To identify website visitors’ needs, combine evidence about what people do with direct research into why they do it. Review analytics, search queries and support contacts to find patterns; interview and observe likely visitors to understand their goals; then test whether they can complete important tasks. Turn what you learn into task-focused improvements, check accessibility throughout, and test again after changes.
What counts as a visitor need?
A visitor need is the task a person is trying to complete and the outcome they want—not a feature request in disguise. Someone who asks for a chatbot, for example, may actually need a quick answer about an order or a clear way to resolve a problem. Research the task before deciding what content or functionality should address it.
GOV.UK content guidance recommends expressing a need in a simple structure: “As a [person or group], I need to [action], so that [outcome].” Keep the wording close to how people describe the task. If different groups have meaningfully different circumstances or goals, write separate needs rather than treating all visitors as one audience. GOV.UK guidance on identifying user needs cautions that assumptions about what people need can be wrong.
A practical process for finding and addressing needs
1. Define the decision you need to make
Choose the service, content, or journey you want to improve, and state what decision the work should inform. Start with an intended visitor outcome—such as finding eligibility information or completing a return—not a preferred feature. A clear scope helps you choose relevant evidence and avoids collecting information without knowing how it will guide a decision.
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2. Describe the people, tasks, and circumstances
Ask who is trying to do what, what prompted the visit, how they handle the task now, and what makes it difficult. Consider the channels they use, their devices and connectivity, relevant language or literacy needs, and whether they are acting for themselves or helping someone else. People who provide support can have important needs of their own.
GOV.UK’s Service Manual guidance on learning about users and their needs recommends understanding users’ goals, behaviors, circumstances, and existing ways of completing a task. The Government Design Principles likewise emphasize research, data, user testing, accessibility, and designing around people’s needs. The official wording is direct: “Do research, analyse data, talk to users. Don’t make assumptions.” (Government Design Principles)
3. Review existing evidence for patterns
Start with material you already have: relevant analytics, on-site search logs, support or call-center records, previous user research, and trustworthy external evidence. These can show where visitors drop off, what they search for, or which questions recur. They help identify candidate problems and decide whom to speak with next.
Behavioral records do not, by themselves, explain why a particular person clicked, abandoned a task, or searched for a phrase. Treat a pattern as a lead to investigate, not proof of an individual’s intent. Stakeholder suggestions can also help generate hypotheses, but GOV.UK advises treating opinions that do not come from users as assumptions to test (Service Manual).
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4. Speak with and observe likely visitors
Interview people who have relevant experience, or are likely to use the service. Ask about a recent attempt to complete the task, what they were trying to achieve, what they did, what got in the way, and any workaround they used. Where possible, observe them attempting a representative task instead of relying only on what they remember or say they would do.
Colleagues and stakeholders may know useful details about operations, but their views are not substitutes for user evidence. Keep those views as hypotheses until checked with people who have the need.
5. Test whether the experience works
Write realistic tasks and define what successful completion means before a session. Recruit participants likely to use the service, ask them to attempt tasks without coaching, and record completion, errors, hesitation, and points of confusion. Use a prototype suited to the question: an early idea may be testable with a simple, low-tech prototype, while later development may call for a more complete experience.
GOV.UK’s qualitative usability-testing guide recommends 5 to 6 participants for qualitative testing and more for quantitative testing. This is guidance for qualitative studies, not a universal sample-size rule. The guide also warns that controlled sessions may not reflect natural use and that poorly chosen participants can make findings misleading. Remote software can support later-stage studies, but distance can make it harder to guide participants or understand their interaction. See GOV.UK usability-testing guidance.
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6. Check accessibility and real-world context
Include disabled people in research and consider the actual conditions in which visitors use the site: assistive technology, devices, browsers, connectivity, language, age, literacy, and the surrounding situation. Technical checks and user research answer different questions. Standards and manual checks can identify accessibility issues; observing people using the site can reveal whether they can complete their tasks and where interaction breaks down.
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative explains the relationship between accessibility, usability, and inclusion, including the role of accessibility standards and assistive technologies. It quotes ISO 9241-11’s definition of usability as the extent to which specified users can achieve specified goals effectively, efficiently, and with satisfaction in a specified context. Accessibility is not demonstrated by a standards check alone, and a usability test alone does not establish technical conformance. Combine appropriate checks with research involving disabled people (W3C WAI: Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion).
The UK Home Office User-Centred Design Manual says at least 1 in 5 participants in its own research context should have a disability. That is an organization-specific requirement, not a universal legal or methodological rule; applicable requirements depend on the organization and jurisdiction (Home Office guidance on meeting user needs).
7. Turn findings into changes and retest
Translate recurring barriers into changes to content, journeys, or service design. Choose the smallest useful change that addresses the evidenced need, then test it against the same task and success criteria. Compare what visitors can do with the intended outcome, and refine, remove, or add features based on what you observe. Revisit needs as the service, design, and users’ circumstances change; the Government Design Principles call for testing and iteration rather than assuming a first version is right.
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Which research method should you use?
Methods answer different questions, so a combination is often more informative than relying on one. Analytics can reveal scale and patterns; interviews help explain goals and constraints; usability tests show people interacting with a task. Choose based on the decision, the people you need to reach, the context you need to observe, and the time and privacy considerations for your site.
| Method | Best for | What it shows | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analytics | Finding patterns across site activity | Pages, searches, and journeys where visitors may encounter friction | Behavior alone usually cannot establish a visitor’s intent or explain why a task failed |
| On-site search logs | Discovering what visitors try to find | Recurring topics and language people use to search | A query indicates an attempt to find something, not whether the answer was found or why it was needed |
| Support and call-center records | Spotting recurring questions or service problems | Issues visitors raise when they seek help | They cover people who contact support and may not represent all visitors |
| Interviews | Understanding goals, circumstances, and workarounds | Participants’ explanations and accounts of their experience | They rely on what people report or recall rather than directly showing every action |
| Observation and usability testing | Finding barriers in a specific task or interface | How participants interact, where they hesitate or err, and whether they complete a task | Controlled tasks may differ from natural use; findings depend on recruiting relevant participants |
GOV.UK guidance describes research as ongoing across service development, not a one-off approval step. Use behavioral evidence to find where to investigate, and direct research to understand the task and test possible changes (Service Manual; Government Design Principles).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to write useful visitor needs
Record each need as a task and outcome rather than a proposed solution. For example: “As a customer returning an online purchase, I need to find the return steps for my order, so that I can send it back without contacting support.” This describes the person, action, and desired outcome; it does not assume whether the answer belongs in a help article, account page, or another part of the journey.
- Use language visitors recognize rather than internal team terminology.
- Separate groups when their goals or circumstances differ.
- Capture the evidence behind the need and what remains uncertain.
- Keep feature ideas separate from the need they might address.
The GOV.UK format is a useful prompt, not a substitute for evidence. Validate the need with users and revise it when observation or testing points to a different task or outcome (Identify user needs).
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Common mistakes that weaken the findings
- Treating a click path as a complete explanation. Analytics can show a pattern but cannot reliably disclose why a person acted. Follow up with interviews or observation.
- Building around a stakeholder’s preferred feature. Record the suggestion as a hypothesis and test the underlying task with users.
- Testing with people unlike the intended visitors. Recruitment that misses relevant experience can produce misleading findings.
- Coaching participants through tasks. Help can conceal the very points of confusion the test should reveal.
- Equating conformance with usability, or usability with accessibility. Combine technical checks, assistive-technology checks, and research with disabled people.
- Assuming controlled testing reproduces everyday use. Consider whether the task, setting, device, or participant behavior differs from real conditions.
How often should you revisit visitor needs?
Revisit needs when the service, user circumstances, or design changes, and continue testing as new versions are developed. A need that was accurate for one journey or audience may not describe a different group or a changed service. The Government Design Principles and GOV.UK Service Manual both frame research and iteration as ongoing work, with changes checked against user outcomes rather than treated as finished on launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know whether my website meets visitors’ needs?
Define the outcomes visitors need, then look for evidence that people can complete representative tasks. Use analytics and support records to find patterns, and interviews or usability testing to learn what people are trying to do and where the experience gets in their way.
Can website analytics tell me what visitors need?
Analytics can reveal activity patterns and point to pages or journeys worth investigating. It cannot, on its own, establish an individual visitor’s goal or explain why they abandoned a task; pair it with direct research.
How many people should take part in usability testing?
GOV.UK recommends 5 to 6 participants for qualitative usability studies and more for quantitative studies. Treat that as the guide’s recommendation for qualitative testing, not a universal sample-size rule.
Does an accessibility audit show that visitors can use my website?
No single standards or technical check establishes that people can complete their tasks. Combine technical and assistive-technology checks with research involving disabled people to examine both compatibility and interaction barriers.
Should I start with a feature request or a visitor task?
Start with the task and outcome. A requested feature may be one possible solution, but research should establish the need before the team chooses how to meet it.
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