# Account Management [Image] Account management pages are critical touchpoints where users configure and control key aspects of their experience. For product designers and managers, the challenge is ensuring these pages are intuitive, easy to navigate, and capable of supporting complex workflows without causing friction. Account Management Testing uses a design stack of UX metrics: engagement, comprehension, success, sentiment, and satisfaction to measure how well the page performs. This approach replaces subjective opinions with measurable insights. With these findings, designers and managers can make informed design decisions, prioritize improvements, and demonstrate the impact of changes on business outcomes. For example, testing an ad campaign management platform’s account settings page revealed clear comprehension but weak engagement and success, showing where design changes were needed to improve usability and drive adoption. * * * ## Define Goals for Your Account Management Test A strong account management experience should balance user needs like security, control, and transparency with business goals such as retention, cross-sell, and reduced service costs. Tracking both sides ensures account management tools deliver long-term value. **Audience** To define user needs, you first need to establish who your audience is. In the case of our Advent example, we targeted advertisers and marketing decision makers who might be interested in their ad campaign management solutions. **User Needs** As a customer managing their banking account, the top five most important needs would be: 1. Users need assurance that personal and financial information is fully protected (the experience should feel [**Secure**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/secure)). 2. Clear visibility into balances, transactions, fees, and account changes helps users feel in control (the design should be [**Reliable**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/reliable)) 3. Users want the ability to update details, manage cards, set preferences, and adjust notifications easily (actions should feel [**Efficient**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/efficient)) 4. Helpful instructions, contextual tips, and quick access to support if needed (the experience should be [**Adaptable**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/adaptable)) 5. Account management should be mobile-friendly, load quickly, and support accessibility for all customers (the design should be [**Accessible**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/accessible)) These five ensure account management feels secure, transparent, and easy to use, meeting core expectations for self-service. **Business Goals** Here are the five most important business goals for account management: 1. **Enhance Customer Retention** – Provide a seamless, valuable experience that keeps users loyal and reduces churn. 2. **Reduce Support Costs** – Minimize calls and inquiries by empowering customers to self-serve effectively. 3. **Promote Cross-Sell Opportunities** – Surface relevant products (e.g., credit limit increases, new account types) at the right time. 4. **Ensure Compliance & Risk Management** – Support KYC/AML requirements, identity verification, and fraud prevention to protect the bank. 5. **Improve Data Accuracy & Insights** – Collect and maintain accurate customer information to support better personalization and decision-making. These goals help the bank drive retention, reduce operational costs, and increase customer lifetime value through effective account management. * * * ## **Choose Metrics to Test Your Account Management Page** For Advent’s campaign management tools, a **design stack** of four UX metrics was chosen to measure how well the experience supports user needs. This stack — **Usability, Satisfaction, Success, and Comprehension** — was established by mapping the most important account management needs directly to measurable outcomes: - [**Accessible**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/accessible) **&** [**Reliable**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/reliable) **→** [**Usability**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/usability) Users need to feel confident that core account tasks like editing details or managing access will work smoothly every time. Usability measures whether users can successfully locate and use these functions without friction. - [**Secure**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/secure) **→** [**Satisfaction**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/attitudinal-metrics/posttask-satisfaction) Account management features should feel worth using and leave users with a positive impression. Satisfaction measures whether participants describe the experience as simple, easy, and useful. - **Efficient → Success** Managing accounts should be quick and low-effort. Success measures whether users can complete core actions — like updating access or deleting a user — on their first try. - [**Adaptable**](https://glare.helio.app/define/user-needs/adaptable) **→** [**Comprehension**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/comprehension) Account settings often need to flex to different use cases, like team vs. individual accounts. Comprehension evaluates whether users clearly understand how to adjust settings to match their needs. * * * ## **Establish Hunches to Direct Your Testing** When testing account management experiences like Advent’s campaign settings page, the process begins with **hunches**—educated guesses about friction points or opportunities for deeper engagement. These hunches are then turned into **questions** that can be tested with users to validate assumptions and measure impact. **Example: Advent Campaign Management Page**

Hunch

Question

UX Metric

Users may struggle to understand the status of campaigns because “Partially Complete” and “None Added” labels aren’t clear.

“How confident are you in knowing what steps you need to take next in setting up this campaign?”

Satisfaction

Navigation between campaign elements (like Audience, Channels & Creative, Personalization) may not feel efficient.

“How easy was it to move between different sections of campaign setup?”

Success

Collaboration features (like the team comments on the right-hand side) may not be prominent enough to drive engagement.

“Did you notice any features that would help you collaborate with teammates on campaign setup?”

Comprehension

The timeline and KPI information at the bottom may be overlooked or confusing, leading to missed critical details.

“What do you understand about this campaign’s scheduled timing and KPIs?”

Comprehension

By starting with hunches, Advent’s team can zero in on areas like **clarity, efficiency, and collaboration** — and by testing these directly with users, they can confirm whether improvements will enhance usability and reduce friction in campaign management. * * * ## **Turn Hunches into Test Questions** Turning these metrics into participant questions transforms design assumptions into measurable signals. Each metric uses a specific question type paired with a clear example: - [**Success**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/success) **(First-click test)** *Question type:* Task-based click test. *Example:* “Where would you click to adjust the budget for your campaign?” [Image] - [**Comprehension**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/comprehension) **(Likert scale)** *Question type:* Agreement scale. *Example:* “I understand how to set up campaign targeting on this page.” (Strongly Disagree → Strongly Agree) [Image] - [**Satisfaction**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/attitudinal-metrics/posttask-satisfaction) **(Likert scale)** *Question type:* Satisfaction scale. *Example:* “Overall, how satisfied are you with the options provided for managing your campaigns?” (Very Dissatisfied → Very Satisfied) [Image] * * * ## **Calculate UX Metric Scores from User Feedback** We tested Advent’s campaign management account settings page with 100 advertising and marketing participants, and their responses were converted into **UX metric scores** on a 0–100% scale. Each metric in the design stack was calculated using formulas tailored to the type of question asked. These scores are then evaluated against the following common scale: - **Very Good** = 90% and above - **Good** = 70% to 89% - **Average** = 50% to 69% - **Poor** = 30% to 49% - **Very Poor** = below 30% Once the individual UX metric scores are calculated, the average of those scores are used to determine the overall score for the user experience. Here’s how the Advent account management test performed across each metric: - [**Comprehension**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/comprehension) **(71% — Good):** Participants understood the ad screen’s purpose, scoring in the *Good* range. - [**Success**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/success) **(44% — Poor):** Users struggled with critical tasks like updating access, landing at a *Poor* success rate. - [**Success**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/success) **(45% — Poor):** Similar issues appeared when editing usernames, producing another *Poor* score. - [**Success**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/behavioral-metrics/success) **(58% — Average):** Task completion for deleting a user was smoother but only reached the *Average* range. - [**Satisfaction**](https://glare.helio.app/define/ux-metrics/attitudinal-metrics/posttask-satisfaction) **(59% — Average):** Post-task impressions of the ad screen yielded an *Average* satisfaction score. [Image] Taken together, the overall test score was 55% — Average, reflecting a mixed performance: users were able to understand the interface, but difficulty completing core tasks drove down the overall experience. This points to a need for clearer task flows and more intuitive account controls to improve both usability and satisfaction. Click here to check out the [raw survey data and UX metric scores for Advent's account management page](https://my.helio.app/report/01JF11WQSX3TD5S55HSKFNX38C). * * * ## Draw Signals from Your Design Stack Here’s how signals were surfaced from the Advent Campaign Management test results by following these five steps: 1. **Focus on poorly scoring metrics** [Image] - Update Access (44%) and Edit Username (45%) both scored Poor, showing clear friction in completing common account tasks. - Delete User (58%) and Ad Screen Satisfaction (59%) scored only Average, further suggesting a lack of smoothness in the account management experience. 2. **Identify patterns across metrics** [Image] - Comprehension (71%) scored Good, meaning users generally understood the purpose of the ad screen. However, the consistent struggles with Success metrics (two Poor, one Average) indicate that while users grasped the interface, the flows themselves were not intuitive or easy to execute. 3. **Determine if user needs are being met** [Image] - **Security & Privacy:** *Partially met.* No major security concerns were noted, but low task success can undermine trust. - **Transparency:** *Not met.* Confusion around editing and updating shows users lacked confidence in the system’s clarity. - **Control & Flexibility:** *Not met.* Poor scores for task completion suggest users could not reliably manage or adjust account details. - **Guidance & Support:** *Not met.* Lack of contextual help left users unsure how to complete tasks. - **Convenience & Accessibility:** *Partially met.* While the system could be accessed, weak usability results show it was not convenient to use effectively. 4. **Compare outcomes to your business goals** - **Enhance Customer Retention:** At risk—users won’t stay loyal if they can’t manage core account tasks. - **Reduce Support Costs:** Weak usability means users will likely escalate to customer service, raising costs. - **Promote Cross-Sell Opportunities:** Blocked—if users struggle with basics, they won’t explore additional features or products. - **Ensure Compliance & Risk Management:** Gaps in task execution risk errors, which could impact compliance. - **Improve Data Accuracy & Insights:** Poor ability to update and edit information undermines reliable customer data. 5. **Surface signals & establish a direction** **Signals derived from the data:** - Users can understand the interface but fail to execute core tasks → Poor Success metrics highlight usability and guidance issues. - The experience does not support core user needs → Control, flexibility, and guidance are unmet, creating frustration. - Business value is being undermined → Weak usability blocks retention, drives up support costs, and risks poor data accuracy. **Direction based on business context:**
 To align with roadmap and quarterly goals, improvements should focus on: - Redesigning task flows (e.g., update access, edit username) with clearer steps and contextual guidance. - Introducing support cues (tooltips, confirmations) to reinforce transparency and reduce errors. - Prioritizing usability fixes in the near-term roadmap to reduce support costs and improve retention before adding new cross-sell features. Based on the signals and design direction, we created an updated version of the design with the expected UX metric improvement: [Image] The direction is clear: *Advent's account management tools need usability and guidance improvements to empower users, reduce costs, and build long-term trust.* * * *