Revolutionising Website Audits for Long-Term Success: A Holistic Approach

As marketing professionals, we all appreciate the potential value of website audits in identifying performance and usability issues. However, it's increasingly clear that conventional audits often fail to provide long-lasting solutions. In this post, we'll explore why typical website audits fail to deliver and suggest a more comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of problems.

The Limitations of Traditional Website Audits

Traditional audits focus on surface-level issues, such as aesthetics, usability, content, performance, and technical aspects. While resolving these issues may offer short-term improvements, they often only serve as a band-aid solution, leaving the underlying problems.

Addressing the Real Problems

Just as a doctor wouldn't treat a cough without addressing the patient's smoking habit, website audits should investigate the underlying reasons for the identified issues. In many cases, the blame is unfairly placed on the digital team responsible for the website's creation, while deeper organisational problems still need to be addressed.

Bridging the Gap Between Business and Web Teams

Instead of merely highlighting issues, a thorough website audit should delve into the organisation's digital readiness and project governance. A proper audit involves asking tough questions about how problems arose and encouraging a company-wide understanding of potential shortcomings.

Finding the Root Cause

If the root cause of an issue isn't immediately apparent, engage with internal teams to uncover their operational constraints. Experienced auditors can often spot recurring patterns and identify problems stemming from poor leadership, under-investment, interdepartmental feuds, or communication breakdowns.

The Future of Holistic Website Audits

Our vision for website audits involves comprehensive, long-term engagements prioritising high-quality assessments and user testing. By digging deeper and addressing the root causes of problems, we can ensure that audits provide lasting value and drive meaningful improvements in website performance.

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Introduction

Great stories can be powerful tools in the world of UX, but only some are natural storytellers. Thankfully, you can learn to create captivating user narratives. This article provides two essential suggestions to improve your storytelling: using the story triangle principle and the story-mountain template. 

[Image suggestion: An illustration of a story triangle and story mountain side by side.]

Understanding the Story Triangle

The story triangle illustrates the relationship between the story, the storyteller, and the audience. A successful story is a dialogue, not a monologue. Each audience may interpret the same story differently based on their unique experiences.

[Image suggestion: A simple diagram of the story triangle, with labels for story, storyteller, and audience.]

Example of a User Narrative 

Consider a narrative about user Mary, who must decide between taking a bus or a taxi to the central station after a late-night event. We propose a bus-tracking app that could compete with ride-sharing apps and promote public transportation. The audience can make various inferences based on their experiences while listening to the story.

 [Image suggestion: A comic strip-style illustration of Mary deciding between a bus and a taxi, with thought bubbles showing different audience members' interpretations.]

Audience Participation and Finding the Right Detail

Audience participation can enrich the storytelling experience, but it can also lead to misunderstandings. It's essential to balance providing too few and too many details in user-experience stories. Adjust the number of facts based on your objectives and the story's purpose. [Image suggestion: A balance scale showing "Too few details" on one side and "Too many details" on the other.]

The Story-Mountain Template

The story-mountain template is a visual representation of a time-tested story structure, helping guide the audience through exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

[Image suggestion: A diagram of the story-mountain template with labels for each stage.]

Applying the Story-Mountain Template in UX

Use the story-mountain template to create user narratives for your internal team. Start by introducing the problem or goal, then raise the main character (e.g., Mary) and provide relevant details about their background. Describe their experience using the product or service, highlighting the benefits or challenges they face. Finally, suggest a resolution or path to improvement. 

[Image suggestion: A storyboard of the story-mountain stages applied to the Mary bus-tracking app example.]

Conclusion: 

Stories are vital to effective UX design, but it's essential to tell them in a way that resonates with the audience. The story-mountain approach is one way to achieve this. For more storytelling techniques in the UX context, consider taking a training course on storytelling to present UX work.

References:

• Bunting, Joe (2020). Freytag's Pyramid: Definition, Examples, and How to Use This Weird Structure in Your Writing. The Write Practice. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
• Lupton, Ellen (2018). Storytelling is Design. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
• Quesenbery, W., & Brooks, K. (2011). Storytelling for User Experience. Sebastopol: Rosenfeld Media.

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