Research: Analytics

As UX professionals, having a general understanding of the ways in which users experience a Web site can be helpful, but there is truly immense value in using data analytics to pin down exact data points that can inform the UX design process.

In this article, I’ll consider how UX designers can leverage data analytics to enhance the user experience in a variety of ways. For example, you can use data analytics to better understand users, reap significant benefits by solving customers’ issues, or refine a Web site’s content. Perhaps most importantly, you can increase conversions by improving the effectiveness of calls to action (CTAs) or the purchasing process on an ecommerce site. Read More

When we think of analytics, we think of marketing campaigns and funnel optimization. Analytics can seem a little overwhelming, with so many charts and lots of new features. How can we use analytics for design insights?

The best thing about analytics is that they can show us what people do on their own. The worst thing is that analytics don’t tell us much about context, motivations, and intent. Like any kind of data, there are limitations. But that doesn’t mean analytics aren’t useful. Working with analytics is about knowing where to look and learning which questions you can reasonably ask. Read More

When Google announced last year that its Core Web Vitals (CWV) update was set to become a ranking factor in June 2021, SEOs, developers, and designers around the world emitted a collective shudder.

After all, any new, major tweak to Google’s algorithm would typically tend to cause tectonic shifts in how Web sites rank. Generally, such updates require adaptation, optimization, and, often, equally seismic changes to the ways in which your site displays content. All of that adds up to a lot of work.

But CWV is a special case. Google has designed and is implementing these new criteria specifically to improve the speed, interactivity, and layout of your Web site’s pages. This algorithm update is neither arbitrary nor capricious. In building it, Google has actually prioritized the user experience across the online community. Read More