We all spend time online these days. In fact, according to Nielsen a few years back, a resident in the Syracuse DMA spends an average of 20 hours per week on the internet. That's an average too, so it includes all of the older age groups who may be online for only a few hours or not at all.
With all of us spending so much time online, your customers are likely doing the same. Whether it is social media, e-commerce with the holidays coming, or reading news and information, websites are a critical piece to the customer experience (CX).
Why should it be any different for your organization's website?
Website usability market research is a perfect methodology to tackle the customer experience and user experience (UX) online. This can be completed for any online site including software, websites, e-commerce platforms, etc.
Website usability market research can provide you with insights as to what people think, how they act, and why they behave certain ways online.
What is Website Usability Market Research?
Website usability market research is a methodology used to understand users' paths, decisions, motivations, and behaviors online. It can be both qualitative and quantitative market research.
Qualitative website usability research focuses on exploring the user experience through open-ended questions through interviews and screen shares. Quantitative website usability focuses on tracking and examining data of behaviors on websites while respondents browse sites. Quantitative research also acquires a much larger sample size.
How Does Website Usability Market Research Work?
It can be tacked through a variety of market research methodologies. The first and one of the most common methodologies is the web in-depth interview (IDI). This is completed through screen sharing technologies with an interviewer or moderator and a participant.
The moderator asks questions as the participant browses the site and the moderator sets out specific tasks they must complete while talking out loud. All of these participants are pre-recruited and pre-scheduled. Rewards can range from $50 to $250 depending on the level of effort required.
Other forms of website usability research can be completed through self-administered sites where no moderator or person-to-person interaction exists. Here the participant logs in and is shown tasks, asking to speak out loud as they browse the site. Several websites and vendors offer this type of more automated services.
Website usability market research can also be incorporated into standard quantitative surveys through questions or screen caption sharing of website pictures with follow-up questions. These sites can also be presented to a focus group where feedback is acquired by posting the webiste and platform on a large screen.
Why is Website Usability Market Research Important?
Website usability market research is important because there are many stealth users who interact with your brand and make decisions whether or not to use your company based on their user experience. If your user experience you offer on your site, platform, or e-commerce tool is not up to snuff you'll continually lose customers and have lower conversion rates without knowing why?
Setting aside and budget and putting a focus on website usability market research ensures that your online users' expectations are met. Good UX guides users down the right path easily eliminating points of drop-off and frustration.
Understanding these critical points on your website and the users' paths is essential to meeting your goals in Google Analytics (GA). Website usability market research provides the "why" behind the "what" data you find in GA. You may see 80% of your bounces come on page ABC, but without knowing exactly what users dislike about that page, you may make it worse, or make the wrong change.
Reaching out to these website users and acquiring feedback makes sure your platform aligns with the needs of customers. Regardless of what methodology or approach you choose, website usability market research should remain very high on your priority list.
With the amount of time spent online, that does not expect to change anytime soon.
Contact Us
Drive Research is a website usability market research company located in Upstate New York. We specialize in custom market research projects built to meet the needs of our client's unique objectives. Questions about a website usability project?
Contact us at 315-303-2040 or send us an email at [email protected].