UX is an abbreviation for user experience of any product. It refers to how users feel, think, and act when interacting with a website, service, or product. And this is one of the most important aspects to think of when redeveloping a website.
The idea behind it is to design an experience that is tailored to your target audience, ensuring clear navigation and intuitive design. For example, when you walk into an Apple store or their website, there’s a certain look and feel which makes the whole experience very identifiable and recognisably Apple. The same thing can be said of Starbucks or other popular websites. The question to pause and think is –why does this happen?
It’s because there’s a focus and intentional design at play. That intentional design which leads to a user feeling a certain way, experiencing a brand in a very specific and defined way means you’re able to create an experience for the user which is not left to chance. Instead, every single aspect whether it’s you clicking on a button, or navigating in ways you now think as second nature –is all part of a specific design process.
It’s important to remember that UX does not only encompass technology products but is to be considered as the sum total of all experiences one might undergo with a brand. Right from the entrance of a store to the packaging of products to the invoice, and everything in between –constitutes user experience. Think of it as an opportunity to wow your customer, at every interaction point. When brands invest that kind of thought into each interaction, the whole brand experience is elevated and distinguished, allowing you to very quickly identify and attract customers who value your very specific offering.
UX design for websites
When it comes to websites, a good UX design leads to a positive experience for users, allowing them to easily find what they're looking for and engage comfortably with the website, at the very minimum.
But in its fullest expression can be a valuable way to create a unique experience that gets customers talking about your superlative brand experience. In the context of website design and user experience, there are some very clear indicators and ramifications that businesses experience.
On the other hand, poor UX design can lead to frustration and confusion, detracting from the user's overall experience. At its core, the simpler the user experience and the faster we can get users to their end goal, the better it’s for a business from a conversion rate optimization standpoint. But in between the home page and the checkout page, there’s no reason to make the
What are the benefits of having a strong UX on your website?
Today, users of the internet expect a baseline level of quality and standard when they access any website. Whether it’s the page load speed or the navigation style, there are accepted universal standards for each industry, which users have come to expect; like second nature. Think of your phone and so many features you take for granted now –such as the volume buttons on the left-hand side, or the way WhatsApp messaging features work –we expect that each of them will deliver messages instantly. When websites are designed without keeping these expectations in mind, it leads to a number of issues. At the forefront of this is lost sales which is always a worrisome idea for a new business owner like you. Every sale counts, doesn’t it? And you’d want to ensure you detract from anything that comes in the way of helping you convert each user. Following are some of the ways in which UX can affect your business, provided it’s executed properly.
1. Increase Conversions on your website
Have you ever been to a website where you’re unsure where to go and what button to press? That in and of itself is a frustrating experience. Now, if you’re fighting for traffic, when this happens you can be sure that a customer will not spend time trying to work out how your website works. This is similar to how you expect a car door to work. If your website lacks a clear navigation pathway, alongside clearly outlined categories, and suggestions, as a user there’s no incentive for me to stick around. Investing in a professional UX design agency can help improve the usability and accessibility of your website –suggest the best practices, colors, buttons, and other subtle cues that can uplift conversion by as much as 30-50% in your business.
2. Improves your SEO rankings
At the heart of every website is the design and technology behind it. With the easy availability of website templates if you’re wondering why you can’t just use any of them and get started, consider this.
Most templates are designed without keeping in mind how often you’re going to update the information or your website. Often the templates need a host of third-party plugins or tools to make it fully functional. And when any of them stops working – you’re stuck with an unresponsive website. Unless you have a developer on board or can fix it yourself, it means downtime which you didn’t plan for.
What’s worse –while there are many options for a template: how do you choose one which works for your business? UX is actually at the very heart of answering that question. It starts with thinking about how you want to structure your website and the information you want to make available –do you want customers to pick your top-performing products, or do you want them to explore a specific category page –these are all intentional business decision that affects your website structure, template and images. Now, until here, if you’re still reading: consider this. Imagine you’ve chosen a template which allows 20 images/page but your hosting, or server doesn’t support this. What do we have? A website that doesn’t load for a long time, and a broken experience. Now Google doesn’t take this lightly because it wants a good user experience for its users. So it means from an SEO standpoint there will be some challenges with indexing the website, and its pages.
UX and search engine optimization (SEO) go hand in hand, as an effective UX design supports SEO efforts. A professional UX design agency can help create a user-friendly website with a visually appealing design and clear navigation, which in turn supports SEO goals of attracting visitors and delivering a satisfying user experience. When indexing websites, Google values Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This methodology of evaluating websites ensures that at all times, websites which show up are providing useful, helpful, and relevant information. Within this, how Google crawls the website and checks for mobile friendliness is a deeply important aspect of search engine optimization.
3. Enhances Brand Reputation
Think of the last time you made a positive recommendation about a product or service. Did you come away wowed? That very experience is at the heart of organic SEO, and the ultimate goal of a good quality user experience –to help users feel a sense of wow when they engage. A website with a good user experience as a result can not only drive more word of mouth, but a few quirky creations can also help drum up some good PR because of how you have imagined an experience for your user. One of the finest examples of UX bringing people to the door are restaurants which develop specific experiences and those travel like wildfire. Good UX does exactly that albeit in a way that builds brands.
4. Create Trust and Credibility with UX Design
An effective UX design is the key to building credibility and trust with your customers. Baked into this philosophy is the use of design principles to help cue subliminal trust. Whether it’s using colours, fonts, or certain icons –all of them are geared towards working with human psychology and behaviour to elicit the right responses. Think of the last time you saw the colour blue associated with food, or the colour red with food. There are certain accepted design practices which affect how we respond to a brand. Using them in the right way will cue a user that this website is trustworthy.
These are some of the ways in which investing in user experience design will help you build a customer touchpoint that is unique and valuable for your own business. While it may seem like a longwinded process to do; the cost of not creating a UX-friendly website is much higher in lost sales and opportunities. Can you imagine chasing customers who have gone away and asking them what went wrong? That’s far more expensive than spending time developing what you want your customers to feel and behave when they’re interacting with your brand. If you need help, please reach out to us.
