The UWEBC Marketing Peer Group’s first in-person event in two years focused on a hot topic for our members – improving website user experience (UX). The confluence of increased website traffic in response to the Pandemic and the frenetic pace of new software introductions has made UX design a critical aspect of differentiation. The April 28th meeting explored how several members are advancing their efforts to deliver world class website experiences.
Led by UWEBC’s Marketing Practice Director Bill Carrier, participants discussed the best methods for identifying, measuring, prioritizing, and testing strategies to improve website user experiences. This meeting opened with a panel discussion addressing attendees’ questions. Ron Grass (UX Design Manager, Brady Corporation), Michelle Gregoire (eCommerce Merchandising Manager, Harley-Davidson) and Nicole Jacobson (Director of Web & Digital Operations, pc/nametag) shared how their companies have been approaching UX improvement.
Following the panel session, participants discussed the importance of embracing a culture of data-driven UX improvement. In the Member Spotlight presentation by Zendesk, Melissa Burch (Director of Self Service and Proactive Support) and Lucile Vea (Group Manager of Engagement Marketing) shared how their company measures, identifies UX improvement opportunities, prioritizes work, and tests changes with customers.
Members who attended created a sense of community that enabled the generous sharing of knowledge. One attendee observed, “Today’s event helped me takeaway some tools to use internally to improve our process, as well as some understanding of other organizations structure and process to deliver products with good UX.” Another attendee noted that, “Several UX tools were mentioned that I hadn’t heard before, so I’m eager to dig into those and see if any might make our team’s lives better and easier when measuring UX metrics!” The distinction of our peer community is the eagerness with which attendees seek to bring their new-found insight back to work to improve their team’s effectiveness while positively improving customer experience.
The magic of the event was created by the member community present, as one attendee aptly concluded, “my biggest takeaway was a feeling of camaraderie for our profession..” particularly emphasizing a “…reaffirmation that I’m on the right track with my strategies as well as common struggles.” The joy of being with each other was beautifully expressed by another member — “Love the networking portion with the horn. I definitely would have enjoyed more time for that- just like a speed-dating style. I’ll definitely connect with some folks on LinkedIn.” We look forward to seeing you at our next hybrid Marketing event! Come create and capture the magic for yourself!
Published May 4, 2022
Dylan Kopf and Jenny Zhang, Marketing Student Assistants