Usability is “the extent to which a product helps users achieve goals in a specific use case with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.”

What is Usability? 

A good user experience = More satisfied users + less errors/mistakes + more revenue for the businessAs designers, we want the products we build to be satisfying and easy to use, but how can we know that’s the case? We start by measuring the user experience with evidence rather than opinions and evaluate the outcome with UX metrics.What do we do with the data obtained? We refine products iteratively and impact users for good.

Why measure usability of a product? 

UX metrics are a set of quantitative data points used to measure, compare and track the user experience of a website/app over time. UX metrics measure success towards higher business goals called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as revenue growth, retention, increased user numbers.

What are UX metrics? 

Before collecting data, it’s a good idea to outline a basic measurement strategy.<ul><li>Decide which metrics to measure.</li><li>Establish clear timeframes in order to understand the trends that emerge. The metrics gathered in a single day may tell a much different story than those gathered over the course of a week.</li><li>Use both qualitative and quantitative metrics</li></ul>

But First..... 

There are 2 types of UX metrics:<ol><li>Behavioral metrics - that study how people interact with the product </li><li>Attitudinal metrics - explore how people feel and say about the product before, during or after using it</li></ol>

Types of UX Metrics

<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Task Success Rate - what percentage of users complete each step in a user flow.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Time on Task - how long a user spends completing a specific task (on first attempt and on repeat attempts)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Conversion Rate - % of users who took a certain action ( e.g. subscribed or bought something)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Retention Rate - what percentage of users continue using your product long-term.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Search vs Navigation Pattern - This ratio can provide information about the pages/features most frequently used.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">User Error Rate - how often users make a mistake during a specific task. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Abandonment Rate - % of users abandoning a task</li></ol>

Behavioral Metrics

<ol><li>Net Promoter Score (NPS) - On a scale of 0-10how willing they are to promote you to their network</li><li>System Usability Scale (SUS)- one of the most popular questionnaires used to assess the usability of a product. It consists of 10 statements that users need to rate on a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree.</li><li>Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) - measures users’ satisfaction with your website or webapp. After they attempt a task, regardless of whether they manage to achieve its goal or not, have them answer one or a few questions about how difficult the task was.</li></ol>

Attitudinal Metrics

https://sematext.com/blog/ux-metrics/

More on How to Calculate these Metrics... 

As designers, we want the products we build to be satisfying and easy to use, but how can we be sure that we’re actually solving the problems users face? It all starts by measuring the user experience with evidence rather than opinions.

Important UX Metrics to Measure User Experience 

Targeting proper keywords is as crucial to successfully operate a website as creating eye-catching images or coming up with a winning URL. To assess which keywords are or are not worth targeting, webmasters use various tools and techniques — by far the most popular the keyword difficulty score. It’s important that you opt for low-scoring keywords only, as the higher the rating, the more difficult that given keyword is to target and exploit properly.

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy  

Keyword difficulty is one of the most basic SEO metrics — a rating that tells you how hard it would be to target a given keyword and optimize your webpage. The higher the score, the more difficult it would be to achieve decent results while focusing on a given keyword, which also means that it would be harder for you to win against the competition and invite new customers to try out your products.

Why You Should Care About It 

Start out with lower-ranking, longer keywords that potentially have the shorter one within them. Such long-tail keywords, despite having a lower number of searches, can still turn out to be extremely beneficial, especially for niche businesses or websites targeting a single and clear user group. They also have far lower keyword difficulty, meaning that it will be easier to rank for them.﻿

1. Settle for long-tail keywords

At first, aim for keywords with difficulty scores lower than 50. Try to make your approach a little bit more paced and nuanced, and only try to rank for the higher-rated ones when you are sure the quality of the site content matches the quality offered by the websites typically targeting the big keywords..

2. Start with lower-volume options

Before you try to rank for any given keyword, it’s crucial to understand your website’s audience and its needs — well enough to be pretty much convinced that you know what they are looking for, even if their intent is not exactly clear.

3. Keep user intent in mind

Is there a particular high-ranking keyword that you wish to try and target, no matter what? Then consider creating a hub page on your site, which will help organize and gather the necessary information which you will be able to offer users searching for a given high-rated keyword in the future.

4. Hub for difficult keywords

Keyword difficulty is a vital consideration, to be sure, but there are other things to take into account before deciding if a given keyword is worth targeting. Perhaps, even if the keyword difficulty is high, targeting it is worth a shot if the ROI is attractive enough and the potential conversion rate is satisfactory..

5. Don’t forget other aspects of SEO

Proven techniques to help assess a keyword difficulty score correctly and use it effectively in overall SEO efforts.

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy

Our agency is a big believer in data. We track website metrics, social media metrics, email marketing metrics, and pull in great <a href="https://www.greenmellenmedia.com/heat-maps-what-value-do-they-provide/">tools like heatmaps</a> to take things even further. However, a problem that can quickly arise is having too much data. It’s easy to build a giant report that shows everything, but the result of that is often that the key metrics get buried.

More data = less value

The biggest offenders tend to be digital marketing agencies and SEO agencies that send 100-page reports to their clients. It’s always a big red flag. Usually means it was outsourced by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.Experts know how to make things easy to understand, not harder.

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter

Our dashboards work well, but really any method that you use to take lots of data and break it down is an excellent way to provide more value to those you serve.

Our agency is a big believer in data. We track website metrics, social media metrics, email marketing metrics, and pull in great tools like heatmaps to take things even further. However, a problem that can quickly arise is having too much data. It's easy to build a giant report that…

R<a href="https://www.mickmel.com/the-highest-isnt-always-the-best/">atings between 4.2 – 4.5 are generally seen as more trustworthy than a 5-star rating</a>

A few bad reviews can be a good thing

Value all reviews: Reviews are useful for potential customers when they’re honest and objective. Customers find a mix of positive and negative reviews more trustworthy. You can always respond to a review to show the customers that you care and provide additional context.

As a business owner, I only want to see 5-star reviews for our company. On the other hand, I absolutely understand the logic behind what Google is saying. When I’m looking at products on Amazon, I’m immediately suspicious of anything that is 100% 5-star reviews.

I mentioned a few months ago that ratings between 4.2 - 4.5 were generally seen as more trustworthy than a 5-star rating. Google has now updated their help document for Google Business Profile (formerly "Google My Business") to say exactly that: Value all reviews: Reviews are useful for potential customers…

The idea is sound, the product has been tested and you’re confident with your focus group research that consumers are ready. So, what is the best way to launch your new product? This is a very good question and one that the serial entrepreneur right through to multi-billion dollar, multi-national companies get wrong. What is the secret to new product success? While it is different for every product, here are some basic tips for getting your product launch right.

First steps in launching a product

Timing is everything for a product launch. There are certain times and days to avoid such as Christmas or New Year’s Eve for example, but perhaps more relevant is to look at both the macro and micro-economic factors around your industry and the broader market before launching.

Timing

Many a product has failed because the pricing strategy has been wrong. Whether you want to be a luxury product or you are launching a product priced slightly below your competitor’s, make sure you undertake thorough research to ensure consumers will be willing to pay the price you are asking.

Price

Packaging comes in many different forms and whether it is a consumer good designed for the shelf of a retailer or a new app that you have just finished designing, it needs to be attractive and welcoming to the human eye. Do your research on what colors people like and are receptive to.

Packaging

While it is good to be different, don’t make the name so cumbersome people can’t pronounce it or too similar to an existing product, so the consumer gets confused. By all accounts make it simple and original like Google for example that will leave a lasting impact upon the consumer.

Your new product's name

You can have the best product in the world but if no-one knows about it, how will they be able to purchase it? Understand the variety of marketing channels available to you to promote your product and do your research as to which channels will work best. A mixture of at least two different mediums will be required.

Promotion

You should definitely be aware of what your intended audience like and don’t like. There should be no guesswork going into your marketing campaign. Thorough market research should be undertaken so your target market will respond positively to your product launch.

Know your target market

You really need to have done this several times beforehand. Nothing will kill your product launch quicker than launching to market with something that doesn’t work properly or breaks upon opening. Don’t frustrate your target audience with something that should be 100% error-free upon launch.

Test your new product repeatedly

Equally important is to be aware of your competition’s marketing strategies and range of products. You don’t want to launch only to find out that your competitor is bringing out a newer, cheaper (or more prestigious/expensive) product the next day.

Know your competition

In today’s consumer-led world, it is important to get reviews – positive ones will always work in your favor – but equally important is to find out what can be improved. It may be something you need to slightly tweak that will make all the difference to it being successful or not.

Seek reviews

Not every product flies off the shelf immediately. You may need to re-work your marketing strategy, alter your price or even re-launch because of a change in circumstances. Having a strategic and flexible marketing strategy will enable you to successfully keep changing tack slightly if need be to ensure the ultimate product success.

Be strategic and patient

Some important basic things you should have in mind when creating the strategy for a product launch, whether you own a company or you have the power to take important decisions. These are also important topics you may be asked in job interviews for management positions.

The idea is sound, the product has been tested and you’re confident with your focus group research that consumers are ready. So, what is the best way to launch your new product? This is a very good question and one that the serial entrepreneur right through to multi-billion dollar, multi-national companies get wrong. W

Important UX Metrics to Measure User Experience

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy

More data = less value

A few bad reviews can be a good thing

10 Things You Must Know When Launching A New Product

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