How To Create The Ultimate Design Audit Of Your Website – A Step-By-step Guide

A developer’s responsibility does not simply limit itself to creating new UI designs. UI designers also relate to conducting a detailed UX design audit or reviewing their client’s site. It is very well possible that a UI/UX design company or team is approached to conduct an extensive audit to identify design drawbacks and areas of improvement in the existing UI design.

Just like product companies that revamp their packaging, software companies and other businesses also revamp their website or app design from time to time so that the visitor finds something interesting when he visits. This evolution of a website or app design with time starts with a complete review by a user experience consultant.

A UI design layout in its existing form is complex and needs the expertise and perspective of a good UI design consultant. Here are the things that UI design consultants consider while making a detailed UX design review report for their clients. While taking a UX design review, the UX design consultant has to stand at the crossroads of the client’s perspective and objectives crossing with the user’s demands and expectations.

Also read: Start To Finish UX Audit Checklist To Help You Expose The Usability Issue On Your Site

Every company creating and launching a website or an app does so to achieve certain business objectives. The consultant reviewing the UI design of the website or app has to be mindful of the business objectives and understand them in depth. Only then will he be able to gauge if the UI design is helping in their achievement or not. The user experience designer has to understand the product completely for an in-depth analysis of its design. This analysis starts from the knowledge of the business objectives.

If the existing UI design is aligned with the business goals and has achieved them well, the company does not need major changes in the layout. However, if the UI design is misaligned, the UX designer notes the issues and makes a report on them. Understanding the company’s business goals is not difficult if you are a UX designer on the in-house designing team.

However, if the UX designer is only hired on a short-term basis or for a singular project, he must communicate with the in-house team. Sometimes, companies hire user experience design consultants from outside for audit because they want an unbiased and relevant, fresh perspective on the design.

One of the best ways to start the business objective learning process is to conduct individual interviews with the stakeholders of the company and the designing process. Each interview will help know the business objectives in-depth and clarify where the team is going right and where it is going wrong. Once the user experience design agency is clear on the business objectives, it has to share the insights with the client so that both parties agree on the objectives to be achieved.

Once the business objectives are clear, the UX design consultants can proceed to know the user segment for which the product is launched. The UX design should create detailed user personas for the product and start understanding the user persona and needs accordingly. The insights to create an accurate user persona can come from the stakeholder interviews because stakeholders and employees know the user segment very well.

If the UX design consultant has time, he can start conducting end-user interviews and surveys to understand the user segment better. Knowing and understanding the needs of the user segment is most important because they interpret the user experience. The UX design consulting services have to be used to understand how the design translates into the user experience. This will help the consultant identify design gaps and document them in the report.

The UX design consultant must create a detailed user flow to understand how users engage with the design. The user flow helps in knowing where the engagement model is falling flat and how to enhance its efficiency in communication with the users. The UX design audit consultant has to map out the user’s journey to discover the digital product and engage and retain it.

The aim is to audit the design and create a better design that inspires the user to engage with the product and return to it frequently. The auditor has to also map out the hurdles in the user journey so that the company finds a way to address them and resolve them in the next phase. The user journey map will help the UX designer consultant structure the audit process and suggest improvements accordingly.

Also read: Why To Conduct A UX Audit And Its Benefits For Your Business

The analytical data behind a digital product like a website or app greatly gauge its performance and impact on the user base. The UX designer consultant has to be well versed with Google Analytics and other analytical tools to source and interpret the analytical data for proper review and reporting of the metrics.

Usually, the client company does not go into the analytics deeply. Therefore, the role of a UX designer and auditor becomes important at this stage of the review. The proper review of the analytical data provides a proper scaffold of qualitative and quantitative metrics for monitoring design efficacy.

A UX design layout follows certain usability principles and guidelines to meet the design industry standards. A heuristic evaluation shows the designer how up-to-date the layout is aligned with the usability principle. The website or app should have high usability for the best impact on its users. The UX designer consultant has to conduct a complete heuristic evaluation to examine the basic usability structure of the design. The user experience designer must then document all the challenges he identifies during the evaluation.

Once all the examinations and evaluations are over, the UX designer must compile all the findings and challenges and share the report with the client’s team. Moreover, the designer has to also make important and feasible recommendations to the client so that the UI/UX design can be improved where necessary.

Uaxe Labs, an User Experience Design Consultant offers the most creative UX design services to help businesses to stay on top of the trends and innovation. Hire us as your UI/UX design agency to win new customers and provide a fantabulous visitor interface.