As 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. But can UX really be measured? Absolutely. By evaluating products with qualitative and quantitative methods, we gain access to a host of illuminating UX metrics.

There’s nothing like completing a UX project. It takes an incredible amount of time, effort, and skill to travel from design problem to solution. Crossing the finish line is a great feeling, but seasoned UX designers know that there’s always more to be done…

A C-level executive calls with a question. “Now that the project is over, how do we track the results we’re trying to achieve?”

It’s a fair concern—one that leads to a bigger topic. How can UX designers measure success and prove that their work is worth the investment? Understanding project and business goals is a good start, but there’s more to it.

To determine the success of a UX project, we need to know how and why people use products and evaluate the outcomes with UX metrics.

To fully understand the effectiveness of UX design decisions, we must measure their impact. (Anne Nygård)

User Experience Evaluation

What do we mean when we say that a product is usable?

According to the International Organization for Standardization, usability is “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”

There’s a lot going on there. Let’s pull out the important parts.

• Users: The people that products are designed for
• Goals: The objectives that products should help users complete
• Context: The use cases that products are intended for

If we were to oversimplify, we might say that usability is “the extent to which a product helps users achieve goals in a specific use case.” But we’d be making a major omission.

• Satisfaction: User satisfaction is a key aspect of usability. Functionality and ease of use are important, but products should also be aesthetically pleasing and delightful to use.

Why Measure Usability?

When products aren’t satisfying or they make it hard to accomplish goals, users look elsewhere. The only way we can know if we’re really solving design problems (and not causing them) is to test the usability of the products we create.

We use metrics to measure success so that we can refine products and impact users for good.

Measuring UX Success with Usability

Before collecting data, it’s a good idea to outline a basic measurement strategy.

• Decide which metrics to measure.
• Use both qualitative and quantitative metrics.
• 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.

#user experience