Case study

PESPORT: UX audit of an online sports equipment shop

PESPORT sells sports equipment to amateurs and wanted to know what gets in the way of their shopping. We ran a UX audit based on Google Analytics and Hotjar data and a heuristic review. The report of about 20 pages was then used in workshops for user story mapping and personas.

For PESPORT we carried out a UX audit focused on navigation and interactions in the shop. We gathered the findings and recommendations in a report that served as material for product workshops: user story mapping and persona creation.

Scope of work

Industry: E-commerce and retail
Product type: E-commerce UX audit
Market: E-commerce / sports equipment

Technologies

e-commerce
Product discovery

Key facts

A shop with equipment for amateurs and people new to sport
Data from Google Analytics and Hotjar
Heatmaps and scroll analysis
Heuristic analysis: product browsing, categories, basket
A report of around 20 pages
The report as input for user story mapping and personas

An audit of a sports shop for amateurs, whose findings went straight into product workshops.

Process diagram of the PESPORT shop UX audit

Goals

01
Understand customer behaviour
Use Google Analytics and Hotjar data to establish which parts of the site create positive experiences and which create negative ones.
02
A smoother purchase
Identify barriers in product browsing, category navigation and checkout.
03
Features that fit user needs
Give the team material it can use to align the shop's features with what customers need.

Process

Discover Define Develop Deliver

Audit scope
Audit scope
A shop for amateurs and beginners: better support for their needs and greater satisfaction with their purchases.
Data collection
Data collection
Google Analytics and Hotjar: the main points where users interact with the site.
Heatmaps
Heatmaps
Heatmaps and scroll analysis: the most engaging sections and the places where users run into difficulties.
Heuristic analysis
Heuristic analysis
Product browsing, category navigation and checkout in the basket.
Report
Report
Around 20 pages: key findings, heatmaps and specific improvement recommendations.
Product workshops
Product workshops
User story mapping and personas based on the report's findings.

Charts of traffic sources and devices for the sports shop

User engagement overview: visits and bounce rate

What we delivered

A report with recommendations, plus workshops where we turned the findings into shop features.

Detailed report - around 20 pages of key audit findings.
Heatmaps - the sections that engage users and the places where they run into difficulties.
Recommendations - improvements to content presentation and navigation, and fixes that make the purchase process easier to complete.
User story mapping - a user story map created in product workshops based on the report.
Personas - descriptions of the shop's users, which we used to align its features.

Challenge: a shop for people taking up sport

PESPORT sells sports equipment to amateurs and people who are just getting into sport. The audit had to identify improvements that would better support these customers' needs and increase their satisfaction with their purchases.

We had to establish which parts of the site create positive experiences and which cause difficulties, and turn that into specific changes. The recommendations had to be practical enough for the shop's team to work with in the next step.

The audit findings didn't end with the report. They became working material for product workshops.

User session recording on a product page

Session recording on a scooter product page in the PESPORT shop

Analysis: behaviour data and the purchase path

The audit combined user behaviour data with a heuristic review of the purchase journey.

We gathered data on the main interaction points from Google Analytics and Hotjar. Heatmaps and scroll analysis showed which sections of the site are the most engaging and where users run into difficulties. On that basis, we proposed improvements to content presentation and navigation.

From category to basket

In the heuristic analysis, we went through product browsing, category navigation and checkout in the basket. We documented the elements that make the shop harder to use, together with proposed fixes.

Heatmaps and scroll maps of the PESPORT shop page

Shop product listing annotated with UX audit findings

Results: a report that went straight into workshops

The results went into a report of around 20 pages: key findings, heatmaps and improvement recommendations.

The report was used during product workshops. Based on it, we ran user story mapping and created personas, which allowed us to align the shop's features with user needs.