Christopher Barker’s Post

Any business professional will tell you that profit equals success. And one of the most effective ways to increase profit is to reduce costs. Companies that invest in Concept Validation, a form of early usability testing, are wise to this. Usability testing gives insights into exactly where users get confused, frustrated, excited, and more—and if done in the concept/ prototyping stage, a lot can be learned before a company’s starts spending anything on development. This saves a huge amount of time and money that may have otherwise been spent on reworking a product or site post-launch. It also ensures that, due to a highly usable design, companies won’t have to spend as much on customer support—fewer frustrations, fewer support calls, and lower costs on payroll. In the case of a website design, testing for usability helps ensure increased revenue through higher conversion rates and lower abandonment rates. When a site delivers what users expect it to deliver, users are much more likely to recommend the site/service to friends (and, according to research, nearly 80% of users will jump to another site if they have difficulty accomplishing their goal on the first). Making an excellent first impression is a huge part of creating a positive relationship with a prospective customer — once they’re lost, it’s almost impossible to get them back. The most profitable brands today all use usability testing as part of their approach to designing user-centric products. Amazon, Airbnb, Google—they all know that starting with user experience and building out from there is the key to long-term success and lasting profitability. There are no get-rich-quick schemes in today’s competitive market. But usability testing is a central element in creating a deeply informed, long-term strategy that asks the right questions, reduces costs, and elevates customer experiences.

My $40M+ (user-centred) product redesign method. A simple step-by-step approach for success.. Over a decade ago I led the redesign of the UK’s leading health informatics product which was deeply embedded in hospitals nationwide. It was a complex product, but the end result was a huge success. The fundamental steps I took then are the same ones I would take today. Why? Because they work so reliably well. Here are the steps I took: 1. Discovery: Face-to-face customer interviews (10+) Online survey Competitor analysis Stakeholder, sales team, and account manager interviews Regional insights and suggestions from the sales team Insights Analysis 2. Collate Findings Present recommendations Prioritise actions 3. Initial Designs & Testing: Design user journeys Collaborate with tech for a clickable prototype Test with customers Record usability issues and satisfaction scores 4. Prototype Refinement: Adjust designs based on feedback Update prototype Test again, record findings 5. Drive Design Vision through Development: Create annotated designs Guide development through sprints 6. Iterate Until Launch: Keep refining until ready for launch Include occasional customer check-ins along the way This process, adaptable to any online redesign, contributed significantly to a $40M company sale soon after the revitalised product was launched. It baffles me when redesign projects overlook real user input. Customer collaboration & co-creation is your reliable key to success. Don't relaunch without it. (Let me know in the comments if you agree). ....... PS. Questions about revitalising a struggling online product? Reach out via my profile.

Your customers are bouncing off your site without buying. You aren't sure why. You start by testing the site for speed. The pages take 1-2 seconds to load - it's not that. You think it's a user experience issue. Here's what you should do next 👇🏼 Begin by Googling a product on your site. Do so from a mobile device. ↳ Walk through your website. ↳ Ask, "how easy is it to navigate?" ↳ Think like a first time visitor, not an expert. ↳ Make sure product images are clear and enticing. ↳ Check that links and buttons actually work. ↳ Check that pop-ups aren't preventing you from pages. ↳ Is checkout smooth and hassle-free? It should be. ↳ Gather customer feedback for firsthand insights. ↳ Repeat this process from a desktop device. ↳ Repeat this process at least once a quarter. Focus on aspects of ecommerce UX. Shop as if you were a customer. Listen to your customers. Small tweaks can make a huge difference over time. You'll create a more engaging online shipping experience. Doing so will lead to: ↳ Increased customer satisfaction ↳ Higher conversion rates ↳ Ultimately, business growth 👉🏼 Follow to get more information and tips like this.  ♻️ Repost if you found this useful.

"Product-led growth is a business strategy that relies on using your product as the main vehicle to acquire, activate, and retain customers." a must read article about Growth Design and why it's necessary.

🚀 How to validate your product ideas - 5 proven methods to save time and money: Bringing a product to market is costly and time-consuming. There’s nothing worse than building a perfect product only to find out there’s no demand. Here are 5 proven methods to validate your product ideas before investing into a fully fletched solution: 1️⃣ 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 ✔ Create a landing page describing your product ✔ Collect sign-ups for a wait-list to be notified on launch or receive a special discount ✔ Promote the page and evaluate demand based on sign-ups 2️⃣ 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 ✔ Design mock-ups of your product ✔ Show them to potential customers ✔ Gather qualitative feedback on solving pain points, improvements, and pricing 3️⃣ 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 ✔ Develop a click dummy from your visual designs ✔ Ensure key navigation paths and selections can be tested ✔ Observe customer interactions and collect feedback on usability and demand 4️⃣ 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 ✔ Create a landing page that appears to sell the product ✔ Include pricing and details, then offer a wait-list to users that start buying ✔ Test with a larger amount of traffic to evaluate conversion rates and true demand 5️⃣ 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 ✔ Sometimes you just can’t validate without any development ✔ In such cases build the bare minimum needed to offer the main functionality you envision ✔ Use the conversion behavior and user feedback to guide further development These methods help ensure your product solves real customer problems. And that it has real market demand before you invest into it fully! While not all waste can be eliminated, these validation techniques significantly reduce wasted time and money. 💬 Which of these validation techniques have you used sucessfully? Which would you add? Share your experiences in the comments. --- I hope you found this valuable. Please like and repost to share with others. Follow me for more posts on leveraging product development, CRO & marketing for growth.

🌐 In the design process, it’s crucial to collaborate closely with product managers to understand the KPIs they track and define what success looks like. ⬇ Below are some essential metrics and the tools you can use to measure them: 1. Task Success Rate: Measure how effectively users complete tasks ➡ tools: UserTesting and Lookback. 2. Task Completion Time: Track how long users take to complete tasks ➡ tools: Hotjar and Crazy Egg. 3. Engagement: Monitor user interactions, session duration, and activity frequency ➡ tools: Google Analytics and Mixpanel. 4. Retention: Analyze user retention over time using Amplitude and Firebase Analytics ➡ tools: Amplitude and Firebase Analytics. 5. Revenue: Measure the financial performance ➡ tools: Stripe and PayPal. 6. Conversion: Evaluate the percentage of users who take desired actions ➡ tools: Google Optimize and Optimizely. 7. User Acquisition: Track new users and customers ➡ tools: HubSpot and Salesforce. 8. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Assess customer satisfaction and loyalty through surveys ➡ tools: SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics. ❓ Which other software has been most effective for you in measuring the success of your designs? What does success look like for your team?

What the hell is “product strategy”? Here’s one real example of what it entails. Last week at More Cursors, we had a client (currently valued at $150M) reach out about launching an MVP for a new product. They're looking to incubate a new business “internally” to capture more market share downstream. Most designers jump straight into 'checklist-mode'. Asking questions to fill up their checklist of things to do. - What features do you want? - What do you not like about X? - What do you like about Y? These questions simply give you a set of outputs but do not help you understand... - WHY is this project important - HOW should you prioritize the work - and WHAT you should actually be doing. But instead, we start with a different question: "How do you plan to measure success with the MVP?" In other words, what do I need to track so that the client can confidently go back to their investors and say, “This initiative was successful. Can we unlock more capital to keep building this product?” That’s where the real conversation starts. We need to agree on some clear metrics or objectives. If we can define 1-3 key objectives, those become the north star for the project. Now, let’s say they want to build 30 features. Understanding and having an objective allows me to challenge that: "Let’s focus on the top 3 features that align with our objectives." For example, if feature number 5 doesn’t directly support those objectives, we deprioritize it. This way, we’re moving the needle on what really matters. This might seem simple, but ruthless prioritisation and lazer focused strategies is what sets the good from the great. So to get you started here are 5 general key metrics I normally work with: - Leads and sign-ups - Conversion rates - Activation rates - Churn rates - Expansion rates But depending on the project, stage of the business and the industry you’re working in, specific (top-level) metrics might include things like: - # of vendors onboarded - customer satisfaction scores - page load speeds Once again, every project and business will have different requirements and needs. It’s your job to help them uncover and navigate the trenches. ↳ If you’re a founder or business looking for a product studio that knows how to launch successful products, find my team and I at More Cursors. ↳ Or if you’re a designer looking to upskill and learn how to advance in your UX career, you can find me at Designership.

Customer Journey

Aligning Metrics with Product Strategy for Data-Driven Decisions: Metrics provide insights into specific activities, while KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) focus on achieving strategic objectives. Metrics should align with your overall product strategy and enable you to identify areas for improvement, measure success, and make data-driven decisions. These are core metrics, but many others are relevant depending on your business. Choose what fits best. Customer Acquisition Cost : This metric tracks all expenses associated with acquiring new customers, including marketing, sales, and personnel costs. It helps businesses understand how much they invest to bring in a new customer. A healthy business acquires customers at a cost lower than their lifetime value. CAC = Total sales and marketing spending in a period / Number of new customers Net Promoter score : This metrics gauges user sentiment towards your product. A simple survey asks them, on a 0-10 scale, how likely they are to recommend it (10 being most likely). This can be complemented by open-ended questions to understand what users love (likes), what frustrates them (pain points), and what they desire (wish list). Example: High service/support response times are a concern despite positive feedback on the product. Feature Usage : This metric helps you identify features that delight and are heavily used by customers, alongside those rarely used. By analyzing customer feedback, surveys, analysing support ticket or usage data, This allows you to focus on improvements, understand user behaviour, determine features to maintain, and decide if unused features are outdated or lack functionality. Ultimately, this metric helps you optimize your product for long-term success. Recurring revenue : Financial metric that shows the revenue that a company expects to receive monthly/yearly from customers for providing them with products or services. Retention and Churn rate (customer/revenue) : Retention rate tracks users who stay, while churn rate (also called attrition rate) measures user loss. This metric is crucial for subscription businesses. Customer churn rate = Customers lost in given period/ Total customers (In the beginning) Revenue churn (amount of revenue lost due to customer churn). Revenue churn rate = Revenue from lost customers in given period/ Total revenue Conversion rate : Tracks the conversion rate of users taking desired actions, such as signing up, purchasing, downloading, or upgrading. Conversion rate = Number of converted users or visitors / Total number of users or visitors