Websites are crucial to improving first impressions about your brand/cause/company as people are trying to find quick solutions for their issues online. If you are an online business or even an offline business looking to develop a website/app, you need to optimize it so that it appeals to your customers.
User Experience is an important aspect of web/ app design as it determines whether your app or website will succeed or fail. It indicates and influences how the user interacts with your website/app and for how long. UX goes beyond creating attractive websites, instead, it strives to reduce website abandonment and ensures customer retention and satisfaction in the long run.
User Experience delivers what the customers really want. Adding complex features to your website might seem like the right decision but what customers look for is its simplicity and intuitiveness. Businesses need to shift from an organizational-centric model to a user-centric model when it comes to website design.
- Accessible: Customers are on your website because they are looking for answers and information. If the message/ information is not conveyed or is hidden on your website, customers will most likely abandon your website and look for other sources. It is important to write your content first and then design your website later.
Your web design should highlight the critical information and hide unnecessary or additional details. Accessibility also entails creating content for all people, even users with physical disabilities such as visual impairments. Many companies neglect this type of audience as they believe that people with physical impairments are just a small fraction of the population. But it is important to note that if 1 in 4 people cannot access your website, you are still losing a significant customer base. By making your website accessible to all, you will also improve your brand image and reputation.
- Usable: Usability means allowing users to use your products efficiently to solve their problems and achieve their objectives. Even if you add many features to your app/website, they will of no use if they cannot support the customers. Web designers should ensure that users can understand and use the features. All the options on the website need to be available to the customer. The best way to ensure that your app/website is usable is by carrying out usable tests. You can also develop an MVC with the basic features of the app/website to check how the users interact with it and use it before investing in a complete app/website.
- Credible: Credibility refers to the level of trust your customers have in your service. The more trust your brand has the more successful you will be in the market. Credibility can be achieved when you deliver what you promise through your app/website. Try displaying reviews, testimonials, or information about your past projects on your websites/apps. Developing credibility will also improve customer retention and engagement with your brand.
- Desirable: Desirable websites/ applications often have standout pricing, utility, design, and feature/s. You can attract users to your brand by designing your app in such a way that it sends out an impactful or emotional message. Various elements influence the desirability factor of a website such as aesthetics, branding, and identity. The desirability factor of your website can be assessed by noting how many customers are spreading the word about your website and sharing their good experiences with others. In other words, the desirability factor for your website or app will increase the chances of satisfied customers bragging about your website/app to others. Customer satisfaction makes your website more desirable to new users.
- Valuable: When you launch your website/application it is important to make sure that it gives the best results and adds some value to your brand. The product should improve and benefit customers. If there are any issues with your website or services make it a point to fix them. The lack of value will damage your company’s reputation and may make you lose credibility. Learn and improve the User Experience from customer feedback and solve the queries presented by your customers through customer helplines or chatbots. Develop a system that boosts your reputation.
- Findable: Creating a usable and attractive website is not enough. A company must advertise its products and services to its target audiences. When people learn about your website, it increases the chances of them using it to find solutions. Convey what your website/app does differently through promotional activities to stand out from your competitors.
On your website display all the main features and your contact information. Make your services easy-to-use for your target audiences. Try to reduce the efforts of the user, for instance, you can provide the option of Google or Facebook log-in without asking your customer to create a registered account on your app/website. The customer should be able to navigate through your site without any hassle.
- Simple: Many businesses get tempted and attempt to show all the features they have got to the users right off the bat. This strategy however does more harm than good. Complicated websites affect User Experience negatively and reduce conversion. It is important that you limit menu options and icons. Allow your customers to explore your website before dangling all your features in front of them
Providing your users with multiple options will make it difficult to choose or decide on one thing. Ensure that your website has a simple call to action button and make sure each page leads your customer to a contact form. Another benefit of going with a simple web/app design is that they load faster. Customers hate waiting and might simply leave your website if it takes a lot of time to load. A study has revealed that users do not wait for more than 4-5 seconds before they exist a website/app.
- Useful: In the fast-paced technological world, it is important that your website/app does not have any distractive or obstructive elements. Your app/website should provide a quick and effective answer to the customer’s issues. Your web design needs to be intuitive, relatable, and create an emotionally positive User Experience. For instance, Quora only displays the most helpful or voted answers on the top for each question page and collapses spam answers. This is useful for members as they can avoid irrelevant or spammy answers and get solutions faster.
To sum things up, the above eight factors indicate how your website/app is performing in terms of user experience. To come up with better features, always think from the perspective of your end-user, study competitor websites, and keep your website as simple as possible. Avoid prioritizing creativity over usability, even if your website looks good, it may confuse your end-users. Do not overuse visual elements and add a search bar and contact information without fail. Adding technical jargon, complicating website navigation, and not creating content beforehand can deteriorate User Experience.
UX design can be tricky for amateur designers or beginners, however, it is crucial for your website and organization to succeed. You can always consider outsourcing your web/app development to a reputed software development company. Such companies will have the time, resources, and know-how.
AUTHOR BIO:
Sameer Mehta is a blogger and entrepreneur and writes on technology and lifestyle-related topics. He has more than 15 years of experience in technology, consulting, and marketing. He has written for Entrepreneur, West Agile Labs, Exegy Consulting, Jewellerista, etc.
