The user experience (UX) is a critical element of every digital product—but it can be very challenging to measure success. Because UX is primarily focused on human behavior, it’s difficult to quantify. That said, user experience KPIs are essential for guiding and improving UX design decisions. This is especially true because most UX designers work across several industries and demographics. Despite attempts to absorb as much as possible about the demographic and industry they’re designing for, until a product is in the hands of actual users, designers are making decisions based on assumptions.
User experience KPIs help designers validate (or invalidate) those assumptions and offer helpful insights to inform the final design. But how do you quantify such qualitative outcomes? Below are 4 UX KPI examples we track at Checkmate Digital to measure the user experience of a website or application.
The user flow of a digital product revolves around a series of tasks users engage in to reach clearly defined goals.Task success rate is the percentage of those tasks that are correctly completed by users. For example, filling out a form or reaching a specific section of an application or website are tasks that can be measured. Analyzing this data allows designers to determine whether the user is going through the experience the way it was mapped out, or if they’re getting stuck on any specific tasks. Generally speaking, the higher the task success rate percentage is, the better the experience is for users.
Task Success Rate = Number of tasks completed correctly / Number of attempts
Time on task is the amount of time, usually in seconds or minutes, it takes for a user to successfully complete a specific task. This UX KPI allows designers to gain insight into what worked and what didn't in the design, based on how long and how engaged users are in each section of the website or app. This helps validate assumptions and point out strengths and flaws in the design. For example, you might assume users will spend 30 seconds to a minute reading website content, only to discover during user testing that they simply scrolled to the bottom and clicked on the call to action in under 15 seconds.
Time On Task = Total user time (seconds or minutes) / Total users
Navigation is the framework for how a digital product is organized, and it can be designed a number of different ways. This UX KPI example pertains to how quickly users are able to reach their destination. Measuring how often users utilize the navigation elements over search will reveal whether the site’s navigation is well-designed and intuitive or confusing for users.
Navigation Vs. Search = Number of completed tasks using navigation or search / Total number of completed tasks
User satisfaction is more qualitative than quantitative. We measure it by conducting video interview calls, which allow us to observe users as they test websites or apps. During the interview, we write our observations down on several sticky notes to capture feedback in real-time. This allows us to see the user’s emotions and recognize when they seem confused (or pleased) at a specific point, which helps identify what’s working and what’s not. This UX KPI really comes down to determining the target user’s pain points, and how effectively and intuitively the product solves for them. It helps designers gain insight into users’ satisfaction levels with the interface, performance, and the product overall.
There are also resources available to help designers determine which UX KPIs to track. The Google HEART Framework was specifically designed to measure the quality of the user experience. It’s helpful for pinpointing user-centered metrics for web applications, as opposed to more numerical values that don’t quite apply the same way they do in other industries. The HEART framework focuses on the following UX metrics:
Heatmap tools like Hotjar are also helpful for UX designers. They translate user clicks and scrolling behavior into visual representations, making it easy for you to observe how users interact with your web page or application. Understanding where their eyes go, what their first interaction is, and where they get stuck helps inform designers about the user experience.
Your product ideas plus our design strategy might just be a perfect match. At Checkmate Digital, we build digital prototypes that are tested and validated by actual potential users to ensure a seamless user experience. Drop us a line to talk about what you’re working on—and how we can work together to create an exceptional user experience for your product.
