User research: the key to successful digital products
We often see businesses putting a lot of budget, time and focus into marketing and customer acquisition, yet falling behind when it comes to looking after those they’ve already converted.
Businesses could instead be committing to delight their customer-base – creating the right user experiences, developed through user research, testing and design – to maximise retention.
Understanding the user journey is fundamental in developing a user-centred design. It plays a pivotal role in the success of a digital product, ensuring optimal user engagement, adoption and recommendations.
We took this key principle and applied it to our recent project with iomart to develop a bespoke solution, but we’ll come on to that later.
Why you should undertake user research
In-depth research is integral to a user-first experience; it’s our number one goal.
Why? Because it translates into remarkable results for the client and their digital product.
Placing your user front and centre from the onset of a project means they become a continuous thread running throughout the process. You want the product to work well on behalf of the user and, by keeping a user-centred approach, you’ll be able to deliver a product with a leading user experience that encourages engagement and retains your client base.
Undertaking user research allows you to check-in with your audience to uncover insights into new requests, ideas or upcoming changes that could negatively impact the user experience if done incorrectly.
That’s not all; here are six reasons why you should be applying user data to your project:
Six reasons you should be applying user data to your project
1. Save time by preventing incorrect assumptions
Most design projects are based on an assumption made by the business on behalf of your user.
User research tests these assumptions, allowing you to confirm whether your idea is correct, needs a complete overhaul or just minor adjustment before you spend additional budget designing and developing.
It prevents you from designing solutions that aren’t needed, fixing problems that don’t exist or undoing something that is already working.
2. Deliver the best possible outcomes through clear customer personas
By exploring your audience’s needs or issues, you can build a clear picture of your customer persona that guides you through any design decisions.
It also provides a central point of reference for team members not involved in the research to gain a better understanding of your user.
3. Improve design through deeper understanding
Sometimes the reason behind an issue doesn’t jump out at us because we’re not looking at the product through the lens of the end user.
By understanding how and where a product is being used, as well external factors that might impact on their experience, we can better design solutions that help.
4. Reveal the truth to trump debate
Conversations around a product’s development are often opinion-led. Sometimes those opinions are at odds with the needs of your user.
By compiling a body of data, through user research, you can develop a single source of truth. This enables you to reconcile your team’s thoughts, opinions and biases with your users’ reality, whilst providing a consistent reference point to keep your project moving in the right direction.
5. Get it right the first time
Nothing beats hearing first hand from your user. Even if the response confirms what had already been assumed, it's still worth spending time getting clarification. It will be cheaper than getting it wrong!
6. Discover opportunities to innovate
By taking time to understand your users and their needs within the context of their own world, you can set yourself up to provide a solution that resolves their pain points.
Depending on the methods of research used, however, you may also end up uncovering opportunities to innovate solutions, products and services that propel your business forward.
Getting to know your audience in the beginning stages of your project development really puts your best foot forward.
It means you can create a brief that both centres your user and provides for them. That way you spend less time, money and energy rehashing those details in the future and increase your speed to market.
Obtaining data through user research
But how do you go about obtaining data through user research?
Well, it starts with a question - what are you hoping to learn? This will form the basis of the research methods you chose, the data they provide and the possible outcomes.
For example, quantitative research provides us with statistical data - it tells us what users are doing and how much they’re doing it, while qualitative research provides us with context – the ‘why’ behind their actions.
We use a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods for a comprehensive understanding of users and their behaviours. They might be attitudinal in nature (self-reports from users), or behavioural (observations).
Here are 5 research methods to help you get started:
1. Micro surveys
Quantitative, attitudinal
Tools such as Hotjar (there are others on the market), enable you to add micro surveys to your website and gather insights from users at different stages of their journey.
A micro survey can be a quick interaction, with minimal user effort, to gain feedback on simple questions such like:
What brought you to our website?
Have you found what you are looking for?
How would you rate your overall experience with our website?
We usually follow this up with asking users for permission to contact them with a longer survey to help shape the services or product on offer. This may need to be incentivised but the takeaways from these are always worth it.
2. Long-form surveys
Quantitative, attitudinal
Micro surveys are great for quick feedback but they don’t tell you the whole story. Enter long-form surveys.
As participants opt into these more comprehensive questionnaires, you can take the opportunity to ask more questions, at a deeper level, to gain further insights into the user, their background, their needs and preferences.
This type of survey helps you paint a clearer picture of your customer.
3. User interviews
Qualitative, attitudinal
Direct customer contact, such as user interviews, will always be a fantastic method of gaining relevant user insights. You could try dialoguing with users on a monthly basis to check-in to make sure that you are still providing value, or whether a recent update has been well received.
Tip: using the same script of questions and topics to talk from means you can gather comparable data.
We would also recommend you record these conversations so you can revisit them later and take notes to prevent missing key details or findings during the conversation.
4. Usability testing
Qualitative/quantitative, behavioural
Usability testing involves observing users carrying out a specific task to evaluate whether a product or interface is operating effectively.
Carrying out this type of user research via video (or remote platform like Useberry) means actions can be recorded for you to review later.
Testing allows you to determine:
current pitfalls
what is working well
areas for improvement
points of frustration during customer interaction.
It can also be used to assess a prototype or new feature which is yet to roll out – allowing data-driven design decisions to be made before time and budget is spent developing and marketing something new.
5. Observation
Qualitative, behavioural
Using platforms like Hotjar opens up opportunities for additional, and incredibly valuable, data. More specifically these platforms allow you to explore visual data points based on the behaviour of those using your website or product in real-time.
You can identify:
where users are misclicking
where users are dropping off in a process
what content users are taking in most
usability issues
overall quality of the user experience
sources of problems that are causing low engagement
what is blocking conversion
what is gathering the most clicks on any page you have the script installed on.
We use observations to accurately understand user behaviours and experiences, and develop recommendations for improvements.
In fact, it forms the basis of our User Behaviour Audit - the specialist package we’ve crafted that delivers actionable insights to improve and strengthen your digital product, allowing you to better meet your users’ needs.
User Behaviour Audit: Find out exactly where to make improvements on your website by exploring visual data points, analysed and delivered by user experience specialists.
So the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind user research is solid, but what about applying these methods in real life? That brings us onto our work with iomart.
Our work with iomart
Who are iomart and what do they do?
iomart is a technology specialist that provides cloud infrastructure to their customers. From onboarding to technology support, they provide expertise, customer care, reporting and documentation as a managed solution to wrap around their customers infrastructure.
How did we apply user research principles to redevelop their service desk?
iomart came to us with a service desk and ticketing system that had seen an increase in request categories and bespoke forms, which resulted in confused and frustrated users.
By undertaking in-depth user research – a combination of interviews and usability testing – we discovered the root cause of their frustrations and identified areas that were in need of some refinement.
Our research also revealed that their customers used the ticketing system as a project management tool, rather than a traditional service desk.
Based on these findings we were able to develop a new system that implemented 3 key elements:
Streamlined ticketing process
To streamline the ticketing process, we combined and reorganised categories. This made the tool easier for users to navigate.
We created a single-screen experience by reviewing and minimising clicks and back and forth interactions, which boosted efficiency.
To reduce user error we brought in strategically integrated, educational statements to guide users when submitting tickets which, in turn, improved overall satisfaction.
We also reduced the number of forms needed per category and introduced a new search option to filter request options to enhance usability.
Interface examples
App interface screenshots displaying various filter trays: type, date created and age.
New reporting tool
We implemented a simple reporting feature to assist managers in prioritising tasks effectively. The reporting element now provides managers with a clear understanding of open tickets and their statuses.
New, quick filtering options also enable managers to quickly look into critical issues and allocate tasks according to urgency.
Visual ticket status
We also introduced a new colour system to visually represent the severity and status of tickets within the table view. This intuitive, visual cue allows users to register the urgency and progress of tickets at a glance.
Overall, the new design and journeys scored a 4.8 out of 5. We were now able to observe users navigate with ease between request categories which was a highly frustrating task previous to the new, more intuitive design. Usability tests also scored well, with a time to complete tasks ranging between 2 - 11 seconds for more complex scenarios.
Screenshots of the service desk tool where tickets can be raised for security, infrastructure and administration issues.
The end result? A bespoke, digital solution that diverged from the conventional service desk setup, quicker decision-making and response times and, ultimately, an improved customer experience.
The project ultimately included
1 kick off-workshop. 5 user interviews. 10 usability tests. 1 research report. 1 new sitemap. 5 card sorts. 10 wireframes. 3 design routes. 32 page designs. 26 components designed. 1 prototype.
Most importantly, what did our client have to say?
“Working with Hancock & Rowe allowed us to better understand the role our service desk has in the lives of our customers. We have been able to realign its role and functions to better support our customers and make their lives easier. A no-brainer for service desk design. Hancock & Rowe were able to deliver insightful research they then utilised to improve our user journeys and design a new interface to compliment them.”
Sharon Mars Leach - Chief Experience Officer, iomart
Final thoughts
The power of user-centred design in shaping successful digital products cannot be overstated.
As we've explored, in-depth user research is not just beneficial – it's essential for creating experiences that truly resonate with customers. By placing them at the forefront of the design process, you can weave their needs and preferences into every aspect of the product development journey.
We understand how this approach translates into tangible benefits.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, businesses that commit to understanding their users through thoughtful, research-driven design will undoubtedly stand out. They'll not only attract new customers, they’ll also cultivate a base of satisfied users who become enthusiastic advocates for their brand.
In essence, by investing in user research (like our User Behaviour Audit) and embracing a user-centred approach, businesses aren't just designing products – they're crafting experiences that resonate, engage, and endure.
For more insights see the following blog entries:
What, why & how: user research
Need to learn more about your users?
Book in a FREE 30 minute session with our UX Director, Jason Hancock.
