyably.

When and who should conduct audits?

UX audits are useful throughout a product’s lifecycle — they’re an important step before launching a digital product, and can serve as a useful ‘wellness check’ for a product or platform that’s already in use. Our UX audits have helped organisations of all sizes, from startups to established companies, uncover user experience issues that hampered overall performance.

Internal teams can and should keep UX in mind during each of these steps, but an audit by an external expert provides a fresh set of eyes who can more easily spot issues from the perspective of a user who’s unfamiliar with the product. It’s possible that internal teams might overlook issues due to their close involvement, biases, and familiarity with the ins and outs of using the product, whereas an outsider brings fresh insights and an unbiased perspective: like someone using a new friend’s kitchen to make a cup of coffee for the first time, they can quickly spot the tech equivalents of keeping the coffee cups on the opposite end of the room from the kettle — UX that’s counterintuitive even if that’s “just what we’ve always done.”

The importance of a UX audit

When we talk about how the UX audits we’ve performed for customers have had a positive impact on their business, we don’t just mean happier — and less frustrated — users. The numerous business benefits that come with enhanced user experience are measurable in critical metrics: conversion rates, bounce rates, task completion rates, error rates, and ultimately ROI. This edge over competitors who neglect user experience results in increased customer loyalty, better business outcomes, and early risk mitigation.

Exploring UX audit methods

A UX audit employs various methods to identify issues negatively impacting user experience and business performance:

Cognitive Walkthrough: This method involves outlining specific user tasks and attempting to complete them as a first-time user. It helps to quickly identify usability issues, and is cost-effective — it can be performed internally, provided that those doing so are able to put aside their familiarity and put themselves in the shoes of a first-time user.

Heuristic Evaluation: This industry-recognised method assesses the ease of use of a product against a set of usability principles. Primary research from real-world users, such as feedback from usability testing or analytics, enhances the audit with authentic feedback and additional insights.

Technical Infrastructure Review: This involves analysing performance factors such as page load times and ensuring the product functions effectively across different screen sizes — so that all users enjoy a consistent experience, without any surprises.

Accessibility Evaluation: Accessibility standards are reviewed against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to make sure that your site or product can be successfully navigated by people with a broad range of needs: for example, making sure that navigation doesn’t rely on being able to differentiate between two colours, which would cause issues for people who have trouble distinguishing between similar tones on a screen. Addressing accessibility isn’t just a kind thing to do — it can expand your audience, enhance SEO, and ensure compliance with accessibility laws, avoiding potential penalties.

Visual Design and Content Evaluation: In this part of the UX audit, we assess typography, colour, layout, and content (both text and images) to identify areas where the product fails to meet user expectations, business objectives, and industry standards.

Additional considerations for a comprehensive UX audit

User Journey Mapping: When we’re working out how users navigate your website or app, it often helps to create a visual of the steps that users take to accomplish specific tasks there. Once we’ve helped you understand user pathways, it becomes easier for us to identify and demonstrate pain points and areas for improvement, enabling us to create a smoother user journey.

Competitive Benchmarking: Comparing the user experience that your product delivers against competitors’ products helps to identify areas where you can gain a competitive edge. This process highlights strengths and weaknesses relative to your competitors.

Analytics Review: When we examine user behavior data, such as page views, bounce rates, and session duration, we gain quantitative insights into how users interact with your product. This data-driven approach helps pinpoint specific issues, validate findings from other methods, and diagnose the cause of user frustrations at the root of low retention or conversion.

Content Strategy Analysis: Assessing the clarity, relevance, and organisation of your content, as well as its alignment with user intents and your business goals, is crucial. As part of a UX audit, we consider these aspects of an organisation’s content strategy alongside the more conventional considerations of a user journey to explore whether the content is engaging users and meeting their needs as well as the organisation’s.

Customer Feedback: Gathering direct feedback from users through surveys, interviews, or feedback forms lets us understand what’s behind user satisfaction — or concerns about areas needing improvement. This qualitative data complements analytics for a holistic view that gives real users the power to share valuable insights.

Refresh’s approach to UX audits

UX audits are integral to our design process, ensuring that the products we design meet user needs and expectations. Refresh Studio also offers UX audits as a standalone service for companies seeking a starting point to enhance their digital products.

User research is often part of a larger design process when creating a product, but any combination of the audit methods we’ve outlined might be the right fit to audit your digital product.

So, do you need a UX audit?

A UX audit is a powerful tool to uncover the underlying issues affecting your digital product’s performance, and provides actionable insights to enhance user satisfaction, boost key metrics, and achieve business success so that your digital products can hold their own in a competitive digital landscape. It’s not a stretch to say that just about every organisation wants a smoother experience for their users, whether motivated by pride in an excellent product or by the understandable desire for increased profit, and a UX audit is the first step towards that effective product that meets everyone’s needs.

Refresh is a Johannesburg-based UX UI design studio. We believe exceptional product design comes from the intersection of creativity, technology, and human-centricity. Our team brings a unique and holistic approach to every project, delivering innovative interfaces that enhance user experiences and drive business success.

Contact us at hello@ctrlr.studio

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