Combining Methods: Web Analytics and User Research

Combining Methods User Research and Web Analytics Martijn Klompenhouwer & Adam Cox EuroIA - September 25th, 2009

Agenda About Web Analytics About User Research Why you should combine methods Practical examples Why you should try it too User Intelligence (about us)

About Web Analytics

Web Analytics Definition "Web Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage.“ - The Official WAA Definition of Web Analytics

What does the definition mean? Where are your users coming from? What are they doing? When and where do they leave?

Some examples of Web Analytic measurements Referrals Visitors, visits and page views Popular pages Bounce rates Funnel analysis Path Analysis

Issues with Web Analytics Data often perceived as boring statistics Implementation of WA tool not always correct Reports: just the facts, no insights, no actions

Web Analytics is quantitative in nature To get insights, interpretation of the numbers is needed

About User Research

Some examples of User Research methods Field observation Focus groups Personas Diary study Interviews Usability test Card sorting Expert review

Issues with User Research methods Data usually from small numbers Most methods take a snapshot in time Difficult to capture some behavior Setting sometimes artificial (e.g. lab test)

User Research is qualitative in nature You get the ‘why’, but not the ‘big numbers’…

So, why should you combine these two methods? User Research findings can help interpret web data Web data can help focus the User Research More certainty of findings (based on two sources)

The methods complement each other Quantitative vs. Qualitative

Practical examples The following 10 practical examples show How we combine these two methods in real projects A Web Analyst and User Researcher working together as a team User Research helping Web Analytics and the other way around What the added value is of combining methods

Practical examples (1/2) Creating realistic usability test scenarios Measuring the use of advanced features Understanding effectiveness of concept Validating usability test findings Identifying target audience Verifying user feedback

Practical examples (2/2) Explaining unintended landing pages Implications of unintended user-flows Interpreting bounce rate data Explaining abandonment rates

Why you should try it too Combining methods works! You can tell a story backed up with data Useful in different stages of a project Research, Design, Optimize One report with clear actions Presenting findings from two methods in one deliverable The combination works both ways! Web Analyst and User Researcher benefit from each other

Just remember… Fruitful results can already be gained from basic analysis You don’t need to be a Web Analytics expert, but it helps ;-) Web Analytics tools do not magically provide the insights... Measure the impact of your changes (optimize) The UX team should make more use of Web Analytics! It shouldn’t just belong to the IT or Marketing departments

What we want you to take away… Find out what web data is available Use it!..... Just try it! No more excuses ;-) Web data will help you in different stages of a project If important data is missing, try to get it measured it in the future Integrate Web Analytics into your process and methods

User Intelligence

The presenters Martijn Klompenhouwer UX Researcher 10 years UX experience 7 years at User Intelligence Adam Cox Web Analyst 6 years UX / Analyst experience 2 years at User Intelligence

User Intelligence It’s our goal to design interactive products that provide great User Experiences, based on knowledge of both the users and the business. Services we offer: • Research • Design • Optimize www.userintelligence.com

Handbook of Global User Research How to conduct Global User Research written by the partners of the UXalliance and other experts Available in November 2009 published by Morgan Kaufman (pre-order it now on Amazon!)

Thank you! user intelligence Amsterdam office www.userintelligence.com Martijn Klompenhouwer Klompenhouwer@UserIntelligence.com Adam Cox Cox@UserIntelligence.com

http://www.userintelligence.com	185
http://www.globaluserresearch.com	43
http://www.slideshare.net	39
http://www.yahnyinlondon.com	9
http://marcelzimmermann.wordpress.com	4
http://userintelligence.nl	3
http://www.userintelligence.nl	2
http://uif.userintelligence.com	2
http://paper.li	1

Combining Methods: Web Analytics and User Research

by User Intelligence on Sep 30, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

9 Embeds 288

Statistics

Combining Methods: Web Analytics and User Research — Presentation Transcript