Understanding user behavior is key to finding out how users interact with the product — specifically, how much time do they spend using it? What do they click on the most? At what point in the process do they decide to place an order? Analyzing user behavior answers these questions and helps improve the product.
“Don’t find customers for your product, find products for your customers.” “– Seth Godin
In fact, understanding user behavior is the foundation of a great product and a measure of a well-organized company. Not only can it provide valuable insight into your product, but it can also give you a competitive advantage, improve customer retention, ensure that customer needs are met and take the guesswork out of ux design.
What is user behavior?
In the simplest terms, user behavior refers to the way a user interacts with a particular product. To analyze user behavior, you need to set up various user metrics to measure usability and intuitive design. User metrics that can be monitored and analyzed, such as clicks, navigation, session duration, and conversion rates.
For example, suppose the conversion rate is 30% higher this month than the previous month. How do you find the reason for such a dramatic improvement?
There are two options:
- You can think of it as natural growth;
- You can look at users’ behavior over the past two months and compare how their interactions with the product have changed over that time.
Identify design variables that might affect changes in user behavior. The ultimate goal of collecting user behavior data is to understand why users behave the way they do. What prompted them to act? Or is there a reason for their inaction? Looking at and analyzing user behavior can help answer these questions.
While it’s not technically difficult to understand user behavior, it’s not actually easy either. Fortunately, there are several ways to make user behavior easier to understand.
7 steps to understand user behavior
1. Seek purposeful action
People like to think they made the right choice. They know what they want and how to achieve it. If most customers’ lives and product participation decisions are consciously driven, then user behavior cannot be predicted with maximum accuracy of 100%.
As the research shows, it’s not that simple. There are evolutionary reasons why people behave the way they do. In the past, they were driven mainly by instant stimulation. Today, we are taking more conscious action.
From Pavlov dogs to high-performing athletes, there are many examples of how repetitive movements can be used to change behavior, turning conscious processes into unconscious and ingrained new habits. Both conscious and unconscious insights into customer behavior are useful, and they are not mutually exclusive.
2. Discover habit patterns
They did make careful, thoughtful and planned decisions. When interacting with the product, they take purposeful actions. In this meaningful interaction, the most important task is to find a way to gain insight into their behavior paths, analyze the interaction insights and use them to predict user behavior, which will then help guide users to make mutually beneficial decisions.
3. Map insights to user paths
By placing interaction processes on the user path diagram, you can use interactions to turn unconscious processes into actions.
1) Step 1: Define test objectives
Start by clearly outlining the user test goals. What to test? What answers are you looking for?
May be:
- Task Completion: Can the user complete the task? What prevents users from completing tasks? How far can the user enter the task completion program?
- Completion time: How long does it take the user to complete the task? Does it take too much or too little time to get things done?
- Flow efficiency: Can users browse the product easily? Is any part of the user process confusing? Do you need to add/remove any steps?
- Error detection: Does the user experience any errors? When does the error occur? Are they avoidable or inevitable? Can users recover from setbacks?
Usability testing requires a lot of research, planning, and preparation. So have a solid test plan ready.
2) Step 2: Select a test method
Once you’ve determined what you want to exit the test, it’s time to select the most appropriate user test method. There are a number of testing approaches to consider. Here are some common questions:
- Individual in-depth interviews: This method takes the longest time to complete and requires trained testers to run user tests with the help of prepared scripts and task plans;
- Remote user testing: Remote user testing is a cost-effective technique that can be performed in a natural environment (e.g. at home or at work) with or without auditing;
- Tree: Participants organize the content cards into a tree that makes the most sense to them;
- A/B testing: Provide users with two choices of digital products to determine which version performs better. This method requires more participants than other participants to get accurate results.
When selecting a user test approach, keep in mind the current position of the product in the product development cycle. Some tests are best used early on, while others work better on the finished product. Of course, you want to consider issues such as budget, resources, and testing facilities before choosing a test approach.
3) Step 3: Find the representative user
When recruiting users to participate in user tests, make sure you have established clear selection criteria. This way, you can test who matches the profile of the target user.
Typically, about 3-5 users are sufficient to identify critical issues. Test participants are segmented based on certain characteristics that reflect the perfect user role, such as age, gender, location, education, occupation, income, skill level, and other product-specific characteristics.
Choose people who are unfamiliar with the product for more reliable results. Users who are already familiar with the product may have preconceived ideas about how to accomplish tasks. Otherwise their desire to maintain the status quo can lead to false flattery for constructive criticism.
4) Step 4: Create a task plan
The way users are asked to complete tasks is critical to the success of user tests. I do not want to reveal the exact sequence of actions the user needs to take to get from point A to point B. The purpose of user testing is not to take users to the end, but to provide them with enough information to follow their intuition and intuition through the journey.
Be vague in your mission plan. Share the information needed to complete the task. Providing too many instructions can defeat the purpose of the test. You can think of it as a mathematical equation. A problem is presented to the user, and they must find the right formula to solve it.
5) Step 5: Copy the test environment
Copy everything you do during user testing. This includes when and how to say and do something.
Scripts also play a very important role in user testing. By using scripts, you eliminate the possibility of inconsistencies during testing. Interestingly, it is often the test service that causes inconsistencies.
For example, they might greet one participant in a way that emphasizes a particular part of the task to the other. Or they might reveal certain details about the testing process to some people but not others. All of this adds up to an inconsistent test environment.
Therefore, it is best to use scripts to replicate the test environment and ensure consistency throughout.
4. Adjust user interests
Even with products that are currently on the market and ready to go to stores, it is necessary to delve into what customers really want when developing a customer path map. How can these core requirements be met?
Create multiple touchpoints on the user path map. Keep it alive throughout the design process, from the beginning and as you develop finer features. To understand how users interact with the product and find out more about multiple touchpoints, dig deep into user personas to understand their pain points, motivations, and goals.
“Being closer to your customers than ever before and being able to tell them what they need before they even realize they need it.” -Steve Jobs
The questions you might ask about a user’s experience on a path are endless. Each question provides an insight that can be linked to user needs to further business goals. Of course, you can’t explore and ask questions endlessly. When the time comes to take action, you need to have clean records and insights.
5. Use an automated tool
The “why” behind user behavior comes from instinctive, unconscious processes. Perhaps more interested in the “ways” provided on the user path map as outgoing actions and events, let technology do the work. Behavior analysis software consists of complex algorithms that examine complex interactions between touchpoints. If it relies on exploring those relationships on its own, it produces indicators that it may not know about.
To grasp all useful customer behavior, use software tools for analysis.
6. The iteration
Don’t underestimate the value of feedback. For example, feedback from software platforms or interactions within applications contains a wealth of valuable data that can be used to explore the “how” and get into the “why.”
7. Don’t make assumptions
The user’s perception is more important than your perception. You can analyze the emotion-driven KPIs and observations behind your actions. However, focus on how users perceive what you think has been delivered and how it matches your perception.
Gaining insight into the relationships between unconscious user paths is only part of the solution. When powerful analytics software enables a deeper understanding of the product design process, less effort is devoted to the “why” of user behavior.
These seven steps can help you increase conversion and retention rates and increase customer lifecycle value