Key answer: A UX audit is an expert analysis of a website or application that shows where users hit problems and what to fix first. It covers a walkthrough of key paths, data analysis (analytics, session recordings) and an assessment against usability heuristics. An expert audit typically costs €2,000–6,000; an audit with user research €5,000–12,000. The deliverable is a prioritised fix list with reasoning, not a generic report.
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The short answer
A UX audit is an expert analysis of your website, store or application that shows where you lose users and why. The deliverable is not a doorstop report but a prioritised fix list: from tomorrow's changes to strategic decisions, each with its reasoning. It typically costs €2,000–6,000 (with user research €5,000–12,000) and is the cheapest way to stop guessing why "there's traffic but no sales".
When a UX audit pays off
An audit makes sense when the product is live and has traffic, but the results disappoint: many visits, few enquiries; full carts, few orders; users sign up and vanish. It also makes sense before a rebuild – it often turns out that instead of a new site you need a dozen specific fixes, and that's a difference of tens of thousands. We say this plainly, because sometimes the audit ends with the recommendation "don't rebuild".
How a UX audit works
Data analysis. We start with analytics: where users enter, where they drop off, what separates buyers from abandoners. The data points at the places worth looking at – without it, an audit is guesswork.
Key path walkthrough. The auditor completes the user's most important tasks (finding a product, buying, contacting, registering) on desktop and mobile, noting every point of friction.
Heuristic evaluation. We assess the product against recognised usability principles: visibility of state, consistency with conventions, error prevention, clarity of language.
Recordings and heatmaps. Where available, we analyse real user behaviour: what they fail to click, what they ignore, where they circle.
A prioritised report. Every problem gets a weight (critical, significant, cosmetic), a recommendation and the reasoning. The list can be implemented with us or with your own team.
UX audit vs user research
An expert audit catches most problems quickly and relatively cheaply, but it rests on the auditor's experience, not on watching your customers. User research (task-based testing, interviews) costs more, and in return shows things no expert can predict: the language customers use, their real motivations, unexpected paths. The practical rule: start with an audit; add research where the decision is expensive and the data ambiguous. Even five usability tests uncover most of a product's critical problems.
UX audit of an online store
In e-commerce the audit concentrates on the purchase funnel: product page, cart, delivery and payment. That's where most money leaks, and the typical findings are mundane: delivery costs revealed too late, forced registration, a form with fields nobody reads. Improving conversion by a fraction of a percentage point can repay the audit within a month – which is why stores are the most audited type of product.
Want to know where your product loses users? Order a UX audit or simply write to us and we'll advise whether an audit is the right first step in your case.