Understanding User Behavior: Analyzing Engagement Patterns
I remember sitting at my desk one afternoon, watching as a colleague struggled to find the 'Add to Cart' button on a product page. She clicked around, scrolled up and down, even refreshed the page, but the button was nowhere to be found. This made me realise how important it is to understand user behaviour and analyse engagement patterns when revamping product layouts.
When it comes to revamping product layouts, it's crucial to first understand how users interact with your website or app. Analysing engagement patterns can give you valuable insights into what users are looking for and what frustrates them. For instance, if users are spending a lot of time on a particular page but not making any purchases, it could indicate that there is something wrong with the layout or the information provided.
It's also important to look at the bigger picture and consider how different pages and sections of your website or app work together. Are users able to easily navigate from one section to another. Are there any bottlenecks or areas where users tend to drop off. By analysing engagement patterns, you can identify areas that need improvement and make data-driven decisions when revamping your product layouts.
In my experience, it's not always easy to understand user behaviour and analyse engagement patterns. It often requires a combination of quantitative data (such as analytics) and qualitative data (such as user feedback). But by taking the time to do this, you can create product layouts that are more engaging and user-friendly, ultimately leading to increased conversions and customer satisfaction.
Visual Hierarchy: Designing for Attention
You know when you walk into an old-school retail store - think something like Big Bazaar or even your local market - and there’s a tonne of products laid out in front of you with no direction on where to look. That’s kind of how a website that doesn’t use visual hierarchy feels. And while it might feel like there’s enough information up there, it can overwhelm your audience.
Designing with attention in mind can help retain an audience better, bring their focus to products you want to showcase, and even guide them through the process of getting what they want from your business (the classic ask). And yes, it might feel like it’s tough to find the perfect balance but as a professional, that’s exactly where your expertise comes in. I’ve noticed that people respond better to visuals and colour so using them as effective tools for engagement is always a great starting point.
If you’re not sure about the best ways to introduce visual hierarchy into your layouts and designs, here’s some insight: Making the most important elements bigger than the others will immediately bring attention to them. More or less. Using unique typefaces for headings can have a similar effect while balancing colours across the page can give customers information about which text blocks are linked together.
The more time you spend designing with intention, the higher customer engagement you’re going to see. And one thing I’d tell anyone looking for some professional advice - don’t be afraid of whitespace. It’s just as important as filling up those pages with visuals.
Responsive Design: Adapting Layouts for All Devices
Imagine browsing a site on your mobile and having to squint or scroll sideways to see the product description. Or worse, the buy button’s missing altogether. That’s what happens when eCommerce stores don’t bother with adjusting their product layouts for the device being used.
And it’s a surefire way to drive away your potential buyers. Not everyone has the patience to switch to their laptop or desktop just to buy something - I know I certainly don’t. It’s why responsive design is so important in this day and age where people are shopping not only on desktops and laptops but also on mobiles, tablets and even smartwatches.
Let’s be real - few things are more frustrating than opening a website and seeing an unresponsive layout. Wouldn’t you leave immediately too. It’s an unnecessary barrier in today’s increasingly mobile-first world. The best sites these days tailor their product pages for the screen size and device being used.
They take care of everything from responsive images to navigation menus that are easier to use with just one hand. They also move elements around for more streamlined flow, keeping what matters front and centre while moving less useful information out of the way (but still within reach). I think responsive layouts can also help you make better use of white space and keep distractions at bay. But just because it fits the window, doesn’t mean it’s responsive.
That checkbox can only be ticked if you’re using different layouts for different devices, making sure users aren’t getting overwhelmed by graphics on a small screen or feeling like they’ve landed on a completely different site when switching devices. It isn’t something that comes as an afterthought or a quick fix - it takes time but the results are worth it as long as you’re keeping your audience (and all their devices) at the heart of all decisions.
Interactive Elements: Encouraging User Participation
Say you’re online shopping for a new skincare product. You notice some are reviewed by hundreds of people, with those handy four- and five-star badges right up top. It’s not just the reviews or ratings either - lots of people have voted on which shades or styles they like best, and you can even vote too. There's something about clicking those buttons, isn’t there.
The dopamine hit of knowing you’ve been a part of something bigger, I guess. Getting users to interact with your site is like the gold medal of engagement. If you can get it right, users become emotionally invested in your product and brand.
I always think it’s important not to guilt them into doing it either - but to make it seem like a fun thing that they want to do voluntarily. For example, “Does this fit true to size. Vote below.
” is a great way to crowdsource information that’s relevant, important and helpful to other shoppers. Interactive sections like this can encourage users who may not be interested in writing a detailed review, but are happy to participate anonymously. Sometimes the only difference between completing an action is how long it will take or how difficult it is. Another great interactive element that people often overlook is giving users the ability to ask questions about your products and letting others answer them as well as your team.
This often creates an interesting dialogue around products or services (for all the world to see), so if you’re worried about negative interactions, make sure you have some level of moderation enabled so things don’t devolve too quickly. I’m not really in favour of fake anything - even positivity - especially when it comes to brands talking about themselves (yawn). Engaging with negative feedback can show customers that your brand is listening and cares enough to address less than ideal experiences. It gives people confidence that there will be some level of accountability should they run into problems themselves - which actually encourages more purchases.
Sort of.
A/B Testing: Measuring the Impact of Layout Changes
A/B testing is a bit like being a fly on the wall - observing how people interact with your changes, what catches their eye, and what makes them hit the "Buy" button. In an ideal world, I'd tell you that launching a brand new layout is always well received by customers. But more often than not, customers like what they know.
Sort of. Measuring the impact of layout changes starts with A/B testing. Your old layout can serve as your baseline (A), and you can compare it to your new test layout (B) to see how one compares to the other.
The idea is to ensure that both groups of users are similar enough for this experiment to be valid. Otherwise, it becomes a sort of pointless endeavour. There are so many different ways to measure the impact of layout changes these days - click through rates, time spent on site, conversions, or even how far down the page they've scrolled can provide interesting insights. You should also consider what you want your customers to do before deciding which metric matters most to you for this particular test.
For example, if you're running an awareness campaign then time spent on site might matter more than actual conversions or even clicks. If it's conversion rates you're after then measure which layouts increase your conversion rates and double down on those.
Case Studies: Successful Revamps That Increased Engagement
Appears To Be what do you do when your site looks sleek, has killer ctas, and you’re offering the best product in your segment - but your sales are tanking. That’s a question lots of brands have grappled with. The answer appears to be deceptively simple: it comes down to product layouts. It sounds like a marketing buzzword, but it’s a real, tangible thing you can fix - and there are actual case studies to back this up.
Take Urban Ladder for example. They wanted more people to buy furniture online - in India no less. There was a lot of resistance because most people want to see and try out furniture before buying it.
They overhauled their entire site experience, especially the way they laid out their products and product pages. There was an emphasis on minimalism and contextual relevance. They used testimonials, reviews, customisable suggestions and easy navigation to create an interface that was more engaging for customers at any stage of the customer journey.
Sort of. It resulted in better conversions. I remember being very interested when Zappos (the shoe company) went against the ‘cleaner layout = better sales’ rule and brought the left nav bar back. Everyone thought left nav bars were dead for e-commerce - but they used category-specific filtering on the left sidebar and saw increased engagement and conversions.
If I’m not mistaken, this was back in 2017 - so they were pretty ahead of their time. Another good example is Verishop which used AR and VR to create an ‘Instagram-style feed’. They also added video descriptions of products (not just models wearing or using the products).
It worked because Gen Z now expects more authenticity from businesses (especially e-commerce) and this was a very ‘real’ way of laying out products for them to view. In fact, they even added user-generated content so people could see what other buyers wore the pieces they were considering buying (and how those pieces looked).