Researching With Low Traffic

A UX heuristic review in this context is a review of a website based on a set of guiding UX principles, with the aim to identify areas of potential UX friction (ultimately areas of the user experience that could be creating friction or barriers for users on that website). A UX Heuristic review can be conducted on any digital experience; from a full website or core user journey, through to a single page, a piece of functionality, or a design or prototype.

A competitor review involves reviewing the website UX of your competitors, using the UX heuristic principles, to help gather an understanding of the market/industry, identify trends, gather inspiration and compare the user experience to the client’s website.

A competitor review could also include review of the competitor's offering, pricing and overall proposition, to gather an understanding of the industry and identify opportunities.

Use a sample pool of participants who match your target audience. Watch and listen as they walk through your site and perform tasks set by you, designed to emulate your core user journey or area of focus. Tasks and questions are set up within an external tool, meaning participants complete the session independently in their own time, thinking out loud as they go. Once complete, the recording of their screen, voice over (and sometimes webcam image) will be accessible within the tool for analysis.

A form of user research focused on website copy and written content. A sample pool of users are recruited and asked to review excerpts of copy. They are then asked to answer a series of questions to assess their level of understanding, outstanding questions and next steps. Our recommended copy testing tool is Wynter.

Preference testing involves showing participants two (or more) versions of a page, an element, or a piece of copy, and asking them to select their preference and provide rationale for their preference. Data from the full sample of participants can then be used to draw conclusions about the best-performing version.

Use usability study tools or specific prototype testing tools such as Maze to set recruited participants specific tasks to complete on a prototype version of a page, functionality or website. This is usually conducted remotely (see remote usability studies) but can also be in a moderated setting.