UX design articles & guides

Illustration by Fogg

Mr? Mrs? Other? Why you don’t need a ‘title’ field in your checkout flow

A look at the problems that can be caused by this little field, which is often unthinkingly added to checkout flows.

Why you should combine session recordings and user testing to understand user behaviour

Using both of these methods will help you learn about realities and motivations as well as the details of any issues.

Do ecommerce product reviews work – and what can you use instead?

For many smaller online retailers, implementing an ecommerce product reviews gathering system is a big decision. Find out if it might be something you don’t need to do at all.

Illustration by Mirage

How to create a UX project proposal that wins clients

Here’s how I construct my UX design project proposals so clients have everything they need to know to hire me.

How I improved everything about my book with a 2nd edition

Here’s what I did to update my self-published book to improve the content, the cover, the sales platform, and more.

Photo by Marcos Luiz on Unsplash

5 key questions to ask clients when starting a new project

If you get answers to these five things from new clients then you should have enough information to get started on researching and designing.

Photo by CHUHAN Z. on Unsplash

Why you should use a carousel on your ecommerce website

I make the case for one type of carousel that still makes sense: autoplaying ones on landing pages.

The challenge of interviewing experts and how a funnel can help

How the realities of interviewing senior people means you have to step away from the ideal of having a natural conversation.

The death of product quick view on ecommerce listings pages

They’ve been fading out for a while but here’s why we really don’t need a ‘quick view’ option to see products on ecommerce sites.

Introduction to Designing Ecommerce Websites

Here’s the introduction to the second edition of Designing Ecommerce Websites, explaining everything you need to know about it.

Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash

Do you really need to record customer interviews?

Why I’ve stopped bothering to record my user and customer interviews (and what I do instead).

The ecommerce experience funnel

A breakdown of my simple funnel that illustrates how ecommerce websites are constructed, based on the actions a user must do to convert.

Mastering the ecommerce experience funnel: landing pages

Part 2 of my guide to the ecommerce experience funnel covering what you need in a successful landing page.

Mastering the ecommerce experience funnel: listings

Part 3 of my guide to the ecommerce experience funnel, this time explaining what you need in a good listings page so your users can find products they want.

Mastering the ecommerce experience funnel: product pages

Part 4 of my guide to the ecommerce experience funnel, where I look at the three modes a person goes through when shopping. You need to consider these for a successful product page.

Mastering the ecommerce experience funnel: checkout

Part 5 of my guide to designing an ecommerce experience that gives the user everything they need to successfully buy. This time, how to get user details in the checkout to complete a purchase.

Illustration by Cherry

How do top ecommerce website display order summaries in mobile checkout flows?

Here’s how some major ecommerce sites present summaries of user’s orders and their basket contents through the checkout flow on mobile.

What to look for when hiring a UX designer

Here’s the list I give people when they ask what ideal things they should look for when interviewing UX designers.

Illustration by Marginalia

6 journeys to take users from editorial to products on an ecommerce site

Some inspiration showing the different ways you can move users from articles and editorial to buy products.

Photo by Milkovi on Unsplash

Using sentiment analysis to turn rambling survey answers into useful results

My process for getting actionable insights out of reams of responses from in-depth surveys.

Illustration by Pale

How do the top ecommerce sites display filters on their listings pages?

Original research and analysis into how 50 of the world’s top ecommerce websites display filters on listings pages – particularly on desktop devices.

Get actionable data from Google Analytics to help you design

The four key things I look at in Google Analytics to help me make decisions about improving a website’s UX design.

Top 50 ecommerce websites – methodology and full list

Illustration by Pale

How do 50 of the world’s biggest ecommerce sites present images on listings pages?

Original research and analysis into sizes, dimensions, and number of images shown on listings pages of top ecommerce websites. With results and examples from desktop and mobile sites.

Build your own website dashboard for free – tracking a user journey over time

I explain the benefits of tracking conversion funnels in your own dashboard and give a step by step guide to how I do this.

Illustration by Eastwood

Help ecommerce users find the right fit with a fit finder

A dig into fit finders and how they can improve the clothes-buying experience.

How many steps should be in a user flow?

The four things to consider when defining how long to make your user journeys and what to put in them.

Illustration by Eastwood

Delivery or collection? Should your ecommerce store handle both in one basket?

How to implement the option of collection alongside delivery, and how so many ecommerce websites seem to get it wrong.

Your website’s persona – how to quickly find out with Google Analytics data

A handy technique for user-centred design when there’s no budget for full user research: cheaply understand who your primary user is with analytics data.

The Forum in Rome

Work out how your current website performs before designing a new one (aka why study history)

I dig into a common question that clients ask: how can studying the past help us design the future.

My workspace

The 4 hour work day – or how to work from home

My advice on working from home successfully, without getting distracted or burning out.

An evidence-based framework for redesigning any website

My framework to make your redesign a success. It tells you how to work in an ordered, evidence-based way, so your new design is backed up with reasoning, not guesswork.

6 tips for great ecommerce product finders

Sometimes a product finder is a great way to help your users reach the thing they need. Here’s how to make it a really useful one.

Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash.

Why you should be evidence-based when designing (and less data-driven)

Here’s how and why you should be properly evidence-based in your design process (not just claim to be). As well as a look at the limitations of being solely data-driven.

Why I don’t have a UX design portfolio

I explain the three main reasons I don’t display a UX porfolio on my website, and what you can use instead.

How to watch and analyse session recordings to gain powerful insights

There’s lots of software available for gathering session recordings of what users do on your website—here are six things you can discover by watching them back.

Photo by Mabel Amber on Pexels

How small ecommerce websites can create strong homepage introductions

I take you through six examples of sites that have a strong initial homepage experience, via their banner image and copy.

Photo by Jerry Kiesewetter on Unsplash

How to write remote user testing tasks (that don’t bias your results)

I take you through the wording of five common remote user testing tasks, that won’t adversely influence your users and harm your results.

5 reasons why people aren’t watching videos on your ecommerce site

Are your videos not getting engagement on your online store? These are the common mistakes to avoid.

What’s the special feature your ecommerce product page should have?

Explaining how you can go further than a standard ecommerce product page, with a special feature that both helps users understand the product, and enhances what you offer.

How to create mobile-friendly search filters – the key principles

One of the hardest areas to get right on mobile ecommerce websites is search filtering—here are six key principles to make it easier for those users on smaller screens.