There are many tools you can use for analysis that you don’t have to buy that will help you become a better analyst.  I don’t necessarily mean data compilers (other than your head), but rather just using your skills and the skills of some of your peers to help improve your analysis and insight to your company.

For usability review

Image credit: http://www.simpleusability.com/services/usability/testing

If part of your role is to help the creative team polish their projects before they are launched, here are some tips on how you can be of benefit to this team without being a true usability expert.

Past data benchmarks: You can rely on your past analysis or even better, keep a “cheetsheet” matrix of benchmarks from past analysis.  Of course this assumes that the projects are similar in spirit.  However in general, you should have some overall benchmarks that you can relate to any project, such as do your visitors prefer auto starting video vs. manually started video, or an auto rotation slide show vs. a manually started slide show.  You can use these numbers to gently remind the creative team whether the project would be more successful if it takes a slightly different direction.  Ideally you might even want to create a “best practices for video projects” document that you can share with your creative team.

Technical properties of the user: It’s also important to keep up on the latest info about the technical make up of your visitor.  i.e. do more people use 1024 by 768 screen resolution and is your project geared to be all above the fold at those dimensions?  This will help you determine whether the full project will be seen by the visitors.  Your analytics provider should have this report handy for you.

User standpoint and wisdom of the crowd: Hopefully, you yourself are a user of the internet.  You know what you like and don’t like.  Chances are if you don’t understand how a project works or if you don’t feel like the project is going to help the customer reach the end goal, chances are it won’t, so speak up!  My recommendation is to try to pretend you are a novice internet user, then review the project from that standpoint.  While your creative team produces great work, they often forget to consider that not every user is looking for frills and thrills and as well not every user is familiar with the latest and greatest.

For data analysis

Image credit: http://www.jir.com/graph_contest/index.html

If you struggle with creating an easily digestible way of providing analysis…

Benchmark matrix: again, you may not think that every project is related to each other but there are several ways you can compile a matrix.  You can take it from a metrics point of view: compare all projects from a conversion standpoint and then break them into divisions such as video vs slide show vs landing page vs wish list, etc.  You can create multiple matrices such as all KPI’s for video projects, then a separate matrix for all KPI’s for landing pages, etc.  The key point is to create an easily accessible reference tool for yourself so that you can determine the success of a project without getting into too many details.  This will help you answer quick, high level questions that your VIP’s may have.

One page brief: if you’ve downloaded 15 spreadsheets worth of data and feel like you could put together a 20 page slide show but you know that you are going to be talking to high level executives, try writing a one page summary of your findings.  This will help you keep the data high level and will allow you to express yourself without having to create too many graphs and diagrams.  Most executives like to be able to think in a one track setting, so giving them 3-4 paragraphs worth of information without any distracting graphs may be the best way for them to digest your findings.  A one page brief is also a great way to leave a legacy of the project findings for future review.

Dashboard approach: if a brief seems too long winded you can also take a dashboard approach.  Avinash Kaushik provides a great example of how to create a dashboard.  The essence of it is: graph; summary of metrics; impacts/areas for improvement; and next steps  I find this to be best for recurring data such as a weekly, monthly or quarterly review of KPI’s but you can definitely tailor this to specific projects if you so choose.

Final free tool

If you struggle to find meaning to your data maybe try looking outside of your company for the answer.

Analytics forums: the Yahoo! Web Analytics forum is a great place to look up questions that you have that might have already been asked and answered.  If you don’t find your question, simply ask it and be amazed at how fast you will get a response from your peers.  Twitter can also be useful if you already engage with plenty of other web analysts and as well if your tweet contains the #measure or #usability hash tag.  You can also try the #measure Twibe to ask a question.  You can also just try “googling” your question and browse the blogs and forums that are out there.  Utilize these types of forums if you just can’t seem to wrap your head around a certain data point and what the meaning of it is. Of course, this assume that your company allows you to divulge this type of information, or that you can be vague enough about the details of your question while still getting a productive answer.