Usability Experts Unite: The Power of Heuristic Evaluation in User Interface Design

Usability experts play an essential role in the user interface design process by evaluating the usability of digital products from a very important perspective - the users! Usability experts utilize various techniques such as heuristic evaluation, usability testing, and user research to gather data on how users interact with digital products and services. This data helps to identify design flaws and areas for improvement, leading to the development of user-friendly and efficient products.

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Heuristic evaluation is a usability research technique used to evaluate the user interface design of a digital product based on a set of ‘heuristics’ or ‘usability principles’. These heuristics are derived from a set of established principles of user experience design - attributed to the landmark article “Improving a Human-Computer Dialogue” published by web usability pioneers Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich in 1990. The principles focus on the experiential aspects of a user interface. 

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In this article, we’ll discuss what heuristic evaluation is and how usability experts use the principles to create exceptional design. We’ll also discuss how usability testing works hand-in-hand with heuristic evaluation, and how minimalist design and user control impact user experience. So, let’s dive in!

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Understanding Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic evaluation helps usability experts to examine interface design against tried and tested rules of thumb. To conduct a heuristic evaluation, usability experts typically work through the interface of the digital product and identify any issues or areas for improvement based on these broad rules of thumb, of which there are ten. They broadly cover the key areas of design that impact user experience - not bad for an article published over 30 years ago!

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The ten principles are:

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1. Prevention error: Well-functioning error messages are good, but instead of messages, can these problems be removed in the first place? Remove the opportunity for slips and mistakes to occur.
2. Consistency and standards: Language, terms, and actions used should be consistent to not cause any confusion.
3. Control and freedom for users: Give your users the freedom and control to undo/redo actions and exit out of situations if needed.
4. System status visibility: Let your users know what’s going on with the site. Is the page they’re on currently loading, or has it finished loading?
5. Design and aesthetics: Cut out unnecessary information and clutter to enhance visibility. Keep things in a minimalist style.
6. Help and documentation: Ensure that information is easy to find for users, isn’t too large and is focused on your users’ tasks.
7. Recognition, not recall: Make sure that your users don’t have to rely on their memories. Instead, make options, actions and objects visible. Provide instructions for use too.
8. Provide a match between the system and the real world: Does the system speak the same language and use the same terms as your users? If you use a lot of jargon, make sure that all users can understand by providing an explanation or using other terms that are familiar to them. Also ensure that all your information appears in a logical and natural order.
9. Flexibility: Is your interface easy to use and it is flexible for users? Ensure your system can cater to users to all types, from experts to novices.
10. Help users to recognize, diagnose and recover from errors: Your users should not feel frustrated by any error messages they see. Instead, express errors in plain, jargon-free language they can understand. Make sure the problem is clearly stated and offer a solution for how to fix it.

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Heuristic evaluation is a cost-effective way to identify usability issues early in the design process (although they can be performed at any stage) leading to faster and more efficient design iterations. It also provides a structured approach to evaluating user interfaces, making it easier to identify usability issues. By providing valuable feedback on overall usability, heuristic evaluation helps to improve user satisfaction and retention.

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The Role of Usability Experts in Heuristic Evaluation

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Usability experts play a central role in the heuristic evaluation process by providing feedback on the usability of a digital product, identifying any issues or areas for improvement, and suggesting changes to optimize user experience.

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One of the primary goals of usability experts during the heuristic evaluation process is to identify and prevent errors in user interface design. They achieve this by applying the principles of error prevention, such as providing clear instructions and warnings, minimizing the cognitive load on users, and reducing the chances of making errors in the first place. For example, they may suggest adding confirmation dialogs for critical actions, ensuring that error messages are clear and concise, and making the navigation intuitive and straightforward.

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Usability experts also use user testing to inform their heuristic evaluation. User testing involves gathering data from users interacting with the product or service and observing their behavior and feedback. This data helps to validate the design decisions made during the heuristic evaluation and identify additional usability issues that may have been missed. For example, usability experts may conduct A/B testing to compare the effectiveness of different design variations, gather feedback from user surveys, and conduct user interviews to gain insights into users' needs and preferences.

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Conducting user testing with users that represent, as closely as possible, actual end users, ensures that the product is optimized for its target audience. Check out our tool Reframer, which helps usability experts collaborate and record research observations in one central database.

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Minimalist Design and User Control in Heuristic Evaluation

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Minimalist design and user control are two key principles that usability experts focus on during the heuristic evaluation process. A minimalist design is one that is clean, simple, and focuses on the essentials, while user control refers to the extent to which users can control their interactions with the product or service.

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Minimalist design is important because it allows users to focus on the content and tasks at hand without being distracted by unnecessary elements or clutter. Usability experts evaluate the level of minimalist design in a user interface by assessing the visual hierarchy, the use of white space, the clarity of the content, and the consistency of the design elements. Information architecture (the system and structure you use to organize and label content) has a massive impact here, along with the content itself being concise and meaningful.

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Incorporating minimalist design principles into heuristic evaluation can improve the overall user experience by simplifying the design, reducing cognitive load, and making it easier for users to find what they need. Usability experts may incorporate minimalist design by simplifying the navigation and site structure, reducing the number of design elements, and removing any unnecessary content (check out our tool Treejack to conduct site structure, navigation, and categorization research). Consistent color schemes and typography can also help to create a cohesive and unified design.

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User control is also critical in a user interface design because it gives users the power to decide how they interact with the product or service. Usability experts evaluate the level of user control by looking at the design of the navigation, the placement of buttons and prompts, the feedback given to users, and the ability to undo actions. Again, usability testing plays an important role in heuristic evaluation by allowing researchers to see how users respond to the level of control provided, and gather feedback on any potential hiccups or roadblocks.

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Usability Testing and Heuristic Evaluation

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Usability testing and heuristic evaluation are both important components of the user-centered design process, and they complement each other in different ways.

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Usability testing involves gathering feedback from users as they interact with a digital product. This feedback can provide valuable insights into how users perceive and use the user interface design, identify any usability issues, and help validate design decisions. Usability testing can be conducted in different forms, such as moderated or unmoderated, remote or in-person, and task-based or exploratory. Check out our usability testing 101 article to learn more.

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On the other hand, heuristic evaluation is a method in which usability experts evaluate a product against a set of usability principles. While heuristic evaluation is a useful method to quickly identify usability issues and areas for improvement, it does not involve direct feedback from users.

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Usability testing can be used to validate heuristic evaluation findings by providing evidence of how users interact with the product or service. For example, if a usability expert identifies a potential usability issue related to the navigation of a website during heuristic evaluation, usability testing can be used to see if users actually have difficulty finding what they need on the website. In this way, usability testing provides a reality check to the heuristic evaluation and helps ensure that the findings are grounded in actual user behavior.

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Usability testing and heuristic evaluation work together in the design process by informing and validating each other. For example, a designer may conduct heuristic evaluation to identify potential usability issues and then use the insights gained to design a new iteration of the product or service. The designer can then use usability testing to validate that the new design has successfully addressed the identified usability issues and improved the user experience. This iterative process of designing, testing, and refining based on feedback from both heuristic evaluation and usability testing leads to a user-centered design that is more likely to meet user needs and expectations.

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Conclusion

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Heuristic evaluation is a powerful usability research technique that usability experts use to evaluate digital product interfaces based on a set of established principles of user experience design. After all these years, the ten principles of heuristic evaluation still cover the key areas of design that impact user experience, making it easier to identify usability issues early in the design process, leading to faster and more efficient design iterations. Usability experts play a critical role in the heuristic evaluation process by identifying design flaws and areas for improvement, using user testing to validate design decisions, and ensuring that the product is optimized for its intended users.

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Minimalist design and user control are two key principles that usability experts focus on during the heuristic evaluation process. A minimalist design is clean, simple, and focuses on the essentials, while user control gives users the freedom and control to undo/redo actions and exit out of situations if needed. By following these principles, usability experts can create an exceptional design that enhances visibility, reduces cognitive load, and provides a positive user experience. 

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Ultimately, heuristic evaluation is a cost-effective way to identify usability issues at any point in the design process, leading to faster and more efficient design iterations, and improving user satisfaction and retention. How many of the ten heuristic design principles does your digital product satisfy? 

"Hi Optimal Work,I was wondering if there are some best practices you stick to when creating or sending out different UX research studies (i.e. Card sorts, Prototyye Test studies, etc)? Thank you! Mary"

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Indeed I do! Over the years I’ve learned a lot about creating remote research studies and engaging participants. That experience has taught me a lot about what works, what doesn’t and what leaves me refreshing my results screen eagerly anticipating participant responses and getting absolute zip. Here are my top tips for remote research study creation and launch success!

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Creating remote research studies

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Use screener questions and post-study questions wisely

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Screener questions are really useful for eliminating participants who may not fit the criteria you’re looking for but you can’t exactly stop them from being less than truthful in their responses. Now, I’m not saying all participants lie on the screener so they can get to the activity (and potentially claim an incentive) but I am saying it’s something you can’t control. To help manage this, I like to use the post-study questions to provide additional context and structure to the research.

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Depending on the study, I might ask questions to which the answers might confirm or exclude specific participants from a specific group. For example, if I’m doing research on people who live in a specific town or area, I’ll include a location based question after the study. Any participant who says they live somewhere else is getting excluded via that handy toggle option in the results section. Post-study questions are also great for capturing additional ideas and feedback after participants complete the activity as remote research limits your capacity to get those — you’re not there with them so you can’t just ask. Post-study questions can really help bridge this gap. Use no more than five post-study questions at a time and consider not making them compulsory.

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Do a practice run

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No matter how careful I am, I always miss something! A typo, a card with a label in the wrong case, forgetting to update a new version of an information architecture after a change was made — stupid mistakes that we all make. By launching a practice version of your study and sharing it with your team or client, you can stop those errors dead in their tracks. It’s also a great way to get feedback from the team on your work before the real deal goes live. If you find an error, all you have to do is duplicate the study, fix the error and then launch. Just keep an eye on the naming conventions used for your studies to prevent the practice version and the final version from getting mixed up!

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Sending out remote research studies

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Manage expectations about how long the study will be open for

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Something that has come back to bite me more than once is failing to clearly explain when the study will close. Understandably, participants can be left feeling pretty annoyed when they mentally commit to complete a study only to find it’s no longer available. There does come a point when you need to shut the study down to accurately report on quantitative data and you’re not going to be able to prevent every instance of this, but providing that information upfront will go a long way.

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Provide contact details and be open to questions

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You may think you’re setting yourself up to be bombarded with emails, but I’ve found that isn’t necessarily the case. I’ve noticed I get around 1-3 participants contacting me per study. Sometimes they just want to tell me they completed it and potentially provide additional information and sometimes they have a question about the project itself. I’ve also found that sometimes they have something even more interesting to share such as the contact details of someone I may benefit from connecting with — or something else entirely! You never know what surprises they have up their sleeves and it’s important to be open to it. Providing an email address or social media contact details could open up a world of possibilities.

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Don’t forget to include the link!

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It might seem really obvious, but I can’t tell you how many emails I received (and have been guilty of sending out) that are missing the damn link to the study. It happens! You’re so focused on getting that delivery right and it becomes really easy to miss that final yet crucial piece of information.

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To avoid this irritating mishap, I always complete a checklist before hitting send:

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• Have I checked my spelling and grammar?
• Have I replaced all the template placeholder content with the correct information?
• Have I mentioned when the study will close?
• Have I included contact details?
• Have I launched my study and received confirmation that it is live?
• Have I included the link to the study in my communications to participants?
• Does the link work? (yep, I’ve broken it before)

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General tips for both creating and sending out remote research studies

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Know your audience

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First and foremost, before you create or disseminate a remote research study, you need to understand who it’s going to and how they best receive this type of content. Posting it out when none of your followers are in your user group may not be the best approach. Do a quick brainstorm about the best way to reach them. For example if your users are internal staff, there might be an internal communications channel such as an all-staff newsletter, intranet or social media site that you can share the link and approach content to.

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Keep it brief

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And by that I’m talking about both the engagement mechanism and the study itself. I learned this one the hard way. Time is everything and no matter your intentions, no one wants to spend more time than they have to. Even more so in situations where you’re unable to provide incentives (yep, I’ve been there). As a rule, I always stick to no more than 10 questions in a remote research study and for card sorts, I’ll never include more than 60 cards. Anything more than that will see a spike in abandonment rates and of course only serve to annoy and frustrate your participants. You need to ensure that you’re balancing your need to gain insights with their time constraints.

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As for the accompanying approach content, short and snappy equals happy! In the case of an email, website, other social media post, newsletter, carrier pigeon etc, keep your approach spiel to no more than a paragraph. Use an audience appropriate tone and stick to the basics such as: a high level sentence on what you’re doing, roughly how long the study will take participants to complete, details of any incentives on offer and of course don’t forget to thank them.

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Set clear instructions

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The default instructions in Optimal Workshop’s suite of tools are really well designed and I’ve learned to borrow from them for my approach content when sending the link out. There’s no need for wheel reinvention and it usually just needs a slight tweak to suit the specific study. This also helps provide participants with a consistent experience and minimizes confusion allowing them to focus on sharing those valuable insights!

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Create a template

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When you’re on to something that works — turn it into a template! Every time I create a study or send one out, I save it for future use. It still needs minor tweaks each time, but I use them to iterate my template.What are your top tips for creating and sending out remote user research studies? Comment below!

Understanding your customers is central to any organization which wants to deliver an outstanding experience. But how do you understand your customers better? Tailoring their experience with your products and your organization to suit them should include a customer journey map.

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It doesn’t mean your organization needs a brightly colored, fully designed infographic that outlines each and every action your user takes within your product. It does mean an effective customer journey map that promotes empathy and provides a clear vision for improving customer interactions. There are no rules around what that visualization looks like and it is up to your team to create one that makes the most of your customer’s journey.

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What is customer journey mapping? 🤔

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Customer journey mapping (sometimes referred to as a user experience map) is a technique that allows you to visualize your customer’s key touchpoints, sentiments, pain points, and actions. Plotted in sequential order. It’s a map of a customer’s experience with your brand or product, from awareness to purchase and beyond. 

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Customer journey mapping helps you look beyond key touchpoints and encourages empathy with your customers. To understand who they are, even a persona to give them a life and demographic. Helping designers and key stakeholders understand where they are coming from. And where you can address their needs, avoid their pain points and encourage them to engage with your product. And even identify opportunities for innovation and improvement across the board.

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Why you need a customer journey map 💥

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What’s better than a customer that feels seen and understood once? A customer that feels the organization or product really understands their needs (and responds to their frustrations). Like all successful, long-term relationships, keeping customers returning is built on empathy and a solid grasp of their needs and frustrations. 

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When you want to get to know your customer, like really get to know them, it’s essential to map their customer journey. Creating a shared understanding of what your customers think, feel, and struggle with as they interact with your organization. Spending the time to establish a customer journey map can help align around identifying known problems, identifying new user pain points, and removing roadblocks for your customers, ensuring their success.

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Spending the time to get inside the mind and journeys of your customers through mapping helps your team to:

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• Create a visual guide of the end-to-end customer experience
• Get an understanding of multiple customer pathways and unravel complex user experiences
• Create target personas and allow insights to solve problems more effectively
• Increase your organization’s empathy for your current and future customers
• Identify potential pain points and roadblocks for your customers
• Breakdown silos within your organization and improve alignment across teams
• With a clearer understanding of your customers, better insights to achieve stakeholder buy-in

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How to create a customer journey map 🛤️

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Here are 8 key steps to get the most out of your customer journey map process:

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1. Bring key stakeholders together for an initial brainstorming session
2. Identify potential user personas - demographics, pain points, interests, etc
3. Create an empathy map - get a real feel for your customer, who they are, and what they want
4. Flesh out your ideas with user research. Get under your user persona skin with focus groups, interviews, and surveys
5. Identify possible customer touchpoints
6. Choose the information you want to highlight - not everything will be relevant
7. Decide on the best customer journey map tool to answer your questions
8. Start building your map

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Customer journey mapping examples 🗺️

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Each and every customer’s journey is different. This, of course, means that there is no single best customer journey map example or template. Instead, the best customer journey map for any given situation will depend not only on your customers but also on your product, your team, and the goals you’re hoping to achieve by creating the map in the first place.

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We’ve found a few examples of customer journey maps to help inspire your thinking:

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Current state customer journey maps help you to visualize a user’s experience as it is right now. These are fact-based journey maps - to create an accurate, current state journey map. A good dose of user research data around your actual customers and interactions will help shape this.

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Future state customer journey maps focus on what the customer journey can and should look like in the future. Although UX data is certainly an important aspect of understanding customers, future state journey maps involve a fair amount of creative speculation and interpretation. These customer journey maps focus on customer hopes and wants (future feelings), in addition to experiences and reactions. They can be a little objective and should be developed in balance with both positive and negative interactions.

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Day in the life customer journey maps help you visualize your customer’s entire daily routine. Interactions with family, their commute, work meetings, afternoon coffee, etc. Regardless of whether or not the activities are related to your company. This type of journey map should be organized chronologically to give key insights into how and where customers are. What are the distractions, and where could they interact with your brand or product? How can key pain points be eased?

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Service blueprints are a useful counterpart to a classic customer journey map. Whereas a customer journey map focuses on the thoughts, needs, and actions of the customer, a service blueprint reflects the perspective of the organization and its employees. What needs to happen behind the scenes to ensure the customer’s experience is the very best it can be.

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Circular customer journey maps may be useful to visualize the customer journey as a circle or loop. Recognizing that some customers are recurring and non-transactional. Particularly through subscription-based relationships.

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An empathy map is used to create a shared understanding of customers around their wants, needs, thoughts, and actions. This can be a great starting point to getting under your customer’s skin.

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Wrap Up 🌯

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There is no one size fits all customer journey map. Each customer is unique, each organization is different. Through creating customer journeys, personas and visualizing their key touchpoints, pain points, and understanding who they are, empathy throughout the organization can be generated. With this as a tool to bring key stakeholders on board and to pinpoint where products (and services) can be improved to keep customers or even bring new ones on board, the user experience can be better and more effective.