Role & Responsibilities

As the Principal Consultant for this project, I facilitated interviews and kick-off meetings with multiple stakeholders, seeking their unique insights and contextual understanding. Drawing upon my 18 years of industry experience, I subsequently performed an comprehensive UX Audit, analyzing each screen of the App. I employed design heuristics, best practices, and common design patterns to pinpoint and isolate critical design flaws. The findings and insights from this audit were then synthesized into a comprehensive report. This report featured actionable recommendations, complete with wireframes proposing solutions and illustrative examples. Additionally, I included supplementary insights and suggestions aimed at further enhancing the product's overall design and user experience.

Process

When conducting a UX Audit, the process involves these key steps, with the level of depth and time allocated tailored to project scope and budget.

A visual overview of my UX Audit process

1. Understand the product and business challenges
In this initial phase, the primary goal is to thoroughly understand your product, its business context, and the defined audit focus area and scope. I achieve this through a combination of a pre-meeting questionnaire and a kickoff meeting, enabling me to gather essential insights, identify user experience challenges, and pinpoint potential enhancements. This process ensures that my strategies align with the project's unique context and objectives.
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2. Understand the target audience
Gain insights into the specific demographics, behaviors, needs, and preferences of the target audience to ensure that the user experience is tailored to their expectations and requirements.
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3. Evaluate analytics and interpret performance data
This may involve user feedback, conducting surveys, interviews, and usability testing, and collect relevant quantitative data to assess the current user experience.

4. Collect UX Audit findings
Conducting a screen-by-screen analysis and applying established usability principles or guidelines to pinpoint design violations, inconsistencies, and usability problems.
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5. Compile a UX Audit report
Crafting an easily digestible audit report that describes issues and assesses their severity, while also presenting solutions and recommendations. The report is enriched with illustrated wireframes and comparative examples from other products, enhancing the depth and clarity of the assessment.
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6. Reviewing Audit Findings, Recommendations, and Next Steps with Stakeholders
A meeting with stakeholders to comprehensively review the audit findings, recommendations, and the roadmap for future actions. By actively involving your team, we ensure that the insights gained are collectively understood and that everyone is on the same page regarding the user experience improvements.‍

The Brisbane App - Audit breakdown

The current state of the App brought forth several challenges that had a notable impact on the overall user experience and user retention rates.

My client had specific objectives in mind for this Audit:

Clearing User Roadblocks
Identify and address the obstacles faced by the main user groups – businesses, residents, and visitors, with the ultimate goal of enhancing overall user satisfaction.

Streamlining Feature Accessibility
Improve the discoverability and usability of the App's features, considering that many valuable functionalities were tucked away, making them hard for users to find.

Enhancing User Productivity
Discover the reasons behind the 30-minute duration it takes for users to create their own city guide and explore ways to make this process more intuitive and time-effective.

Enhancing Data Accuracy Feedback for Users
In response to numerous user complaints about inaccurate data, such as closed locations or missing favorite cafes, I was asked to streamline the process for reporting such issues.

The screenshots from the UX Audit below offer a glimpse into the audit's presentation, providing an illustrative look at how I addressed the previously mentioned issues.

Additional thoughts

In addition to addressing the initial client request, I also identified a range of issues and suggested enhancements to further improve the app's overall user experience and satisfaction.

This included:

Onboarding Quiz for Personalisation
‍Implement a brief onboarding quiz to identify user types and preferences, allowing for a more customized user experience. Users can choose to skip this step and adjust preferences in their account settings later.

‍Recognising User Contributions
‍Crediting users for their contributions is vital for apps relying on user-generated content. It aligns with the Hook Model, motivating users intrinsically. Learn more about the Hook Model here‍

‍Universal "Create" Button
‍Introduce a Universal Floating Action Button, enabling users to create Plans, Guides, and Events seamlessly from any screen. This enhances accessibility and convenience, driving increased engagement, user contributions, and retention.

Gamification for Engagement
‍Consider adding gamification elements, such as badges and points, to boost user engagement and contributions.

‍Content Ambassadors
‍Collaborate with well-known individuals in Brisbane to create listings and guides, highlighting them in blogs and vlogs to encourage user-generated content.

Key Takeaways

The Brisbane App's UX Audit has yielded a report pinpointing critical product shortcomings.
Moreover, it has furnished the team with tangible recommendations and actionable steps to substantially elevate the product.

A UX Audit not only provides expert insights but also offers the following advantages:‍

‍Unbiased Expert Evaluation
A fresh perspective from an independent UX expert helps identify issues that might be overlooked.
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‍Strategic Recommendations
‍The audit provides actionable strategies to improve the product's user experience.

‍Enhanced Product Direction
The clear guidance from the audit not only helps your team move forward purposefully but also saves valuable time, money, and resources by preventing aimless detours.