Full-Site UX Audit – Detailed List of Audited Site Elements

A ‘Full-Site UX audit’ include a full analysis and UX performance scoring across 640+ weighted parameters (a selection are listed below), divided into 6 main audit focus areas:

1) Homepage & Category Audit

The Homepage & Category UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

Homepage
The homepage structure, design, carousels, personalization and promotions.

Category Taxonomy
The overall e-commerce category structure and taxonomy, incl. the common issue of “over-categorization”, information architecture, catalog breadth, category redundancy, overly deep or shallow categories, and industry-specific naming, etc.

Main Navigation
The main e-commerce navigation design, mega drop-down menus, product navigation and its visual hierarchy, courtesy non-product navigation, etc.

Intermediary Category Pages
How deep in the site hierarchy “Intermediary Category” pages are used (vs. using a product listing page), how the category pages are structured and what content they contain, incl. inspirational paths, featured products, and curated content, etc.

Product Lists
Overall category-based product listings layout, “grid” and “list” views, pagination, items per page, sorting design and filtering features, etc.

Site-Wide Layout
Site-wide layouts, footers, newsletter dialogs, ad positioning, and return policy links, etc.

Cross-Navigation & -Selling
The ability to perform cross-navigation on category and product pages, incl. scope jumping, breadcrumbs, cross- and up-selling, and content sections, etc.

 

2) On-Site Search Audit

The On-Site Search UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

Query Types
The level of compliance with 12 different overarching types of search queries that users make on e-commerce sites, all vital for your search engine to support (Exact, Product Type, Feature, Thematic, Relational, Compatibility, Symbol, Subjective, Symptom, Implicit, Non-Product, and Natural Language). How and what product data is actually searched.

Search Form & Logic
The design and behavior of the search field itself, query persistence, manual and automatic search scope selection, special characters, etc.

Autocomplete
How the autocomplete feature (“predictive search”) should be designed, the types of suggestions it should make, keyboard behavior support, suggesting scopes and products, etc.

Results Logic & Guidance
How to guide users toward better paths on the results page, including suggesting alternate queries, scopes, “No results” pages, misspellings, etc.

Results Layout
The layout and features of the search results page, such as dynamic list layouts, the search results information, search snippets, pagination, etc.

Results Filtering & Sorting
Filtering and sorting of search results, including essential filtering types, faceted search, the design and logic for long lists of filters, filter naming, dynamic sorting, etc.

 

3) Product Page Audit

The Product Page UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

Product Page Layout
Product page layouts: “Horizontal Tabs”, “Sticky TOCs”, “Collapsed Sections”, “One Long Page”, etc.

Product Images
How users inspect product images, the 7 different image types e-commerce sites need, number of images, etc.

Image Gallery User Interface
Image gallery design, image navigation, methods of zoom, carousels, overlays, default image and size, etc.

Product Video & 360-Views
Product videos and interactive “360-View” features, incl. video content, structure, placement, and video player features.

The “Buy” Section
Design and position of elements such as “Add to Cart” button, prices & discounts, quantity field, “Out of Stock”, etc.

Shipping, Returns, & Gifting
Shipping and return information at the product page, “Free Shipping” tiers, gifting, and “Find in Store” features.

Product Variations
Selecting color and size variations, content across variations, product customizations and personalizations.

Product Description
Product information and descriptions, the type of content needed, text styling, sub-titles, product headlines, etc.

Product Specifications Sheet
Spec sheet layout, specs in tables vs. product descriptions, help features, post-processing of vendor data, etc.

User Reviews
User reviews, the review submission form, review filtering, sorting & navigation, rating distribution summaries, etc.

Auxiliary Content
Q&A, FAQs, product manuals, social media tools, and expert-generated content.

Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
Cross-sells design, placement, and logic, cross-navigation elements, “Recently Viewed Products”, etc.

 

4) Product Lists, Filters, & Sorting Audit

The Product Lists, Filters, & Sorting UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

List Layout
The design and features of the overall layout of the product list, incl. “list” vs. “grid” layouts, product data consistency, post-processing vendor-supplied data, “responsive upscaling” of product lists, etc.

Loading Products
The loading pattern for new items loaded into the product list, number of products displayed by default, etc.

List Items: What Information to Include
The type and amount of product attributes to include in each list item, product variations in list items, user ratings averages in list items, etc.

List Items: User Interface
The styling and display of the included information such a price, product specifications, variations, units, etc.

List Items: Product Thumbnails
The type of product thumbnails in each list item, what they depict, their size, hover-enabled thumbnails, showing packaging, etc.

List Items: Hover & Hit Areas
The list item’s click behavior, hover effect synchronization, “quick view” features, dynamic amount of content on hover, etc.

List Items: Personalization
Context-aware thumbnails, personalized list item and product attributes, highlighting of items, etc.

Filtering: Available Filters
The type, amount, and specificity of filters users need, incl. thematic filters, product-specific filters, compatibility filters, symptom filters, product status filters, gifting filters, user-defined filters, price filters, etc.

Filtering: Scope & Logic
Filtering logic, scope, and naming schemas, such as over-categorization, mutually exclusive filtering values and non-exclusive values (“AND” “OR” logics), filtering tooltips, filter names, filter value consistency, dynamically renaming filters, etc.

Filtering Interface & Layout
Filtering type’s and filtering value’s styling, placement, filter truncation, incl. handling filtering values with 0 matches, filter value checkbox and link styling, the display sequence for filtering values, slider interfaces, etc.

Filtering: Applying & Applied Filters
“Apply” buttons and live updating as filters are applied, the position and styling for applied filtering values, browser history, filter and sorting persistence, etc.

Sorting
The default sort type, diversity in sorting logic, the sorting interface and scope, alphabetical sorting, category-specific sort types, sorting directions, sorting naming, the scope of the sorting tool, labeling of the sorting interface, dead-end sorting options, logic for customer rating sorting, etc.

Comparison Tool
When to have a comparison feature, the design and placement of the “compare” link, the view and features of the comparison page, product data consistency, inline help options, etc.

 

5) Checkout Audit

The Checkout UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

Shopping Cart & “Added to Cart” Behavior
Shopping cart design and quantity and save features, but also the page-response when users add products to the cart (drop-down cart, etc.)

Account Selection & Creation
Account selection designs and communication, guest checkout, “Delayed Account Creation”, social media accounts, password rules, etc.

Customer & Address Information
Privacy concerns, shipping addresses, billing addresses, international addresses, phone fields, address auto-detection techniques, etc.

Gifting Flow & Features
How to gift-mark orders, how the checkout should change for gifting, gifting feature design and microcopy, etc.

Shipping & Store Pickup
Shipping interface design and information hierarchy, shipping descriptions, order cut-off times, and “Free Shipping” tiers, along with omni-channel features such as Store Pickup, Store Availability, and Ship to Store

Payment Flow & Methods (incl. 3rd-Party)
The payment methods interface, how to integrate and display 3rd-party payment options, gift card redemption flows, international currencies, coupon codes, etc.

Credit Card Form
The credit card field design and its validation logic and formatting, along with the expiration date, security code, and cardholder name inputs, field sequence, card icons, and card type selection

Order Review
Review step design, “Place Order” button placement, and necessary review data, along with its editing flow

Order Confirmation & E-Mail (to the extent it’s possible to access this)
The information and actions needed on the order confirmation page, along with the order confirmation e-mail

Checkout Page Design
Checkout process steps, “Enclosed Checkout” designs, order summary sidebars, and how to design and position the cart link in the site-wide header

User Attention & Interactions
Load indicators, feedback on user actions, the use of overlays, feedback requests, introduction of site-specific features, and embedded content from 3rd parties

Cross-Sells
Active vs. passive cross-selling, adapting cross-sells to user context, and pitfalls of specific placements and wording

Form Design & Features
How to design and position the primary button, “Apply” buttons, minimizing form intimidation, multi-column layouts, tabbing flows, CAPTCHAs, back-button and enter-keystroke behavior

Validation Errors & Data Persistence
How to design and position error messages, how to word them, and persisting data in non-secure and secure form fields, along with inline validation

Address Validators
When address validations are necessary, “Force-Proceeding” through address validators, along with address validator design and logic

Field Labels & Microcopy
Marking optional and required fields, field label position, tooltips, and optimizing microcopy and descriptions

Field Design & Features
How to match the type of interface with the input type, drop-downs and radio button implementations, input masks and character restrictions, custom designed input fields, etc.

Default Values & Autocompletion
Intelligent form features, including inferred selections, pre-fills, auto-fills, and personalization of the checkout flow

 

6) Mobile E-commerce Audit

The Mobile E-Commerce UX audit focus area includes a full analysis of the following elements:

Mobile Basics
Content and structure of mobile site vs. desktop site, size and spacing of of hit areas, multiple hit-areas within the same visual element, font-sizes, landscape mode, bugs and quirks vulnerable to the mobile platform, auto-zoom, etc.

Mobile Site Homepage & Main Navigation
Main navigation design and logic, double-hit area issues, homepage structure and design, auto-rotating carousels, etc.

Mobile Search
User’s crossover from category navigation to search, search scopes, misspellings and synonyms, search query support, “0 results” pages, Faceted Search filters, etc.

Mobile Product Lists
List item size, product thumbnail size relative to product type, amount of product attributes in list items, hit areas within the product list, separation of list items, pagination vs. load more vs. endless scrolling, visual indicators, product variations, list item interactions on a touch screen, etc.

Mobile Filtering & Sorting
Styling and position of both “filter” and “Sort” options, sort types, “apply” buttons vs. auto-applying filtering values, the display of applied filters, information scent, product status, filtering interface, etc.

Mobile Cross Navigation & Compatibility
Interlinking of compatibility-dependent products, cross-sells, list item consistency, etc.

Mobile Product Page Layouts
Product page structure, sub–product pages, collapsed product page sections, user reviews, “add to cart” button placement, “Store Pickup”, etc.

Product Images
Product image size, product image zoom levels, image ambiguity, touch gestures in the image gallery, etc.

Mobile Product Descriptions, Specs, & Compatibility
Division of product info between description and spec list, styling of product description, amount and level of specs included, product compatibility information and relationships, etc.

Mobile Shopping Cart
Cost estimates, number and placement of “checkout” buttons, saving mobile carts, picking up mobile carts on desktop devices, etc.

Mobile Checkout Steps
Account creation and guest checkout, shipping and billing addresses, shipping methods, “Store Pickup”, payment, order review, linear checkout flows, mobile process steps, etc.

Mobile Checkout UX
Optional vs. required fields, minimizing number of fields, form field label placement in smartphone portrait and landscape modes, inline labels, floating labels, grouping checkout info for mobile overview, field context, location detection, touch keyboard auto-correct, optimized keyboards, auto-capitalization, etc.