How to Gather User Feedback Without a Design Background

Improving your website’s usability is essential for providing a great user experience (UX). But what if you don’t have professional design skills? The good news is, that you don’t need to be a web designer to make meaningful improvements to your site’s usability. With a clear understanding of usability principles and some simple tools and strategies, you can make your website more user-friendly, improve engagement, and keep visitors coming back.

In this post, we’ll explore actionable tips on how to enhance your website usability without design expertise. We’ll cover everything from accessibility to usability testing, and how to apply best practices to optimize your website for a better user experience.

1. Start with User Research and Feedback

Improving website usability starts with understanding your users. Before making changes to your site, you need to know what your visitors are struggling with and what their needs are. This is where user research and user feedback come into play.

How to Collect User Feedback:

- Surveys: Use online survey tools like Google Forms or Typeform to ask users about their experience with your website. Focus on questions like "How easy is it to find what you're looking for?" or "What frustrates you about using this site?"

- Heatmaps: Tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg can show you where users are clicking, scrolling, or abandoning your site. These insights can reveal usability issues.

- Direct Feedback: Offer users the chance to leave feedback directly on your website. A simple pop-up asking "How can we improve your experience?" can provide invaluable insights.

Understanding your audience’s behavior and pain points allows you to address the most pressing usability issues.

2. Prioritize Website Navigation

A user-friendly website has clear and intuitive navigation. Even without design skills, you can enhance the usability of your site by making it easy for users to find what they’re looking for. Here’s how to improve your site’s navigation:

Keep Navigation Simple:

- Limit Menu Items: Avoid overwhelming users with too many options. Stick to 5-7 primary navigation links. Too many choices can confuse visitors and make it harder for them to navigate.

- Use Descriptive Labels: Make sure that menu items and links use clear, descriptive text. Visitors should know exactly what they’ll find when they click on a link. Instead of using vague terms like “Services” or “Products,” get specific (e.g., “Digital Marketing Services” or “Organic Skincare Products”).

- Include a Search Bar: A search bar helps users find what they need faster, especially on content-heavy sites. Make sure it’s easily visible on every page.

Test Navigation Usability:

- Usability Testing: Run a basic usability test by asking a few people (friends, colleagues, or actual users) to navigate your website and perform tasks, such as finding a specific product or piece of information. Watch how they interact with the site, and note any difficulties they encounter.

3. Focus on Accessibility

Making your website accessible is crucial for both usability and inclusivity. Web accessibility ensures that your site can be used by people with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, and motor impairments.

Even without deep design skills, you can take steps to improve your website’s accessibility:

Accessibility Tips:

- Add Alt Text to Images: Screen readers for visually impaired users rely on alt text to describe images. Make sure every image has a descriptive alt tag.

- Use High Contrast Colors: Make text readable by ensuring there is sufficient contrast between the text color and the background color. Online tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker can help you measure contrast ratios.

- Keyboard Navigation: Ensure that users can navigate your site using only a keyboard. This is crucial for people who cannot use a mouse. Test your site by using the Tab key to move through different elements.

- Accessible Forms: Label form fields clearly, and use proper error messages to help users correct mistakes.

By focusing on accessibility, you not only improve website usability but also ensure a more inclusive user experience for everyone.

4. Optimize for Speed

Slow websites are a major usability killer. Users expect fast-loading pages and even a few seconds of delay can lead to frustration and high bounce rates. Fortunately, optimizing your site’s performance is something you can do even without a deep understanding of design or coding.

Speed Optimization Techniques:

- Optimize Images: Large images can significantly slow down your website. Use image compression tools like TinyPNG or JPEGmini to reduce image file sizes without sacrificing quality.

- Leverage Browser Caching: Caching allows browsers to store some elements of your website so they don’t need to be loaded every time a user visits. Many content management systems (CMS) like WordPress have plugins (e.g., WP Super Cache) to enable caching easily.

- Minimize Plugins: Too many plugins or extensions can slow down your site. Regularly audit your website to remove any unnecessary plugins.

- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN stores copies of your website on servers around the world, making it faster for users in different regions to access your content. Cloudflare is a popular CDN service that is easy to integrate.

Testing your website’s speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can help you identify slow-loading elements and areas for improvement.

5. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

With more users accessing websites on mobile devices, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is essential for website usability. A website that looks great on desktops but is difficult to navigate on smartphones will lead to a poor user experience and lost visitors.

How to Improve Mobile Usability:

- Responsive Design: Make sure your site adjusts automatically to different screen sizes. This ensures that your content is accessible and easy to navigate on any device. Most modern website templates are designed to be responsive, so choose one that fits your needs.

- Larger Buttons and Links: On mobile devices, users navigate by tapping rather than clicking. Make sure that buttons and links are large enough to be easily tapped without accidentally selecting the wrong element.

- Avoid Pop-Ups: Pop-ups are especially frustrating on mobile devices. Avoid using pop-ups, or make sure they are easy to close on small screens.

Testing your site on mobile devices and using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool will help you identify areas that need improvement.

6. Simplify Your Content

Another way to improve website usability is by making your content easy to read and understand. Users should be able to quickly find the information they need without wading through long blocks of text or jargon.

Tips for Simplifying Content:

- Use Clear Headlines: Break up your content with clear, descriptive headlines that guide users through your page. This helps visitors scan the page and find what they’re looking for.

- Write in Plain Language: Avoid industry jargon and complex language. Write in a way that is easy to understand for a broad audience. Aim for a conversational tone and concise sentences.

- Use Bullet Points and Short Paragraphs: Bullet points make it easier for users to scan through key points. Short paragraphs and ample white space also make the content more digestible.

Clear and simple content improves usability by making it easier for visitors to engage with and understand your message.

7. Conduct Regular Usability Testing

No matter how much you improve your site, it’s essential to regularly test its usability. Usability testing helps you identify new issues as your site evolves and ensures that your improvements are working as intended.

Types of Usability Testing:

- Task-Based Testing: Give users specific tasks to complete on your website, such as "Find the pricing page" or "Purchase a product." Watch how they interact with the site and identify any difficulties they face.

- A/B Testing: Test different versions of your website to see which performs better. For example, you can test different layouts, button placements, or navigation structures.

- Feedback Tools: Tools like UserTesting and Usabilla allow you to gather user feedback in real-time as people interact with your website. This feedback can help you identify pain points you might have missed.

Regular usability testing ensures your website remains user-friendly as your business grows and evolves.

8. Follow Usability Guidelines and Best Practices

There are widely accepted usability guidelines that you can follow to ensure your website provides a great user experience. These guidelines are based on years of research and are designed to help websites be more accessible, intuitive, and efficient.

Key Usability Principles to Follow:

- Consistency: Ensure that the design, layout, and functionality of your website are consistent across all pages. This makes it easier for users to navigate and understand your site.

- Feedback: Provide users with feedback as they interact with your website. For example, if they submit a form, show a confirmation message. If they make an error, display a clear error message with guidance on how to fix it.

- Error Prevention: Design your website to prevent errors from occurring in the first place. For example, use dropdown menus to minimize incorrect form entries, or offer suggestions as users type in search fields.

Following these usability best practices will ensure that your website is user-friendly and provides a positive experience for your visitors.

Conclusion

Improving your website’s usability doesn’t require professional design expertise. By focusing on key areas like navigation, accessibility, mobile optimization, speed, and user feedback, you can make meaningful improvements that enhance the user experience. Using usability tools and best practices, you can ensure that your website is intuitive, user-friendly, and optimized for conversions.

Remember, website usability is about making your site as easy and enjoyable to use as possible. Whether you’re simplifying your forms, streamlining navigation, or optimizing for mobile, these small changes can lead to significant improvements in how users interact with your site.