Verify and Improve Your User Experience
March 06, 2014
Verify and Improve Your User Experience
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- Heatmap
- Scrollmap
- Overlay
Overall Satisfaction
I use Crazy Egg on a regular basis at my current position. We regularly roll out updates designs for key pages on our website, and every time I launch one of these updates, I initiate a new Crazy Egg 'snapshot'. The information that Crazy Egg delivers is vital in understanding how users interact with our website.
We also consult Crazy Egg clickmaps and scrollmaps of previous versions of page designs before embarking on redesigns of those same pages. The clickmap might show us that a high volume of visitors click on a focus area that occupies a key spot on the page - so when redesigning that page, we would want to make sure that our highest value CTA is placed within that focus area spot (as an example). Or the scrollmap might show that only 25% of visitors actually view the content which is further than 800 pixels down the page, so let's make sure that all key content is above that 'fold' in our new design.
We also consult Crazy Egg clickmaps and scrollmaps of previous versions of page designs before embarking on redesigns of those same pages. The clickmap might show us that a high volume of visitors click on a focus area that occupies a key spot on the page - so when redesigning that page, we would want to make sure that our highest value CTA is placed within that focus area spot (as an example). Or the scrollmap might show that only 25% of visitors actually view the content which is further than 800 pixels down the page, so let's make sure that all key content is above that 'fold' in our new design.
- Shows us exactly where users click on a page. Literally, the exact spot. This is useful in many different ways. You can see what links/buttons are clicked the most. You can see if a key CTA on the page IS NOT clicked - maybe you need a new design or the placement of that CTA is poor.
- You can see if users are clicking a spot on the page that is not actually actionable. Maybe your treatment of some text or an image makes it appear that an item is linked, but it is not actually linked. You can see that people are clicking on that item, and either go ahead and link it, or else change the design to look less 'clickable'.
- You can see what percentage of users actually view the different areas within your page. This is very useful when you run into a key stakeholder that demands certain content be above 'the fold'. Trying to explain to a non-technical person that 'the fold' is entirely dependent upon the user's screen size and resolution can be frustrating for both the stakeholder and yourself. Instead, using Crazy Egg's scrollmap feature, you can visually show that stakeholder that, for instance, 80% of users view the content that appears within the top 600 pixels of page height.
- The design of both the heatmaps and scrollmaps is fantastic.
- The 'page camera' software they offer works very well once you get the hang of it. This allows you to run tests on pages that include dynamic content (like a shopping cart product category page).
- Lacks cross domain tracking. The 'confetti map' that Crazy Egg offers allows you to see a heatmap of clicks for visitors from a specific traffic source. If your website presence includes the use of subdomains or multiple top level domains, though, this feature is rendered basically useless (as the majority of your traffic sources will be self referrals).
- A/B testing would be an amazing added feature, if integrated well.
- This is very specific to myself, but if I was able to set a location for a test, would be useful to me. i.e. only run this test for users who reside in the United States.
- I have no idea how this would even work, but the heatmaps do not allow for responsive design interfaces.
- Improved conversion rates
- Improved overall user experience
- Helped diagnose user experience issues
- Helped to verify that new page designs have improved overall user experience (or have not improved).
I'm an advanced user of Google Analytics and have used their 'In Page Analytics' reporting before quite a bit. Google Analytics has one advantage in this regard, in that the click maps within these tools are integrated into all of the other metrics which GA provides. That said, Crazy Egg's reporting is miles above that of Google Analytics in terms of the visual presentation, which is a key point when presenting to non-technical folks. Crazy Egg also shows information about the exact spots that users clicked on a page (which GA does not). The scrollmap feature of Crazy Egg is also not included in any form within GA.
Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
- No issues. It is installed using a simple JavaScript tag addition.
Usability
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Heatmap
- Scrollmap
- Overlay
- The 'page camera' is a bit tricky to get the hang of, but works well once you spend the time to work with it.