Bringing Together User Experience and Web Analytics

Michael Beasley

DAA New York / NYC UXPA

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WHY LEARN WEB ANALYTICS?

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Why Use Web Analytics for UX?

• Data on real-world user behavior

• Gathers data about practically every user

• Gathers data “just in case”

But why should you learn to use these tools?

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Why Learn the Tools, Part 1

Analysis is an iterative process

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Small Questions Have Limited Value

“What screen sizes do our users have?”

“How many users are on mobile devices?”

“What are the most popular pages on our site?”

“How many users have JavaScript turned off?”

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Broad Questions are Too Broad

“What are users doing on our site?”

“What are the most common paths through our site?”

“What are users looking for?”

“Are our users successful?”

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And Then You Drown in Data

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The Best Questions Are In the Middle

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Why Learn the Tools, Part 2

UX uses the data differently

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Background on JSTOR (For Context)

Goals:• Help scholars, researchers, and students discover, use,

and build upon a wide range of scholarly content on a dynamic platform that increases productivity and facilitates new forms of scholarship.

• Help libraries connect patrons to vital content while increasing shelf-space savings and lowering costs

• Help publishers reach new audiences and preserve their scholarly content for future generations.

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What JSTOR Looks Like

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Measuring JSTOR (Web Analytics Perspective)

• Library usage:• Number of articles read per institution• Number of searches per institution

• Marketing:• How people got to JSTOR• How many of those people read articles they had access to• How many people bought articles they didn’t have access to

In other words, a focus on acquisition and outcomes

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Measuring JSTOR (UX Perspective)

Fine-grained measurement of activity within pages

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Why Learn the Tools, Part 3

Special Language

These words mean specific things:• Visits• Visitors• Page views• Bounce rate• Events• And more

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Complexity + Different Concerns + Special Language =

Learn Web Analytics

Disclaimer: Not a Real Math Formula

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HOW DO WEB ANALYTICS CHANGE UX?(Or is it “How Does Web Analytics Change UX?”)

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Using Analytics for Usability Testing

Categorizing Search Terms to Gain Insight Into Users' Information Needs and Behavior 18

Planning Usability Test Tasks

Ignore the green highlights!

What did people do on the website?

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Adding Context to Findings, Part 1

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Categorizing Search Terms to Gain Insight Into Users' Information Needs and Behavior 21

Adding Context to Findings, Part 2

Now pay attention to the green highlights

These useless pages are among the most-viewed

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“Hard Numbers” Stakeholders Respond To

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How do actions on your site relate to business goals?

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Measuring Success of a Design

Web analytics helps us judge the how well a design worked

• A/B testing• Reporting how design changes affected metrics

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Improving the Design…

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… and Measuring How it Did

… and ignore the green highlight again.

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Summary: How Analytics Changes UX

• You can use analytics to:• Understand problems on your existing site• Measure the effectiveness of new designs

• Analytics lets you:• Give your research more context• Speak the language of business stakeholders• Be more accountable

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GETTING STARTED WITH WEB ANALYTICS

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How Can a UXer Get Started with Web Analytics?

1. Get to know the people in your organization that use these tools

2. Get access to your web analytics tool(s)

3. Start trying to answer real questions

4. And then dig further and ask “why?”

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nycupa.org

http://nycupa.org/Register?eventId=861634&EventViewMode=EventDetails

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“What” Questions, not “Why” Questions

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Understand the benefits and drawbacks of all the tools in your toolkit

Web analytics Usability testing

Contextual inquiry Surveys

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QUESTIONS?

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Summary: Why Learn Web Analytics?

You will have complex questions that you can’t easily or quickly answer without interacting with the data yourself

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Summary: How Analytics Fits in Your Life

•Another method in your toolkit for learning about users

•Useful throughout the lifecycle of a project

•A way for you to monitor the performance of your website

•A way to be accountable

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Summary: How to Get Started

•Make friends with the people that use these tools in your organization

•Get access•Start asking questions•Dig further•You won’t learn anything until you’re trying to solve real problems.

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THANK YOU