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Super Fast Insights: How Long Should a UX Audit Take?

Specno
February 21, 2024

Ideal UX Audit timelines, variables and what’s included. This is how long a UX audit should take, plus: UX/UI Audit case studies so you can see the impact for yourself

How fast can you get actionable insights from a UX/UI audit?

Well, it starts almost from day one, but the full process can be a few weeks. Here’s how much time to allocate to a UX audit, a “what should be included” checklist, a list of variables that can impact your timeline, and a few case studies to explore.

How long should a UX Audit take?

Usually, a UX/UI audit takes 5–7 weeks, depending on the size and scope of the product, or your business requirements.

At Specno, our standard smaller project and start-up-focused UX audits take about 5 weeks. With more complex projects or larger enterprises with more sign-off processes and stakeholders, this can extend to 6–7 weeks, purely because of the time it takes for stakeholder availability.

Through conducting a lot of audits, we have identified the most common and the most beneficial processes that can be applied in the widest range of contexts, leading to a tried and tested formula to generate high-quality results in the shortest timeframes possible.

That said, Specno is more than happy and capable to take on longer UX audits that go into more granular detail and generate larger datasets, normally of around 10–16 weeks.

What is important, though, is that you get a few immediate insights very early on in the process. You often get actionable insights as early as the first week of the audit.

Note: Timelines Based on Specno Turnaround Times

It’s important to note that the guide times shown here are based on the internal Specno turnaround and delivery timelines. We’ve created an entire team of dedicated and driven designers and developers, and are therefore able to turn around audits, designs and finished products at a level that’s ideal for funded startups and corporates.

Naturally, we can’t vouch for anyone else in the industry but ourselves.

Timeline: What does a UX Audit include?

A UX audit is an empirical methodology for reviewing how users experience your product, involving actual user research, competitive analyses, and building recommendations for product improvements. It generally includes:

  • Project prep: Create research schedules & scope.
  • Product Discovery: Understand business objectives, map out the system, and create user flows & journeys.
  • User research: User personas & questionnaires.
  • Data analysis: Analyse data to identify patterns, trends and pain points.
  • UX/UI audit: Analyse UX, navigation & UI and compare against best practices.
  • Project handover: The complete recommendation of how the product can be improved. 

Total time: 5–7 weeks.

UX/UI Audit Time Variables

Things that might affect the UX/UI audit timeline are:

The size of your user base

Audits are data-lead – through analytics, feedback, recordings and surveys. And a successful audit needs enough data to be representative of the entire base. That means the larger the user base, the more data is needed, which can impact the timing. 

The complexity of the app

Complexity is challenging to define, but we can categorize apps based on the type and quantity of features they require. The following table compares potential features and app complexity levels.

Simple Apps

Mid-Level Apps

Complex Apps

  • A single, straightforward function or purpose

  • A limited number of screens or pages

  • Basic navigation

  • Limited user input

  • Basic data storage

  • Limited integration with external systems or services

  • Basic security features, such as login or authentication.

  • Multiple functions or purposes

  • More advanced navigation, such as nested menus or dynamic navigation

  • More advanced user input

  • More complex data storage

  • More extensive connectivity, such as integration with external APIs or services

  • Advanced error handling and user feedback

  • More complex security features, such as encryption or multi-factor authentication
  • Many functions with high inter-relatedness

  • Advanced navigation and organization

  • Advanced user input, such as voice and facial recognition

  • Advanced data storage

  • Advanced connectivity, such as integration with multiple APIs and real-time data exchange

  • Advanced error handling and user feedback

  • Advanced security features, such as biometric authentication

  • Support for multiple languages and localization

  • Support for various device types and platforms, including wearables and IoT.

The resources needed‍

Complex apps with many screens, intricate navigation, and interrelated components may require a larger team or more time to complete. Also see the benefits of cross-platform vs native app development and discover the latest banking UI trends.

Testing and optimisation

The quality and promptness of stakeholder feedback and sign-off directly impact turnaround times. Delays can occur if key stakeholders are unavailable for presentations and sign-offs.

Whom you choose to work with

Choosing an agency over a freelance designer is typically faster and preferable. At Specno, we can generate a lot more value and turn around projects much faster, due to the sheer size of our team and mix of skills. We have specialised design, development teams, scrum masters and product owners assigned to your project, to de-risk the venture and enable rapid idea testing and faster delivery. 

Find out what it takes to build an app development team, the key skills needed in an ideal startup team and what a week for an agile development team looks like.

Plus: Did you know you can build 3 times faster? See how long it takes to build a low-code app.

Massive impact: UX Audit case studies

Discover our software development case studies to witness real-world examples of how a UX audit and redesign significantly impacted companies, reducing drop-off, churn, and boosting conversions.

Some highlights include:

  • Onboarding and drop-off resolution for SaaS company Servcraft and the ServCraft App
  • Correct user targeting for online ticketing platform Quicket.
  • Improve satisfaction, decrease churn, and boost conversions for PEP’s PAXI PORTAL.

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