Here’s a serie of questions I ask when I start auditing the UX/UI of a digital product.

It follow the chronological order of a product discovery.

Introduction

How do I discover it?

2/24

Build upon an existing community : Facebook page, side-projects, and more.

Invite-based marketing is old fashioned, but it worked

Virality owns you, not the reverse.

Do I understand the website?

Your website is your product, too. Build each section with a clear feature in mind.

HomePricingHow it worksTestimonials User stories

Howdy explains what its chatbots does with a mockup of Slack.

3/24

Find explicit use-cases for explicit people. Create empathy.

Fields to be filed: When _ I’d like to _ so that _.

Webflow communicates directly to its niche of freelance designers.

Do I know one potential user?

4/24

Don’t lie.

Be aware of your ‘public traction’ on App Annie, Alexa, Angel List, etc.

App Annie is a public repository of ranks, reviews and more—for iOS and Android apps.

What’s the traction like?

5/24

Have a clear statement.

Front public roadmap

Is the roadmap insightful?

6/24

Work on Screenshots, Ratings, Copy, Reviews.

Every items you work on must clarify what your product solves, and how.

Product marketing on the Slack marketplace for bots.

Where do I download it?

7/24

Options for signups tell a lot about the product:

- Email: pro, neutral - Gmail: productivity - Facebook: efficiency - Twitter: social network - Phone number: security

What does the signup reveals?

8/24

Feedly: pro and personal

Make it easier to fill forms. Work on the placeholders.

Example: Add conditions for a relevant password.

Improved forms

Are placeholders pre-filed?

9/24

Complexity is not the number of dials or how many features it has.

It is whether the person using the device has a good conceptual model of how it operates.

— Don Norman

A cockpit is complex. And that’s just fine.

Is complexity well handled?

10/24

What’s the overall amount of infos you ask to a user before he’s even tried the product?

Reduce the time it takes to experience the value.

Baremetrics shows the value just after signing up with Stripe

When do I see the value?

11/24

Be as clear as possible. Write stuff if needed.

Users love learning by using the product.

A simple but efficient tutorial

Is the tutorial useful?

12/24

Think completeness as something linear, not binary.

Divide success in small bits.

Quick wins in Inbox for iOS

When is the first quick win?

13/24

Using a top menu bar and ‘cards’ as design helps you get a clear overall mapping.

Copy the best around.

Information architecture 101

Is the basic flow mainstream?

14/24

The opening screen embodies the vision of what you sell.

For an ebook app: do you open the library, or the last page read?

Snapchat opens a camera, not a feed

Why this screen appears first?

15/24

Before: going online where content all looked the same for everyone.

Now: personalized informations come to us.

Personalization in Uber for iOS

Is this personalized?

16/24

Integration with third party apps enhances the experience.

– Dropbox, to retrieve content – Clearbit, for B2B profiles – Google Apps, for calendar

Integrations in Sunrise for iOS

Do you use shortcuts?

17/24

Retention loops are built-in features in the product that are supposed to re engage the user.

Write original copy.

Curiosity as a trigger

How smart notifications are?

18/24

Create incentives for users to refer your products to their network.

Referral is the end of it all

Why would I recommend this?

19/24

Users should understand the use-case once they manipulate the product.

Instagram: a great afforance

Do I get the goal in 1 sec?

20/24

1. Restrict yourself. It’s harder to make many typefaces, sizes, and colors match together.

2. Always use grids. Bigger margins are better.

3. Delete whenever you can.

Swiss design

Are the UI rules respected?

21/24

Sometimes no UI is the best solution to UI constraints.

Copy is the new UI in chat bots

Are the UI rules respected? #2

22/24

How do you know it’s a problem?

Who do you target first?

What’s your growth channels?

Why aren’t you live yet?

23/24

Business questions

Use the Jobs-to-be-done framework

Always be testing

Measure your funnels

Celebrate usage, not work

24/24

Final tips

Mailbox Howdy Webflow App Annie [Yellow] Trello [Front] Slack [HBR] Feedly Baremetrics Workflow

Index: References

Inbox Snapchat Uber Sunrise Hardbound Product Hunt Instagram Statsbot