Avoiding common pitfalls in a website redesign project

I’ve been fortunate to be involved in UI (User Interface) Design, UX (User Experience), and Product Management for quite a while.  In fact, my first exposure to UX was working for a large Fortune 500 where we were using story boarding to redesign an outdated UI.  This was back in the 90’s so needless to say today’s methodology, processes, and tools have come a long way since then.  Today, I spend some of my consulting time helping companies redesign websites with an emphasis on improving engagement and simplifying the UX.

Below are some tips to avoid the common pitfalls associated with a large website redesign project:

• Everyone must know their role. It sounds simple, but people often cross outside their role to provide more advice than what is needed.  This becomes problematic if too many stakeholders are weighing in on areas outside their domain.
• Management must clearly communicate objectives. Websites have varying purpose and objectives depending on the company.  Some are simply a marketing tool and a way to promote product.  Others, might allow consumers to purchase product or services on the site.  In the ecommerce scenario, the UI and UX is critical to driving company revenue.
• There needs to be a designated Product / UX Owner. I’ve noticed throughout the years that everyone wants to “own” the online experience when redesigning a site.   Part of the problem is that it takes a village to build a large website, particularly an ecommerce site.  You have the graphic designers and developers who help design and build, but then you may have many different stakeholders including QA, sales, support, marketing, operations, executive management, and the list goes on.  While it is true, stakeholders provide a very important role of providing input, it is also true that someone has to own and be accountable for the overall user experience.  In most cases, this needs to be one person, typically the Product Owner! 
• Ecommerce websites should have an experienced Product / UX Owner. This person needs to understand the business objectives, consumer behavior, and design / UX principles.   They should be intimate with Google Analytics and have a good understanding of engagement on the site.  They should understand usability and the basic principles of human factors and information architecture.  Although they may not have a formal education in these areas, they should have training and experience to drive the project accordingly.  Ecommerce sites that monetize are a different beast than normal websites so experience is critical if leading the charge.
• Graphic Designers are not all the same. Most designers vary in their skill-sets and personalities.  Some have a tendency to want to control the UX with proposed mockup/comps while not wanting to compromise their designs.  This can be problematic if they are working on an ecommerce site, but do not have the experience or background working on similar sites.   Some designers are trained in information architecture and understand usability.  Others are not.  Some think about ‘call to actions’ and monetization while others may not.  The graphic designer is just one stakeholder and should not own the Product or UX unless they have the skill-set and experience to fill that role.  
• Analytics Matter. Before redesigning the site, know what analytics say about the site.  Where do customers spend most of their time?  What are the most active pages?  Where do you lose most of your customers?  What are people clicking on consistently and where are they most engaged (page and site level)?  By knowing your data and your customer’s behavior ahead of time, you can plan better and proactively fix issues when designing the new site.  Compare the newly redesigned site’s analytics to the old site and ensure you are progressing forward in a positive direction.