How is a UX audit different from a design review?

A design review is typically an expert opinion on the visual and interaction design of a product. A UX audit is evidence-based: it combines heuristic evaluation with analytics data, session recordings, and user testing to produce findings that are grounded in observable user behaviour rather than design opinion. The output is a prioritised list of specific problems with evidence for why each is a problem, not a list of design suggestions.

How many users do we need for usability testing?

Research by Jakob Nielsen established that 5 users find approximately 85% of usability problems in a product. For a focused audit of a specific flow, 5 to 8 users is sufficient to identify the significant problems. For products with very different user types (for example, admin users vs. end users with different workflows), separate test sessions with each user type are more useful than increasing the total number of participants. We scope the user testing component based on the number of distinct user types in your product.

How long does a UX audit take?

A focused audit of a specific product area or flow -- heuristic evaluation, analytics review, and 5-user usability test -- typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. A comprehensive audit of a full product including all major flows, session recording analysis, accessibility evaluation, and a full usability test typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. Fixed cost agreed before the audit starts.

What happens after the audit -- do you also fix the problems?

The audit delivers a prioritised findings report with specific design direction for each finding. Many clients use the report to brief their internal design team or a separate design sprint. For clients who want RaftLabs to design the fixes, the audit transitions into a design engagement scoped based on the audit findings -- the highest-severity items first. The audit is a standalone service with a fixed cost regardless of whether a subsequent design project follows.

How is a UX audit different from a design review?

A design review is typically an expert opinion on the visual and interaction design of a product. A UX audit is evidence-based: it combines heuristic evaluation with analytics data, session recordings, and user testing to produce findings that are grounded in observable user behaviour rather than design opinion. The output is a prioritised list of specific problems with evidence for why each is a problem, not a list of design suggestions.

How many users do we need for usability testing?

Research by Jakob Nielsen established that 5 users find approximately 85% of usability problems in a product. For a focused audit of a specific flow, 5 to 8 users is sufficient to identify the significant problems. For products with very different user types (for example, admin users vs. end users with different workflows), separate test sessions with each user type are more useful than increasing the total number of participants. We scope the user testing component based on the number of distinct user types in your product.

How long does a UX audit take?

A focused audit of a specific product area or flow -- heuristic evaluation, analytics review, and 5-user usability test -- typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. A comprehensive audit of a full product including all major flows, session recording analysis, accessibility evaluation, and a full usability test typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. Fixed cost agreed before the audit starts.

What happens after the audit -- do you also fix the problems?

The audit delivers a prioritised findings report with specific design direction for each finding. Many clients use the report to brief their internal design team or a separate design sprint. For clients who want RaftLabs to design the fixes, the audit transitions into a design engagement scoped based on the audit findings -- the highest-severity items first. The audit is a standalone service with a fixed cost regardless of whether a subsequent design project follows.

Do you know your product's conversion rate or retention rate at each step, but not why users drop off at those specific points?
Has a feature shipped that users consistently misuse or ignore, and the team doesn't know whether it's a discoverability problem or a value problem?

When users churn, support tickets keep coming in, or a feature gets ignored, the cause is rarely the feature itself -- it's usually the experience around it.

A UX audit is a structured evaluation of an existing product that identifies where users struggle, why they leave, and what changes would have the highest impact on conversion, retention, or task completion. It uses heuristic analysis, analytics review, session recording analysis, and user testing to produce a prioritised list of specific, actionable improvements rather than a general list of design suggestions.

RaftLabs UX audits cover web applications, SaaS products, mobile apps, and e-commerce interfaces. The deliverable is a prioritised findings report with specific recommendations, severity ratings, and design direction for each finding -- so the product team can act on it immediately rather than commissioning a new discovery project.

Heuristic evaluation against established usability principles applied to every key flow in your product
Analytics and session recording analysis to identify where users actually drop off versus where you think they do
Usability testing with representative users to validate findings and surface problems that analytics can't explain
Prioritised recommendations report with severity ratings and design direction for each finding

RaftLabs conducts UX audits of web applications, SaaS products, mobile apps, and e-commerce interfaces -- heuristic evaluation, analytics review, session recording analysis, and usability testing to produce a prioritised findings report with specific design recommendations. Most audits deliver in 2 to 4 weeks at a fixed cost.

Most product teams have a general sense that something is wrong with the experience -- conversion is lower than expected, a specific step has high abandonment, support keeps fielding the same questions. What they don't have is a prioritised, evidence-backed list of the specific problems causing those outcomes. A UX audit produces that list. The distinction between "users are dropping off at checkout" and "users are dropping off at the payment details step because the error message doesn't identify which field is invalid" is the difference between knowing there's a problem and knowing what to fix.

The value of a UX audit is that it directs design and engineering effort toward the changes with the highest impact. Without it, redesign projects start from aesthetic preference -- "the interface feels dated" -- rather than from documented usability problems. With it, the redesign brief is specific: these seven flows have documented problems at these specific points, prioritised by severity. The audit doesn't replace the redesign; it makes the redesign far more likely to solve the right problems.

What we build

Heuristic evaluation

Structured evaluation of the product against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics: visibility of system status, match between system and real world, user control, consistency, error prevention, recognition over recall, flexibility, aesthetic design, error recovery, and help. Each violation documented with severity (cosmetic, minor, major, critical) and a specific recommendation -- not a general observation.

Analytics and funnel analysis

Review of existing analytics data (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude) to identify drop-off points, high-exit pages, low-conversion flows, and usage patterns that contradict intended design; identification of metrics that are missing or incorrectly configured that would provide better insight. Analytics tells you where the problems are -- the other audit methods tell you why.

Session recording analysis

Analysis of session recordings (Hotjar, FullStory, LogRocket) to identify user behaviour patterns: rage clicks indicating unresponsive elements, hesitation before key actions, abandonment patterns, and unexpected navigation paths; findings that explain why the analytics show what they show. Session recordings surface the behavioural evidence behind the numbers -- what users actually do versus what the funnel data reports.

Usability testing

Moderated or unmoderated usability test sessions with 5 to 8 representative users; task-based testing against specific flows; think-aloud protocol to capture reasoning alongside behaviour; findings report with timestamped evidence clips from session recordings. Usability testing surfaces problems that analytics cannot -- the user who can't find the button that analytics reports as rarely clicked doesn't appear in the data as a problem until the test shows why.

Accessibility audit

WCAG 2.1 AA compliance evaluation: colour contrast, keyboard navigation, focus management, ARIA attributes, screen reader compatibility; automated audit using Axe and manual testing with NVDA/VoiceOver; findings classified by severity with specific fixes for each violation. Accessibility findings are included in the main prioritised report -- not delivered as a separate document that gets deprioritised.

Prioritised recommendations report

Consolidated findings from all audit methods, de-duplicated and prioritised by impact and implementation effort; severity rating per finding (critical, major, minor, enhancement); specific design direction for each finding so the product team has a clear starting point; executive summary for stakeholder communication. The report is actionable -- a product team can take it directly into a sprint planning session.

Have a product that's not converting or retaining?

Tell us the specific flow where users drop off, what analytics you have, and what you've already tried. We'll scope the audit and give you a fixed cost.

Talk about your UX audit

UX/UI Design Services -- full design capability overview
Product Design Services -- full product design following audit findings
Design System Development -- design system to address consistency findings from the audit
Mobile App Design -- mobile design work following a mobile-focused audit

Custom Software Development -- rebuild or redesign following audit findings
MVP Development -- validated redesign as an MVP engagement
Predictive Analytics -- churn prediction models that identify users at risk before audit findings confirm the flow problem

Frequently asked questions

: A design review is typically an expert opinion on the visual and interaction design of a product. A UX audit is evidence-based: it combines heuristic evaluation with analytics data, session recordings, and user testing to produce findings that are grounded in observable user behaviour rather than design opinion. The output is a prioritised list of specific problems with evidence for why each is a problem, not a list of design suggestions.
: Research by Jakob Nielsen established that 5 users find approximately 85% of usability problems in a product. For a focused audit of a specific flow, 5 to 8 users is sufficient to identify the significant problems. For products with very different user types (for example, admin users vs. end users with different workflows), separate test sessions with each user type are more useful than increasing the total number of participants. We scope the user testing component based on the number of distinct user types in your product.
: A focused audit of a specific product area or flow -- heuristic evaluation, analytics review, and 5-user usability test -- typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. A comprehensive audit of a full product including all major flows, session recording analysis, accessibility evaluation, and a full usability test typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. Fixed cost agreed before the audit starts.
: The audit delivers a prioritised findings report with specific design direction for each finding. Many clients use the report to brief their internal design team or a separate design sprint. For clients who want RaftLabs to design the fixes, the audit transitions into a design engagement scoped based on the audit findings -- the highest-severity items first. The audit is a standalone service with a fixed cost regardless of whether a subsequent design project follows.