In every single business no matter what size it is, there’s someone behind a computer screen looking at numbers. An analyst of some kind in a big bank or a big corporation, is looking at how many organic visitors came to the company website. They’re looking at the number of clicks they received on their links and ads, they’re going over the number of times people left and people stayed. On the other hand, they’re also taking down notes of comments, likes, shares or feedback they got from visitors. Once they have all the information they need a battle will commence in every boardroom around the world. Quantitative or qualitative, that is the question. Should you look at the numbers and be satisfied with that, or look at what an individual is saying and what they felt about their own personal experience?
Here’s where both of these methods find their place of worth.
It’s All About The Checkout
The number one concern of any sales team is the checkout experience. Online shoppers have a habit of putting items in their virtual basket, clicking through to the checkout and then suddenly they become Houdini and vanish. Why do so many people click away or even close a window in the final stages of the checkout experience? This is where qualitative methods matter. You have to take everyone as an individual at the point of the exchange. They are one click away from making a purchase, they will part from their money for real. Some people get second thoughts. Maybe they want a cheaper price, so they’ll look everywhere else first before buying from you. Maybe they want to wait a while until the price goes down. Maybe something else in their life came up so they need money elsewhere. Regardless of why, you need to create a small simple comment box at the checkout, which asks for the opinion of your customers.
Numbers Don’t Lie
The various other parts of your website are also important when it comes to these two methods. If you have an effective design, customers are going to naturally stay for longer and click more often. This is where user research into the best kind of UX experience rides into the field. Users are bombarded with so many options, that unless you make it easier for their brain to departmentalize they’ll just click off. Even browsing shoppers that have plenty of time on their hands, don’t want to be hit with a wall of text and images. That’s why learning about proper category design is crucial. You allow various products of a similar nature to be grouped together. It sounds simple but when you start adding differing prices, colors, quality, materials, brands, sizes, styles and much more, it gets complicated. Regarding these complexities, the numbers don’t lie. Where you’re going right, is where you’ll receive a higher click-through rate (CTR).
Both quantitative and qualitative methods of user experience research are important. However they are both situational. Sometimes one is better than the other, the challenge is knowing where.
