Not all business problems are customer problems. (Customers couldn’t care less that you aren’t generating enough sales leads.)
Not all customer problems are business problems. (A tech company probably doesn’t care that their app doesn’t work on a PalmPilot.)
So, how do companies find the right problems to solve? They leverage product management and UX frameworks.
Continue reading “How Product Management & UX Work Together”I often compare usability testing to juggling in the middle of a 3-ring circus—there’s a lot happening all at once and it’s easy to miss (or misinterpret) what you’re seeing.
During a recent usability study, I noticed that a few participants stopped scrolling about halfway down the page.
At first, I assumed it was because they had either a) found all the information they needed, or b) hit their limit on reading (i.e., reader fatigue).
There seemed to be good information scent—so it wasn’t until a tester mentioned reaching the “bottom of the page” did I look at the screen again with fresh eyes.
Continue reading “12 Less Obvious Usability Issues to Look For”Each year, the QRCA (Qualitative Research Consultants Association) holds a contest for its members to respond to a fictional RFP.
I joined the QRCA in late 2018 and was unaware of the contest until the finalists presented their proposals at the January 2019 QRCA conference (which were all excellent!).
At the conference, I met several market researchers who were curious about the types of research I conduct as a UX researcher (beyond usability testing). To help answer that question, here is how I may have responded to the fictional RFP.
Continue reading “Case Study: UX Research & Strategy Proposal to Drive Revenue Growth”Customer problems erode your bottomline.
Chip away at them using a human-centered approach to design solutions, and then continually measure performance using CES (customer effort score).
If you’re not sure where or how to begin measuring the impact of design, I recommend starting with CES.
Continue reading “4 Tips for Measuring Customer Problems”Sales. Orders. Average Order Value. Churn.
What do all of these things have in common? They are all examples of metrics that companies obsessively measure.
What’s a critical metric that more than half of companies aren’t tracking? Design.
Continue reading “Can Design Be Measured? Design Metrics for Data-Driven Organizations”A common misconception about UX research is that it only involves usability testing websites and apps.
In reality, testing websites and products to ensure they’re easy to use is a very small part of the user research discipline.
Instead, think of UX researchers as business strategists. They live at the intersection of customer needs and business strategy—driving head-turning results. No joke, customer-obsessed companies outperform the S&P 500 by leaps and bounds.
Continue reading “28 Reasons to Invest in UX Research”When optimizing your website, product, email program, or retail experience—think beyond A/B testing by continuously seeking new customer problems to solve.
Gartner has proven that eliminating or reducing customer effort is the best way to improve customer loyalty.
Continue reading “How to Uncover Customers’ Problems”Tired of getting beat by competitors on price, promotional offers, or product mix?
Fight back with a differentiated experience that solves customers’ unmet needs.
Customer-obsessed companies are winning.
Continue reading “How to Differentiate Your Brand Using UX Research”What can you do when your boss or your organization’s leaders say “no” to design?
An ongoing challenge shared by many UX professionals is getting the green light to move forward on a solution to improve the user experience.
Believing UX is the right thing to do isn’t enough. As UX strategists, we must categorically demonstrate the business value, too.
Continue reading “How to Persuade Your Leaders to Invest in UX”Now that your UX research has been synthesized and shaped into a compelling story backed by data — what’s the best way to get it into the hands of decision-makers (and the rest of the team)?
Continue reading “8 Ways to Share User Research Findings & Customer Insights”