UX research, developing your product based on data.
These days, simply being data-driven is not enough to keep up. Many companies already have huge amounts of data, which is constantly being added to thanks to perfect tracking set up by the BI department. Interpreting your data in the correct way helps you see the big picture with your data points, not focusing in on a couple of metrics but getting a good cross-section and performing thorough analyses of your data.
Being data-informed will give you the right insights to make the right decisions, saving you a lot of development time. This also means a large portion of your budget can be rediverted into your product. Every time you make a data-informed decision your product benefits twice.
Get your product launch on track
You need an Analyst with experience in psychology.
Not only do I have a strong analytical mind, I also see patterns and pick up trends rapidly and with ease. What makes me truly unique is my background in psychology, which means I know what questions need to be asked and when. Everything starts with knowing how to create a hypothesis. The stronger your hypothesis, the quicker you get the results needed to improve your product.
User Experience interviews
This is the strongest tool in my toolbox. A regular round of interviews with your target group can provide enormous clarity to the process. Hotjar recordings have their place and can be helpful in analysing user behaviour, but asking your users directly can provide you with the answers you need in a fraction of the time. Personas can also be helpful, but meeting your own target group can be a much more powerful tool; it can change your entire perspective.
Non-guided User Tests
Card sorters, usability tests, directed click maps, and many more tests can be conducted without a researcher present. In fact, a properly set-up test without a researcher is preferable in many cases since the researcher’s presence can contaminate the data. Combining these tests with a questionnaire will help you understand the why behind the behaviour. You then have a veritable treasure trove of data. One of the great benefits of non-guided tests is that you can invite a massive group of respondents. Whilst there are many tools to help you analyse the data quicky, this tool provides rapid insights into what has worked and what needs improvement.
Non-guided user tests can give you insights into click behaviour, filter behaviour, visibility of features, user interpretations, wording, and CTA success, usually within a few hours. This makes it an ideal tool when you need to work fast or need a more convincing sample size of respondents.
Questionnaires & source Research
In most projects, there is a limited budget. It isn’t always possible to go as deep as you would like into the data. Although I am a big advocate of doing thorough research before releasing any feature or product, sometimes real-life constraints get in the way. Fortunately, there is already so much research that is already available to us. There’s nothing wrong in using other people’s insights to point us in the right direction.
In fact, it can be especially useful when used in conjunction with a questionnaire to confirm the findings of previous research. When budgets are tight and results are needed quickly, it can be an invaluable tool. When in doubt, we can always dive deeper. Sometimes these tools can also be used to refine hypotheses before a deeper analysis, to ensure that time-consuming user interviews are used as efficiently as possible.
Ending debates with data
Where do we place the call to action? Which picture works better? What colour converts better? Within and between departments, the debates can be endless. Without a doubt, A/B tests are the best tool for ending all debates. It’s no more complicated than setting up the test with the variable under debate and testing it. Of course, the tests need to be carefully set up, planned, and thought through to ensure clear outcomes.
A/B tests
Some websites run A/B tests constantly, not necessarily because of a large number of inter-departmental debates but because they know decisions made based on data will lead to products their users want. Optimizing constantly both improves your product and ensures you are up to date with trends. Nothing is stagnant, particularly user behaviour, which can change rapidly as a result of new technology or changing user expectations. This is why it is important to stay on top of developments and keep on testing.
Use the outcome for change
Change is difficult for everyone, especially when we’re used to doing things a certain way. Nonetheless, we need to keep changing and improving to stay on top, whether we like it or not. What was true last year is not necessarily true this year. It is important to be open-minded and keep on researching, leaving your ego at home and focussing on the users, since this will always benefit the product. Be bold and get comfortable with change.
The power of a thorough evaluation.
What went well? What needs to be optimized? These feel like simple questions to answer, but it can be daunting to own up to mistakes or to take responsibility for things that didn’t go to plan. It is important create a safe working environment where people are unafraid to admit mistakes and can work together to find better practices. Having the right analytical tools and tracking in place is also very important to ensure a thorough evaluation.