No web design is perfect, making website redesign a common occurrence.
Your website needs to meet the requirements of your users. This is why it must look compelling and deliver an excellent user experience.
But how do you balance UI and UX and ensure a successful website redesign?
The answer is to begin with user research.
In this blog, you will learn –
- What is website redesign, and how often should you do it?
- Why is user research essential for a website redesign project plan?
- What are the steps to conduct UX research?
Curious to learn? Let’s begin.
What is Website Redesign,
The website redesign process comprises changes in the website’s structure, content, and code to enhance user experience.
Acknowledging the need for better user experience, website designers focus on a website’s UI and UX, including the visual elements (layout, typography, color scheme, etc.), content, navigation, and functionality.
Moreover, most businesses also consider other aspects like speed and mobile-first design for website redesigns.
When Do You Need Website Redesign?
The need for website redesign is not methodical and has no fixed time. It depends entirely on your requirements, market and web design trends, business objectives, and target audience shifts.
Other factors that drive the need for website redesign include speed, performance, technological advancements, etc.
How Does UX Research Improve Website Redesigns?
User research is crucial for a successful website redesign as it allows you to achieve valuable insights on the target audience.
By leveraging user research, you can make informed decisions to ensure that your website redesign resonates with your business objectives and audience and supports you in achieving your goals.
In a nutshell, UX Research for Website Redesigns enables you to –
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Analyze user needs and pain points
Conducting user research allows you to understand the real problems users face when trying to interact with your website. Knowing the problems and the pain points allows you to address them effectively and enhance user experience.
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Make insightful decisions
User research lends you concrete evidence that drives informed decision-making. Rather than relying on assumptions and preferences, you can redesign your websites based on user behaviour and feedback.
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Align web design with business objectives
Proper user research provides you with valuable insights into user behavior and preferences, allowing you to align your user experience design with your business goals and objectives.
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Improve usability and conversion
Choosing user-centered website design improves usability, increases website traffic and engagement, and boosts conversion rates. It also offers new growth opportunities and revenue streams.
4 Steps UX Research Framework for Website Redesigns
If you are facing frustrated customers and low sales, choosing website redesign is an exceptional way to address your challenges. UI UX designers suggest leveraging user research to streamline website redesign and ensure better outcomes.
But how do you approach user research for website redesign?
Here is a 4-step framework for website redesign strategy with UX research –
Step 1: Define
The first step is to define your requirements. Having a clear understanding of what you want to achieve from redesigning your website will act as a compass guiding your journey. Thus, before you jump straight into redesigning your website, identify the problems you want to address. Some of the common issues are –
- Poor navigation
- Cluttered layout
- Outdated content
- Lack of CTAs
- Unaccessible and unresponsive
- Slow loading speed and more.
By identifying these issues and leveraging user research reports, you can solve these issues effectively. The most used testing methods include usability testing, A/B testing, and surveys.
Step 2: Discover
In the second phase, you discover pain points, analyze website performance, track loading speed, and gather user feedback. The data gained here helps you understand the common issues faced by users, which forms a solid foundation for your website redesign. The discovery phase checklist encompasses qualitative research, website data analysis, competitive analysis, and more.
Step 3: Interpret
The third phase is interpretation or exploration. This stage comprises data analysis and interpretation to gain valuable insights that can be leveraged to streamline the design process.
The summary of your findings can help in designing user personas, understanding user pain points, identifying recurring patterns and themes, and will assist you in making informed decisions.
Step 4: Validation
Validation is the final step, where you test your website prototypes and framework with real users. As a UI UX designer, it is important to acknowledge the importance of implementing changes driven by user research results. It is a continuous process that allows you to gather feedback based on which necessary adjustments and changes can be implemented before launching the redesigned website.
To validate your website redesign, conduct a usability test, gather feedback on design ideas, and refine and iterate as required.
In case you find all of these overwhelming, seeking professional guidance from a web design company can be beneficial for you.
Final Thoughts
The leading UX design agency in USA considers user research a non-negotiable factor in driving the success of website redesign.
As mentioned above, the framework can help ensure that the redesign process is effective and efficient.
Though simply launching a new website sounds easy and effortless, conducting user research for website redesign ensures better results and conversions. Besides, it allows businesses to make more informed decisions to drive the website’s success and business growth.
Following the web design best practices and the above user research framework can ensure a successful website redesign that attracts users and increases conversions.
