Small UX improvements add up over time, spiral showing growth through multiple small improvements

How to Improve UX Without Spending a Lot of Money

Many people think improving user experience (UX) costs a lot of money. But that’s not true. You can make small changes that help your users without spending too much. These small changes can make a big difference for your business.

Jakob Nielsen, the co-founder of NN/g, says UX doesn’t always have to be expensive. Instead of fixing everything, focus on the problems that matter the most. Fixing the right problem can save time and money while making your users happy.

tweet example fix the customer experience or customers will leave

Imagine you run an insurance company that approves referrals. An approval could take anywhere from several days to weeks. This not only makes wait times long, but it impacts your business. You don’t want your customers to leave because of the long wait times, right?

You have several choices for improvements. You could modernize your website, or you could focus on the approval process. By spending your small budget on speeding up the approval process, you can fix a big problem and improve UX.

This is not a made-up story. When I worked with a healthcare insurance company, the approval times were slow. After looking at the data, we found that processing times were the problem. By speeding up batch processing, we made it 40% faster. This helped patients get approvals quicker and made the business run better.

You can do the same today. You don’t have to change everything to see great results. Focus on the big problems that matter. So, where do you start?

Focus on the Right Problem

"Where focus goes, energy flows."

Spend time on the problems that will help your users the most and have a big impact on your business.

For example, if people are leaving your checkout page before they buy, this means lost sales. Fixing a confusing checkout step could make a big difference.

Small, focused changes can make users happier, boost sales, and even get better reviews. By fixing the most important problems, small changes can have a big impact without spending a lot.

What if you don’t know what problems to focus on? You can try two approaches:

Review Your Data

The first approach is to review your data. This helps you find problems. Use tools to measure user interactions. Look at heatmaps and watch recordings to see user behavior in real time.

Check how people are using your product and see where they get stuck. The data will show you where your website or app needs work. Think about your business problems and see if you can find the story in your data.

The second approach is to talk with your users.

two people talking

Ask for Feedback

Talking with your users is another great way to find problems. Ask them what they like and what they find difficult. Listening to their feedback helps you understand what works and what needs improvement.

There are many ways to gather feedback and review data. Find out what works best for you. Reviewing your data and speaking with your users can paint a good picture.

Once you know the problem, the next step is figuring out what changes to make. Start by doing a UX audit.

Do a UX Audit

Use your product like a user. Write down everything that’s confusing, slow, or frustrating.

This could be slow pages, hard-to-find buttons, or confusing text. Once you have a list of problems, figure out how fixing them will solve the big problem.

For example, if you fix the checkout page, will that increase sales? If you make the landing page load faster, will more people convert?

Next, rank your problems and decide which ones to fix first.

Rank Each Problem

You can rank your problems using an Impact-Effort Matrix. This helps you decide what to focus on by dividing projects into four groups:

impact-effort matrix
  • High Effort, High Impact – These take a lot of work but can make a big impact.
  • Low Effort, High Impact – These are quick fixes with big results.
  • High Effort, Low Impact – These take a lot of time but don’t help much.
  • Low Effort, Low Impact – These are easy fixes but don’t matter much.

Using this method, you can choose which problems to fix first and improve your product. The next step is to start working on changes.

Start Making UX Changes

Create small projects that focus on improving the areas you want to fix. This might mean redesigning difficult-to-use areas or trying new ideas.

Once you make a change, test it to see how users react. The goal is to make small improvements and get better little by little. This is Kaizen, a Japanese business philosophy. It boils down to small, continuous improvements lead to big results.

Here are some simple UX changes you can try.

  • Speed up slow-loading pages
  • Use clear, easy-to understand language, images, and icons
  • Add feedback (like a loading message) to set user expectations
  • Improve navigation so users can find what they need faster
  • Update your call-to-action buttons so they stand out and lead users to the next step
  • Redesign specific user flows to simplify complicated journeys
  • Optimize frustrating processes

Once you make changes, track the results. Did the change help users? Did it make things worse? Use the data to keep improving.

Little Improvements Add Up Over Time

You don’t need a big, expensive project to improve things for your users and business. UX doesn’t have to be a huge project that takes a year to finish. You can start making small, focused changes today. Choose the projects that will make the biggest impact. Keep in mind your time, resources, and budget.

Every small positive change makes your product better. Over time, all these changes will add up to big improvements.

Need Help? Let’s Work Together

Improving UX doesn’t have to cost a lot. We can help you find the best ways to make your website or app better. Want help? Get in touch for a free call. We can work together to improve your business and make your users happier.

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