User experience research uncovers how people think and make decisions. It's key to improving website usability and increasing conversions. Design teams frequently skip user research due to high costs or time constraints. This leaves marketers and consumers at a disadvantage.
Prohibitive costs are no longer an excuse to forego research because a variety of web-based solutions is now available. When combined with on-demand recruiting panels, these solutions provide a means to generate instant user feedback in a cost-effective manner. This research can be the quickest way to optimize your website and improve the user experience for site visitors. The following tips and resources will show you how to get started.
Design to make a good first impression
The first impression that a website has on its visitors can mean the difference between converting new customers and losing sales. With so many websites competing for the same dollars, it's critical for users to understand at a glance the purpose of a company and its competitive differentiation. This requires communicating a clear and succinct value proposition in as few as five seconds.
How does a website owner know that key landing pages are communicating messages that resonate and engage audiences? New services like FiveSecondTest are now available just for that purpose. With a quick set-up, it's easy to begin seeing how visitors respond to your website's content and visual design elements.
A FiveSecondTest involves participants who view design concepts and then respond to questions about what they remember. Typical tests include questions such as "Is the site's purpose clear?" and "Who do you think this site is for?" It's a great way to validate that a site is sending the right message and coming across as a trusted and valued resource with its target audiences.
Create content that's easy to find and understand
User experience research can also help improve how information is organized on a website. Card sorting is a popular technique for doing just that. It reveals the different ways that information can be grouped and how people think about various topics. It also helps identify gaps in content that could increase the value and effectiveness of a website for its users.
Card sorts are performed in either open or closed format. During an open card sort, participants organize cards with example content written on them into related groups. Typically, index cards or Post-it notes are used. Participants then provide names for the groups of cards. A closed card sort begins with predetermined categories into which participants group related information.
Card sorting, until recently, faced constraints of being a manual activity. A research moderator would create physical cards and conduct the sort with participants in a research lab or office environment. The logistics of scheduling participants' time, and ensuring they showed up, often limited the number of card sorts that could be carried out. This manual aspect of card sorting became a barrier that many project teams were unable to overcome.
Online card sorting tools like WebSort remove many of the barriers associated with manual processes. These products make it possible to conduct research with a large number of participants, in any location, with a web browser and access to the internet. Participants benefit from the flexibility to complete the card sort in a convenient time and place. Researchers also stand to gain with automated reporting and visualization analysis tools enabling them to identify trends more quickly.
