Analytics and the User Experience

Usability Testing with Analytics

Usability testing is something that is often done as a standalone thing, with tests being carried out before the software rolls out. By combining usability testing with analytics, it becomes possible to offer ongoing improvements and to refine the user experience as people spend more time using the app.

With effective analytics, you can greatly improve your conversion rate, because if people enjoy using your website or your app, they will spend more time using it, and they will be more likely to engage with you in the long term.

Asking the Right Questions

One of the biggest challenges with analytics is making sure that you are asking the right questions and that you have clearly defined goals. You might think that the goal is obvious - to improve conversions - but what exactly is a conversion? Sometimes a conversion is just a purchase, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes it’s a foregone conclusion that the user is going to buy, and what you want to do is make them buy more. For example, if the product you are selling is a loss leader such as a deeply discounted printer, then you want the buyer to opt in to product insurance or to keep coming back to buy your printer cartridges. That is how you will make your profits.

With event analytics software you can perform detailed usability tests. For example, you can track how long people stay on the page or how much they have to move their mouse to find the information they are interested in. You can also watch where users go, and see if they click on things that aren’t clickable or take more steps than they need to accomplish a given task.

These are the things that will make the biggest difference when it comes to improving customer satisfaction and making more sales. Huge amounts of traffic are not worth a lot if the traffic does not convert because your visitors cannot find what they want.

Tim