Posts Tagged ‘Metrics’

Using Net Promoter Score for UX

Posted in Analytics, Performance Metrics, UX, Usability, User Experience on July 10th, 2009 by Dale Cody – Be the first to comment

One quick and easy metric I really like as part of the larger user experience toolbox is the Net Promoter Score or NPS. Originally established as a tool for determining customer loyalty, it’s also a quick and easy way to gauge what users think about your website or online application. It’s something that can and probably should be done before beginning work on an existing site as well as part of the regular (and broader) program of site analysis and performance.

NPS was developed and trademarked by Frederick F. Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix. He first introduced it in an article for The Harvard Business Review in 2003. The idea is that its simplicity allows ordinary employees easy access and understanding as well as providing them the motivation to do something about it.

It works on a scale of zero to ten and divides users into three categories: Promoters, Passives and Detractors. Promoters live in the 9-10 range and signify loyal enthusiasts who will actively work to promote your site. Passives exist in the 7-8 range and represent people who are satisfied, but generally unenthusiastic. These users are particularly vulnerable to alternative competitive offerings. Detractors occupy the largest range from 0-6 and signify dissatisfied users who are likely to actively damage your brand through negative word-of-mouth or other communication. It’s worth noting here that 5 on the scale is still considered a “neutral” position even though 6 is included in the Detractors category.

Calculating your site’s NPS is relatively simple and posits this simple question to users: “How likely are you to recommend this site to a friend or colleague”? Once you have all your sample data in hand, subtract the percentage of Detractors (0-6) from the percentage of Promoters (9-10) to get your score. A score of 75% or above is generally considered extremely high.

Of course just obtaining results from this one query doesn’t solve any problems and follow-up questions to obtain more detail are crucial to understanding why users hold the opinions they do. You also have to act on it and make changes to help improve the overall user experience. NPS is certainly not without its own detractors and is surely limited in its predictive capabilities, but overall I have still found it to be a useful “sniff test” for determining users feelings about a site.

Here are some links you might find useful: