Ryan McCourt is VP of Business Development at remote user testing platform, Userlytics. He’ll be appearing at our Conversion & Analytics Conference from 22nd June to talk about how user testing can amplify conversion optimisation.

To find out more and register to attend the conference, click here >>>

User testing is an increasingly popular field of conversion optimisation. Unlike so many other tools used to understand journeys through a website, user testing gives us a direct line to the obstacles tripping up customers, as well as their expectations.

Ahead of our Conversion & Analytics conference - a week-long series of 40-minute webinars beginning 22nd June - we spoke to VP of Business Development at Userlytics, Ryan McCourt about his upcoming talk. He explains why user testing is becoming more popular, what issues a user testing platform can uncover that other tools can't, and gives some examples of insights uncovered during a simple user experience study.

1. In not too many words, please tell us what you do.

I lead a team of executives who develop and manage relationships with UX researchers, product owners, marketing managers, and designers by uncovering their specific needs and delivering the most appropriate solution to help improve their digital products and grow their business.

The team I lead also supports our clients as their companies evolve with new feature training, industry tips, and best practices to ensure each and every client we come in contact with is able to achieve and surpass their goals.

2. Pretend I’m a marketing director. Why am I interested in what Userlytics has to offer?

In short, Userlytics lets you get inside of your customer’s mind to uncover the “why”. There are many platforms, which I am sure you leverage, that tell you what, when, how many, and where, things might be happening in terms of your marketing, prospecting, sales, and renewal funnels.

But Userlytics tells you Why. Why your users are dropping off midway through a purchasing funnel, why one copy resonates more with your customers, and why some of your clients prefer one feature over another.

Userlytics lets you talk directly with your users, customers, and clientele either through unmoderated (“self-led”) studies or moderated (“live interviews”) studies. In either setup, you can show your users any number of digital assets (sites, apps, photos, videos, prototypes, mock-ups, concepts), and watch them as they attempt to do the tasks that you expect them to be able to do easily. Therefore you can learn the obstacles and challenges and “folds in the rug” that your users trip over, that you may be unaware of.

In addition, you can directly ask your users for their thoughts, feedback, perceptions, and beliefs as they analyze some advertising copy, scroll through a new landing page, or move through a purchase funnel.

3. Why is user testing becoming increasingly popular?

In the past 10 years, the C-Suite has become aware of the fundamental role that user experience plays in market share, revenue growth, profitability and valuation.

As a result, they have been ramping up the number of persons and budgets allocated to improving the user experience, for which user research in general and user testing in particular plays a key role.

This has resulted in the need for a highly scalable, yet completely customizable user experience testing service like Userlytics, with a comprehensive and broad set of features.

User Experience testing is fundamentally different from market research. In a UX study, even if only 5 or 10% of the respondents encounter an issue that blocks them from achieving a desired goal (“tripping on a fold in the rug”), understanding and correcting that issue would help the other 90% to 95% of participants who were lucky enough to be able to “step over” the fold and they will subconsciously appreciate the elimination of the fold in the rug, thus leading to higher satisfaction, loyalty, renewals and recommendations.

4. What can I learn from user testing that I can’t learn anywhere else?

In a matter of minutes you can quickly see where your users are having difficulty achieving their objectives, what they like and dislike about your digital asset(s), what they expect to happen, what they didn’t expect to happen, things they wish were different, and any other feedback your customers provide as they interact with the assets you direct them to and attempt to achieve the goals you ask of them.

You can even have them go through your purchasing experience/flow, and then immediately send them to your competitor’s site/app and compare the two. Ryan McCourt is VP of Business Development at Userlytics. He’ll be appearing at our Conversion & Analytics Conference from 22nd June to talk about how user testing can amplify conversion optimisation. To find out more and register to attend, click here >>>