The ten checks I run on a client's app, yours to run free.
You can run these ten on your own product, the same ones I use on a client's app. Most take a few minutes and no special tools. Tick the ones you run, note what you find, and you will come away with your own short list of where to look.
studiowlabs.com/signs · a self-check from studio w labs
Quick passes
A few minutes each, on your own.
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1 minFree tool: HTTP ObservatorySecurity headers
Look forA letter grade and the failed tests, above all a missing Content Security Policy, the rule that tells a browser what the page is allowed to load.
If it failsThe missing headers are the cheap protections that stop your page from being wrapped by a scam site or loaded with an injected script, and most are a line of configuration each.
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30 secFree tool: ARC ToolkitWCAG 1.4.3, 1.3.1
Look forContrast, labeling, and structure errors.
If it failsEach error is a person the screen turns away, and closing it steadies the screen for the rest.
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2 minScreenshotsWayfinding
Look forWhether each one signals where you are. They should share a family look, and still each mark its own place with a heading or a shape of its own.
If it failsWhen the three blur into one screen with different content dropped in, people lose track of where they are, and most will not rebuild your map to find out.
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3 minNo toolsWCAG 1.4.1, 1.1.1
Look forStatus shown only by a color, and actions marked only by an icon.
If it failsAnyone who cannot rely on the color is locked out, everyone else is guessing, and a word beside each one fixes both.
Walk the path
On your own, following the path a user takes.
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5 minA fresh accountFirst-run
Look forWhere you stall, whether you land in a loop, and whether you can tell which account you are in.
If it failsPeople lost here never reach what you built, so the drop-off hides before the product even starts.
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3 minNo toolsWCAG 3.2.3
Look forWhat on the screen tells you which mode, account, or organization you landed in.
If it failsWhen nothing does, people get turned around, and a good number stop trying to find their way back.
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5 minNo toolsCognitive load
Look forWidgets that show a number but not an answer. "How many did I sell" is a number; "did I have a good day, and why" is a question.
If it failsA wall of figures gives people something to scroll past and nothing to act on.
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10 minPaperJourney map
Look forThe steps from landing to done, and how a person likely feels at each one.
If it failsIf you cannot draw it, the team is building screens one at a time and hoping they add up to a path.
With one real person
Ask someone who has never used it.
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15 minOne new personDiscoverability
Look forWhether they find the route without prior knowledge or patient hunting.
If it failsWhen the only way through is knowing already, most people miss it, and you never learn why they left.
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30 minOne new personUsability testing
Look forWhat trips them up, and what they say out loud.
If it failsTeams trust their sense of how the product feels, and a single session usually corrects it.
0 of 10 checks run
Saved in this browser, on this device.
Work through the ones that fit, and you will have your own short list of where the product is leaking. Every one is fixable, usually for less than the lost customers are costing you.
Have a specific question? Ask it free in my Q&A. Bring your whole list to office hours (opens in a new tab), and we will start with the one that is costing you most.