Forrester Consulting Approach Document Improve the User Experience on Your Website Improving the usability of your website will provide a better customer experience. By providing site visitors with a better experience, you will enable more users to find the products and services that are right for them, and get answers to their questions. The easier it is for your customers to find what they need, the better your website will achieve its business goals. Conducting an expert evaluation of the website will help you understand how to improve the usability of the site so that your target users have a better online experience. Methodology There are many ways to assess the effectiveness of a website in enabling its users to achieve their goals: Web analytics tell you WHERE a site may be flawed. Surveys tell you WHO is using the site, what their goals are, and if they can complete their goals. Usability testing and expert reviews tell you WHY the site is flawed, and HOW to fix it. Forrester s Website User Experience Review methodology is known as an expert review or heuristic review. These reviews are conducted by qualified and trained Forrester analysts who:
Attempt to accomplish critical user goals. Examine the site for compliance with well-known, research-based design principles. Identify flaws that block customers from critical goals and prevent firms from achieving business objectives. Expert reviews are effective for efficiently identifying well-known design flaws prior to a redesign, in preparation for usability testing, prior to the launch of a newly (re)designed site, or on an ongoing basis for assessing usability. Forrester s Website User Experience Review provides a quantifiable, objective, user-based evaluation of your website. The evaluation is informed by descriptions of the site s business objectives and target audience. Because Forrester s methodology is structured and research-based, the evaluation can be used to benchmark site progress. Thus, this assessment can provide not only a list of opportunities for improvement, but also a comparison with your competitors, as well as suggestions for site progress in the future. This assessment encompasses user experience issues such as navigation, content, functionality, speed, privacy, search, and help. For a full listing of criteria, see Website User Experience Review Scorecard below. The Forrester Website User Experience Review takes a unique, value-added approach to expert evaluations. Our methodology is based on a combination of insights gleaned from academic research, the best practices of leading design firms, business results produced by industry leaders, and nine
years of Forrester's own consumer survey data. To date, Forrester has applied this methodology to over 1,500 websites. This review looks at four key areas: Value. Does the site provide the content and functionality that your target customers and prospects need, in the places where they need it? Navigation. Do menus help visitors to find the content and functionality they want on the site? Does search get them to the information they need? Or are they frustrated and confused by the way things are organized? Presentation. Can people easily understand the information they find? Are the features that matter the most to them prioritized in the display? Are tools on the site easy for users to understand and use? Trust. Does the site put users in control of their personal data? Is it consistently fast and reliable? Can users get task-specific support in the places where they need it? Website User Experience Review Scorecard v8.0
Approach Forrester s Website User Experience Reviews are conducted with the following approach: - Create a set of user scenarios for the website evaluation. Forrester will collaborate with you to develop three user scenarios for the website evaluation. Scenarios consist of descriptions of target users and their goals when visiting the website. - Conduct an expert, scenario-based Website User Experience Review. Forrester will evaluate the usability of your website and score the experience against a set of 25 researchbased heuristics that all websites should adhere to (see scorecard above). - Develop detailed analysis and recommendations. Based on the evaluation above, Forrester will prepare its findings and analysis in both a written scorecard and a detailed PowerPoint format. The scorecard provides scores and detailed commentary to explain the scores across the 25 heuristics. The presentation provides a visual description of the website s strengths and most important areas for improvement, including actionable, prioritized recommendations for improving the usability of your website. - Conduct delivery event. Forrester will lead a teleconference/webex to deliver the results and recommendations from the Website User Experience Review. Forrester will present its findings in detail and will leave ample time for discussion with key project stakeholders.
Timeline: 4-5 weeks Investment: $15,000 Additional options: Evaluate competitor websites: $7,500 - $15,000 per competitor Best practices evaluation based upon our evaluation of your website, Forrester will provide a best practices analysis to show you how other companies have tackled usability challenges that you have: $7,500 - $10,000
Qualifications And Differentiation Forrester s primary differentiation is the experience and perspective of the analyst who will lead the engagement. Our Customer Experience analysts have been conducting research into usability and site design since 1999, and have been evaluating websites for well over a decade. Forrester s qualifications can be further exemplified through: Proven Website User Experience Review methodology. Forrester s Website User Experience Review methodology is a structured assessment on 25 essential criteria encompassing design, usability, and content rated from critical failure to exemplary pass. Forrester has refined this methodology since 1999, and its expert analysts have performed more than 1,500 Website User Experience Reviews in Europe and the US. The process results in formalized Website User Experience Review scorecards that provide tangible, action-oriented advice to help site users meet their goals. Research-based results. Forrester s research-based approach assures the results of the market study will be objective. Forrester annually surveys nearly 360,000 consumers and more than 3,000 business and IT executives and interviews more than 30,000 senior and midlevel business strategists, IT professionals, marketing executives, technology vendors, and key influencers. Forrester draws on the wealth of this primary research in its work.
Independence and objectivity. Unlike other firms whose expertise may be based on or influenced by their commercial interests, Forrester remains independent of any technology or vendor bias or influence. Its advice and recommendations are based on daily interaction with thousands of decision-makers at large and medium-sized enterprises worldwide and on an objective assessment of the technologies and solutions in the market. Forrester takes positions on issues and backs those positions with objective data and sound analysis. High value-to-time ratio. Forrester s analysts are already familiar with your industry and your company s needs. Consulting firms like McKinsey offer advice based on knowledge of your organization from the inside out that takes weeks of time and materials to build. In contrast, Forrester s expert analysts take an outside-in approach and come to the table armed with industry knowledge and insight relevant to your needs.