A UX audit evaluates how well an interface supports the tasks its users need to complete. It combines a structured review with the evidence available: analytics, support feedback, usability observations, and accessibility checks. The result should distinguish confirmed problems from hypotheses and recommend actions in a clear order.
Start with users and tasks
Define who uses the site and what success looks like for each important task. Examples include finding a service, comparing options, requesting a quote, or registering for an event. Review the complete journey, including confirmation messages and what happens after a form is submitted.
What should the review cover?
- Information architecture: navigation labels, content grouping, search, and whether users can find the next step.
- Content: clarity, relevance, supporting evidence, and whether important questions remain unanswered.
- Interaction: forms, feedback, error recovery, links, controls, and consistency between pages.
- Mobile use: readable text, reachable controls, touch targets, layout stability, and practical task completion.
- Accessibility: keyboard access, focus visibility, labels, headings, contrast, and appropriate screen-reader checks.
- Performance: loading and responsiveness issues that obstruct tasks, assessed with appropriate field and diagnostic data.
An expert review is not the same as a user test
An expert review identifies likely usability problems using established principles. A user test observes people attempting realistic tasks. Analytics can show where a journey breaks down, but usually cannot explain the reason by itself. Combining these methods gives stronger evidence than treating any one method as a complete diagnosis.
What should the deliverable look like?
Each finding should name the affected task, page or component, supporting evidence, likely impact, and recommended action. Include screenshots when useful. Label assumptions that need testing, assign an owner, and explain how the team will check whether the change helped. Avoid promising a conversion increase before measuring the result.
How do you prioritize findings?
Address blocked essential tasks and serious accessibility problems first. Then weigh the number of people affected, the importance of the task, the strength of the evidence, and the effort involved. Review the revised interface with users or follow-up data rather than counting completed design changes as proof of success.
Related resources
Our UX design and consulting service can help define an audit scope. Read our usability testing guide for related methods. For a primary accessibility reference, see the W3C WCAG quick reference; an automated check alone does not establish conformance.