My kids are at an age where they love to play board games, so it’s not uncommon to find us gathered around the table at night with dice and game pieces all over the place. 

And every time we start playing something new, we start with the same question: What’s the objective? What am I trying to do? Once we know that, everyone has a sense of direction in the choices we make in the game.

One of the things that clients are always looking to do — whether they're working on better marketing experiences, retaining users inside of their products, or even just improving usability — is improve conversion from one step to the next in a flow or funnel.

And there are a wide range of methods for improving conversion. You can definitely geek out over the analytics of it, run some A/B tests, and whatnot. But there's also a more qualitative side of it: understanding why users won't or don’t proceed from step to step in an experience. We can study users to understand the reasons for their behavior. 

But putting all that aside, sometimes the answer is a lot simpler. Sometimes, users can’t clearly identify the next step in a flow or funnel. 

Sometimes this could be because elements have been added over time that have pushed that action off the screen. Sometimes there are competing options or elements that make it harder to spot. Users like to click the big, bold button even if it’s not the intended next action.

My challenge to you is to pop into a key user flow that matters to your business. Do it in the type of device or viewport size your users are likely to be on. Is it clear how to progress? Is it positioned consistently?

In our program, we’ll evaluate your experience step by step. We’ll evaluate alternatives, and we’ll talk to users about their experiences. 

But, you don’t have to do all of that to move the needle. Start simple and make sure the end is in sight.