What is a heatmap?
A heatmap is a data visualization that uses variation in color to show where on your website people click, scroll, or move their mouse.
Check out our deep dive into what a heatmap is and how to use them.
It’s a super handy tool to have in your evaluative toolbox. They’re a fast and intuitive way for researchers to get a lay of the land of a website’s design — where people are spending time, what’s working well, and what might be causing frustration.
On top of that, heatmaps are a great research output for non-researchers. The output is colorful and intuitive - a great “at-a-glance” illustration of a research finding that you can use to grab attention and follow up with more in-depth insights.
But the storytelling power of heatmaps is wasted if we use them only for one-off evaluations. Instead of just investigating problems, heatmaps can be used to track successes, scan for future issues, and even prove the value of research in your organization.
It’s time to explore the untapped potential of the humble heatmap! Use these three strategies to transform from a one-off solution into a powerful strategic tool for your team.
Strategy 1: Heatmaps as Proof of ROI
One of the most-overlooked uses of heatmaps is as a storytelling tool about research itself. If a heatmap shows a problem, another heatmap down the road will show the solution in action. The side-by-side comparison will show a compelling story about a problem solved - like a before-and-after advertisement, but for your research team. These visuals can accompany other metrics to show the ROI on a successful research initiative, and they may even reveal improvements that other numerical measurements miss.
If you use heatmaps to kick off a project and discover a problem, make sure to run them after the project is over as well. Are the rage-clicks gone? Is your engagement up? Then that means research made a meaningful difference, and you have the proof. Use it in your next report to leadership to visually demonstrate the value of your team. Or, share to public slack channels to quickly communicate and celebrate your wins.
Strategy 2: heatmaps as “Always-on” research
Recurring heatmaps are also a great source of passive, high-level data. They can be launched in a matter of minutes and return data in short periods of time, making them easy to launch and monitor without much thought. If you run them regularly, they become similar to other kinds of always-on research initiatives, and can be used for the same benefits.
Read more about always-on research.
Try running a quick heatmap of your most important pages or features on a regular cadence (e.g. once per sprint, month, or quarter). You’ll get a running high-level snapshot of your product to flesh out other continuous metrics, like customer satisfaction, engagement, churn, and the like. Like these other metrics, your heatmap can be used to benchmark your current customer experience. Use the data to set goals for yourself and prioritize what issues need to be tackled next.
Strategy 3: Heatmaps as Monitor
Nobody likes to be surprised by a usability issue or under-utilized new feature. And certainly nobody wants to find out about such things by seeing it reflected in crucial metrics like revenue, satisfaction, or usage. Launching heatmaps at a regular cadence can keep you ahead of the game for a relatively low cost.
Heatmaps may capture such issues before other metrics do, if you are prepared to watch them closely. Unexpected changes in routine movement or drastic increases or decreases in engagement can be seen quickly and somewhat qualitatively, pointing you in the direction of new problems before they reach you in other channels. And if you do discover something, you have a visual tool on-hand to bring to your product teams to demonstrate your concern.
To Sum Up
Heatmaps are, in general, an incredibly low-effort method to launch and analyze. Using Sprig, you can get a heatmap of a page running in less than 10 minutes. They don’t impact users either, meaning there’s basically no cost to running them.
With that being the case, it’s a no-brainer to start using heatmaps more liberally in your research program. Start leveraging heatmaps today, and bring a powerful visual tool into your strategic arsenal.
