UX/UI audit: find out whether your website really offers a good experience

A website can look polished and still be difficult to use.

It might have a modern design, good-quality images and interesting animations, yet fail to communicate clearly what it offers, where to find information or what action to take.

This is where UX/UI design comes in. UX, User Experience, is about how a person experiences and uses a website. UI, User Interface, is about the elements they interact with: layout, typography, colours, buttons, menus, components and the user interface itself.

A UX/UI audit looks at these elements as a whole and identifies what helps or hinders the user experience.

Why run a UX/UI audit?

It is not always easy to understand why a website is not getting the expected results. The problem could be unintuitive navigation, a confusing visual hierarchy, an unclear call to action, or simply a path that is too complicated.

What's more, people who work on their own website every day often know it so well that they no longer notice the difficulties a first-time visitor might run into.

An audit makes it possible to look at the website with a structured, outside perspective. The goal is to understand how easy the site is to use to achieve a given objective, regardless of whether the design is liked.

1. First impressions: does the user immediately understand where they are?

When someone lands on a page, they need to orient themselves quickly. It should be immediately clear:

• what the website offers;
• what the page is about;
• what the main information is;
• what action they can take;
• where they can find further information.

This depends on visual hierarchy. Headings, subheadings, paragraphs, images, buttons and white space need to work together to guide the eye.

If every element has the same visual weight, the user has to work harder to work out where to start. Good design, by contrast, reduces that effort.

2. Navigation: is it easy to find information?

One of the most important features of an effective website is predictability. Users shouldn't keep asking themselves:

Where do I click?

Where can I find this information?

How do I go back to the previous page?

Navigation needs to be consistent and easy to understand. During a UX/UI audit, it is therefore important to look at the menu structure, how sections are named, the links between pages and the paths needed to reach the most important information.

The less the user has to guess, the better the experience will be.

3. Typography and readability

Text is one of the main elements of any website. Yet readability is often considered only at the end of the design process.

Font size, weight, line height, line length, spacing and contrast can completely change how content is perceived.

Text that is too small or too cramped can put people off reading. An unclear typographic hierarchy can make it hard to tell headings, secondary information and main content apart.

Typography therefore needs to do more than stay consistent with the brand's visual identity: it needs to make content easier to understand.

4. Colour and contrast

Colour can draw attention, create hierarchy and communicate meaning. But it needs to be used with judgement.

Insufficient contrast can make text and interface components hard to read. Overusing colour, on the other hand, can make the hierarchy of the page less clear.

During a UX/UI audit it is therefore important to check that colour is not the only element used to convey information, and that content stays readable and understandable.

The design needs to work even when the user cannot perfectly perceive every colour difference.

5. Calls to action: does the user know what to do?

Every website has different goals. It might want to generate enquiries, sell products, take bookings, encourage people to download a resource, or simply provide information. In every case, the main action needs to be easy to recognise.

An effective call to action needs to be:

• visible;
• understandable;
• consistent with the page content;
• easy to reach;
• distinguishable from secondary elements.

This doesn't mean filling every page with buttons. It means making the next step clear whenever there is an action the user should be able to take.

6. Forms and interactions: how easy is it to complete an action?

Another key point concerns interactions. A contact form, for example, might seem like a minor element, but every extra field represents effort for the user.

The same applies to checkouts, registrations, configurators, quote requests and other interactive paths.

A good audit also checks what happens when the user:

• enters a piece of information;
• makes a mistake;
• completes an action successfully;
• has to wait for a response;
• goes back;
• uses the website from a different device.

An effective interface never leaves the user without guidance: every action should come with clear feedback.

7. Mobile: does the website really work on a smartphone?

Responsive design doesn't just mean shrinking a desktop page to fit a smaller screen. On mobile, sizes, proportions and ways of interacting all change.

Menus, buttons, fields, images, text and content all need to be rethought so they stay easy to use.

A UX/UI audit therefore also needs to consider:

• the size of clickable areas;
• text readability;
• navigation;
• how content is arranged;
• the behaviour of interactive elements;
• any overlaps or layout issues.

The goal is to offer a consistent experience regardless of the device used.

8. Accessibility: can everyone use the website?

The user experience shouldn't be designed with only one type of visitor in mind.

Contrast, text size, content structure, use of colour, interactive elements and clarity of information can all affect accessibility.

Designing a more accessible interface often means designing a clearer interface for everyone.

A UX/UI audit isn't about finding fault: it's about finding opportunities

The goal of a UX/UI analysis shouldn't be to produce a long list of problems. What is really useful is understanding which problems have the biggest impact and which improvements should take priority.

A problem that stops someone completing a contact enquiry will probably carry more weight than a small visual inconsistency.

That's why it is important to distinguish between critical issues and improvements, weighing their impact on the experience and on the website's objectives.

Your website might be simpler to fix than you think

A website doesn't always need a complete redesign. Sometimes targeted changes are enough: clearer navigation, a better visual hierarchy, more readable text, more effective calls to action or a simpler user journey can make a real difference to the experience.

The first step, though, is understanding where to focus.

Request your free UX/UI audit

Want to know how your website comes across to someone visiting it for the first time?

We offer a free UX/UI audit to identify the main opportunities for improving your website's experience and interface. We look at structure, visual hierarchy, navigation, readability, accessibility, interactions, mobile behaviour and the main user journeys.

Find out what works, what can be improved and where to start: request your free design and UX analysis now.