UX consulting is a combination of two different kinds of services: UX designing and business consulting. It deals with the elements of your website, app, or software that the end-user interacts with to make user experience (UX) smoother and more pleasant. UX consulting goes beyond the visible features of your software (website, mobile app, desktop application).
You maybe don’t know it, but UX is a part of our daily lifes – have your ever seen doors having “push” or “pull” sign? Thats UX, because it guides you how to correctly open the door. And without that you will need one more try to open the door. Now imagine you have a long hallway and there are hundreds of doors to be open. And every single door is having no sign on it and can be opened in both ways – one doors can be opened inwards and another ones can be opened outwards. Can you imagine how pissed off you will be before you arrive at the end of this hall?
The same barriers and “user’s problems” can be probably exist on your web site, mobile or desktop app you offer. It can cost you a lot of money as well. Because people get lost and will not find your products – you have wrong nagivation, or site search is not working properly or is not working as the user thinks it should. Or you invest a huge amount of money into customers acquisition and the users you “bought” will probably not find the right product, miss the important information or they or have to overcome many different obstacles on their very first visit (missing search box, web paging, filters for easier searching, illogical navigation) and they leave the site without signing to your newsletter, buying anything or doing any action you expect from them to do.
This is not the complete list, but just an example of things which we UX specialist have to deal with. As you can see most of these need a significant site modification – where you will need a not just a UX consultant, but also designer, programmer and probably tester at the end of the whole process (for small businesses – for corporate clients there are for sure many more people involved).
When business owners spend thousands of dollars on marketing, it’s heartbreaking for them to see their users get lost on their website because of a miserable design. You must help the user get the desired outcome when he comes to your website instead of making him go to your competitor by decreasing the usability of your website or app. To survive in the digital landscape, you need to become more user-centered.
You need to stay on top of everything from visual design to information architecture. Therefore, you need to make sure that all features that make up the user experience (UX) are consistent with the UX (and UI) principles.
You need to ensure perfect organization of the information being presented, catchy and consistent visual design, increased usability, and perfect user interaction design. In today’s highly competitive digital marketplace, user experience (UX) has great power and you must use that to your advantage if you want your survival guaranteed.
You need UX consulting to create a healthy and positive user experience (UX) for your customers. To create a seamless and meaningful user experience, you need to go beyond usual UX design. You need to make sure that your design works for you and not against you by creating a negative experience for your user.
This is the most basic UX consulting service that I provide. We – you and I – have to define, what kind of metric we want to improve or what goal we want to achieve. Then I will help you define what kind of data we need to collect and how we could possibly will evaluate our entire cooperation.
In case you do not have the required data or if you still did not setup the environment for data collection, will help you define what kind of data we need and what is the best way how to get them.
I can provide a complete review of your website, web portal, eshop or e-commerce project, mobile or desktop app – from up to the bottom and prepare a list of possible weaknesses and must to have improvements.
I check the visual design of your interface, its information architecture, the way it interacts with the system, and its usability. I use a number of diagnostic tools to figure out how well your website is doing.
The UX audit includes both design development evaluations. I can also take care of the shortcomings of your website programmer and designer by performing the required changes. I check major usability factors to see how conversions are being affected. The method I most frequently use to identify usability problems is called heuristic evaluation. I, along with my team conduct this evaluation to see how user-friendly your site is. Besides heuristic evaluation, I perform other evaluations like Expert UX Review in which I use different hypotheses to analyse user behavior. These evaluations help us detect patterns in user behavior and create strategies consistent to them.
This service is usually followed by a UX Audit. I use the information gathered through the audit to discover underlying UX issues and design a prototype of your product according to that. I use modern tools like Axure, InVision, and Sketch, etc. to perform prototyping and usability tests. I can also adapt to other software if required. First, I design a prototype and then test it repeatedly to figure out its usability. This cycle is repeated many times before we get a clear idea of the prototype’s usability.
While providing my other UX consulting services to you, I’ll familiarize you with the principles of a user-centered design that help you validate your business model and assist you in formulating your business strategy. You get to know the entire process of discovery, design, and evaluation.
I help you get clarity in your business. I identify all areas you have uncertainty in and help you eliminate that in a structured manner. In this process, I break down your business into different hypotheses that can be tested and falsified. This helps me figure out how valid those hypotheses are. Once I identify key business model hypotheses, I test it with your target audience. I work tirelessly with my team to design these tests and gather inputs. Once inputs are gathered, I help you in repeating your business model.
I help you formulate a strategy that aligns with best practices and UX principles. I help you draw up a strategy for your businesses by reviewing different evaluations performed on your site. On the basis of information I get from the audits, I help you make a roadmap that shows all necessary steps you need to take to excel in the digital landscape.
UX consulting helps you recognize and solve underlying business problems that have a direct effect on how your product or service is viewed or experienced by the end-user.
It combines market research, business analysis, and product development strategy with the traditional process of UX design to provide an easy and enjoyable experience to users. It enables your business to become digitally strong and agile.
UX consulting allows you to profit from both data and technology. It uses data to analyse your weaknesses and then uses technology to overcome them. It provides you with an opportunity to maximize user experience (UX) by helping you address UX problems that are not visible at first sight.
UX consulting uses the connections that exist between different elements of user experience (UX) to find solutions.
At times, things are connected at their roots and you cannot see the roots if you do not dig deeper. If you do not dig deeper, you fall behind. This is why you need a UX consultant to make these connections visible to you. You can only find a solution if you know the exact problem. UX consulting not only helps businesses survive in the digital market but also enables them to grow. It helps your business become more effective and efficient.
Through my UX consulting services, I have helped my clients implement significant changes in their organizations. I have helped them see the bigger picture and refine their UX ecosystem and these changes help them to earn money. A lot of money.
It is very individual, the price for UX consulting vary from service to service, client from client – some clients need more work to be done, some need to just polish small details or get them to the right track. Some need full-time dedication and care. It really depends.
So basically said – I will tailor my services to your unique needs and will be depending upon the size and scale of your business and for sure the number of tasks we need to solve or improve during my contract.
As large-scale businesses require extensive audits and consequently more time, smaller sometimes need even more time because I have to simply set up everything from scratch (and educate you, your team or people involved).
Therefore I evaluate the cost of my proved UX services after a detailed review of your project and UX problems we need to solve together. After I get all necessary information about your website / app / project.
Yes, you do need a UX consultant even more if you have just started. A UX consultant can help you perform tests, gather data, and iterate your business model. It will help you better define needs and requirements of your possible prospects / clients / users and it will reduce the risk of redoing of whole app or website after you get to the conclusion this is probably the dead end.
Yes, small-sized businesses can benefit from UX consulting. Small businesses are more likely to face UX problems that require holistic solutions as they are very often more dynamic than huge corporate companies.
They innovate more quickly but this fast pace environment also has another negative effect – we business owners don’t look back if the amount of all new features make sense and work well all together as one whole well-connected ecosystem.
My costs vary from small, medium, and large-sized businesses because the time and efforts required to perform UX audits, business validation processes, prototyping, and usability testing procedures vary according to the scale and size of your business.
Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to make your business better.
But very probably I would not get as much valuable insights so fast and may miss some important facts also. So yes, a UX consultant will certainly require close collaboration with your staff members to perform the services well.
As all my future insights wiil be based on investigation (from data but also will require to undestand your business). And this “information search” can be just by me, or we can work as a team which will result in more effective work. As I don’t need to digest hours for findings which you or your people have already known or trying solutions which you have already tried.
Because you and your staff members know your business very well for many years and pass these information to me very easily through several calls / online or offline face-to-face meetings.
That deep knowledge of your business and your company will help dramatically in performing UX audits, usability tests, etc. Moreover, your staff members will also be given UX training throughout the whole process. So I can train your people during my contract with your company and that is also very essential – because one day, you will not need me, but you will have your own UX specialists in your in-house team.
While your in-house UX design team works on the visual aspects of user experience (UX), a UX consultant can help you refine your strategy by addressing problems through a different mindset. You can rely on an outside UX consultant to perform additional research and iterate your business model.
Well, you don’t need to know that honestly, but why not to educate yourself, right? 🙂
UX designers work with a team of developers and UI designers to create user-friendly applications, software, and websites.
UX design involves more than just the user interface (UI). While a quality user experience requires an easy-to-navigate interface, UX design focuses on every aspect of the product, from design to usability and function.
Unlike the UX consultant, the UX designer is directly involved in every stage of development, conducting user research and testing different features. The designer also develops wireframes and the overall task flow based on the specific needs of the end-user.
Businesses often hire UX designers during the initial development stages of a product. However, designers may also come in later to solve issues uncovered during testing.
While UX designers may help resolve known issues, a UX consultant is often hired to find the problem and then solve it. UX consultants may also help find new opportunities by improving the user experience.
Consultants rarely get directly involved with the UX design of applications and software. They offer valuable insight and feedback based on the specific needs of the business. This also means that the role of the UX consultant varies depending on the project.
For example, you may hire a UX consultant to audit a product that has already launched. Alternatively, consultants can also provide beneficial UX research needed at the beginning stages of product development.
If your UX problem is merely related to design and visual features of user experience (UX), you need a UX designer. However, if you think your UX problem requires a holistic solution, you need a UX consultant. But in most of the cases – you will need both roles. 🙂
A UX designer often works on a project from the beginning, helping to ensure that the application addresses the needs of the users. UX designers work closely with UI designers, programmers, and engineers to ensure that the product includes the most relevant features.
Some of the benefits of working with a UX designer include:
UX designers assist with the creation of the user interface (UI). The UX designer develops the UI or works with a UI designer to create the UI.
UX designers understand the best practices for UI design. They know to avoid adding too much clutter and how to make the best use of the available screen space.
Working with a UX designer also helps ensure that your product has solid information architecture. The information architecture includes the overall structure of your application, such as the organization of pages or content on different screens.
With ineffective information architecture, users may struggle to find information. When people cannot find what they want, they tend to find other solutions, limiting the success of your project.
Skilled UX designers also understand what it takes to make an accessible product. Depending on the application and the end-users, UX designers may include responsive design or customization options. Not only do these features make the product accessible to a larger group of people, but also increases the optimization of the product across different displays (desktop, mobile, and tablet).
The main goal of the UX designer is to ensure that your product meets the needs of your users. Designers may complete UX research and customer research to determine what features your users want most.
A UX consultant is typically used for auditing applications and software. If a product does not meet your expectations, a consultant can help find ways to get better results. You may also hire consultants for assistance with prototyping and other steps during the design and development of your product.
A few of the main reasons to hire a UX consultant include:
If your product fails to become a success or you want to increase the chances of a successful product development cycle, work with a UX consultant. The consultant can help you gain a better understanding of the needs and wants of your users.
Common methods include the use of customer journey mapping and other visualization techniques. Additional input may come from customer surveys, interviews, and analytics.
Usability testing also provides insight into the needs of your users while determining if your features work properly.
Consultants may complete usability testing to focus on specific areas of your product. This often requires a sample size of users. It helps identify problem areas and provides unbiased feedback that can help shape the development of your project.
You may also need a consultant to assist with the development of a new UX strategy. Businesses often reach a point where they need to adopt new strategies to experience growth or tap into new markets.
UX consultants can help you to create a long-term vision for an organization. Through careful research, consultants provide a set of recommendations that the organization can implement into its new UX strategies.
Conducting audits remains the most common reason for working with a consultant. A consultant can review your application or website to find areas that need improvement. The goal is to increase conversions for overall user satisfaction.
Need consultation from UX professional with 13+ years of experience? Then you can email me at info@krcmic.com, call at +420 722 829 579 or use the form below. Would you like to expand your business network? Then don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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I’ve cooperated with Michal on numerous projects, related to SEO incl. content creation, web development, UX/UI design, online graphics, and web analysis. Our projects were always delivered on time and with great quality. What I appreciate about working with Michal the most is his business drive, mentor-like approach, flexibility, and honesty. Michal won’t do pointless work for you, he will help you choose and execute the right approach, instead.
We hired Michal as a digital consultant when were creating a new company website. He helped us put together a basic idea of how the new site should work in term of UX, prepared very detailed wireframes, provided the content and coordinated our external teams. I appreciate his professional approach, his great communication skills and proactivity. After the successful website launch, we contacted Michal several times and this resulted in a long-term cooperation.
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I have worked with Michal since 2012 and have always had great results from him. He is a dependable, hard working individual. He understands the importance of his work and the impact it has on the business and knows what does and does not work. He is specialized in analytics field and extremely knowledgeable about the online space in every aspect. And you do not find many "SEO guys" who try to really care about the content not just about some rubbish magical metrics:)
