User experience is subjective by nature.

We can measure its effects on product engagement (e.g. pageviews, time on site, etc.) and conversions (signups and sales). But how do we directly measure and benchmark UX?

According to a recent case study performed by Google employees: Kerry Rodden, Hilary Hutchinson, and Xin Fu, user-centered metrics are hard to come by. Either the parameters are too generic to be useful, or too specific to be applicable across the board.

In their paper, they propose an idea for a set of genuinely useful UX analytics. Let’s explore the UX metrics every team should be tracking.

Low Level, “PULSE” Metrics

The old paradigm of analytics is geared more towards measuring progress against business goals. While still useful, they’re lagging indicators of UX decisions.

Common metrics include:

• Pageviews- Number of pages viewed by a single user.
• Uptime- The percentage of time the website or application is accessible to users.
• Latency- The amount of time it takes data to travel from one location to another.
• Seven-day active users- The amount of unique users to interact with the site or app within the last seven days.
• Earnings- Revenue generated by the site or product.

While businesses should still track these metrics, they should remember that they lack context for measuring UX. For example, an average time on site of 5 minutes might mean users are highly engaged – or just aren’t finding the content they need.

For meaningful context, try examining HEART metrics.

Join the world's best designers who use UXPin.

High Level “HEART” Metrics

HEART metrics are a more comprehensive framework for UX metrics.

HEART metrics are as follows:

• Happiness- The overall attitudinal satisfaction or delight that a user feels in relation to your product. UXPin uses net promoter score (NPS) as a Happiness metric.