Have you ever come across a website that’s got a great idea or great products, but the execution just isn’t right? The load times are slow, the functionality is clunky or the user journey just doesn’t make sense.
88% of customers are put off from returning to a website if it’s not user-friendly, which means that creating clever, intuitive sites that fulfil audience needs is a bigger priority than ever for businesses. As much as 70% of online businesses suffer because of this bad usability, but not many know exactly how to put it right.
That’s where user experience and UX design come in.
What is UX?
UX, or user experience, encompasses all the things that a person thinks or feels while using a product or service, i.e your website. You obviously want users to have a positive experience on your site, so that they become a paying customer, a regular visitor and an enthusiastic endorser of your brand.
To create that positive user experience, you need your site to have a really strong UX design. That means making sure that users find genuine enjoyment in using it, as well as ensuring they find value in what you’re providing them.
UX design encompasses beauty, functionality, accessibility, need fulfilment and emotion. To be successful, you need to take into account your business goals and objectives, as well as understanding exactly what your potential customers are looking for.
Why is UX design important?
As well as just making good sense to have a smooth, streamlined website that users can navigate easily, there are also some great business benefits to consider.
It saves you money
Incorporating UX best practices right from the start as you’re building your site means you can anticipate usability problems and prevent them straight away. The alternative means you – or your customers – discover errors down the line which could prove costly to fix with redesigns.
It boosts conversions
Your users are more likely to turn into paying customers when the journey to CTAs is short and obstacle-free. When you reduce the effort it takes to fill in the form, sign up to a newsletter or click ‘Buy’, it makes sense that your conversion rate will improve. At Fanatic, we can track and monitor your Analytics to identify the user journeys that will bring you the most success.
It helps you rank
Google has been open about the fact that web pages which offer a great user experience will do better in their search results than those that don’t showcase good UX design. That’s because Google’s main aim is to provide the best and most relevant answer to its users in the quickest and easiest way.
Take a look at our Core Web Vitals article to find out more about what UX factors Google prioritises.
It builds trust
Users don’t want to be jumping through endless hoops online to find what they’re looking for. They want brands that have taken the time to understand their needs, and will fulfil them in the simplest way possible. That’s the best way to keep your customers loyal to your business and ensure they tell others about how useful and refreshingly effortless your site is to use.
UX best practices
The following are some simple improvements you can make to your site that will instantly strengthen your UX design.
Shorten the journey
If a user has to complete eight different steps before they can click ‘Checkout’, they’re going to get frustrated and give up. The whole idea of UX design is to make it as simple as possible for an individual to get what they want, so make that journey to the end point as easy as possible.
Look at your site through the eyes of your user. Is it obvious from the start what you need to click on? Does the site structure make sense? Is the navigation intuitive? If there’s not a clear and obvious journey through the site, then the Fanatic team can create one for you.
Make information scannable
As you’ll know from your own online reading habits, people very rarely read every word on a web page – instead, they scan for the highlights. Having an entire page of densely packed text makes this hard to do, so make sure to break up your copy with short paragraphs, bullet points and subheadings.
Even better, communicate your information through infographics or other visual elements that will catch the eye and engage users.
Accessibility matters
Your site will be visited by a wide spectrum of people, so it’s essential to make sure that everyone who wants to can use it. This means taking into account elements that could cause difficulty to people with certain disabilities.
For example, certain colours next to each other might cause difficulty for people with colour blindness, and deaf people will need subtitles on videos. Taking these measures not only shows that your brand cares about accessibility, but it will open your site up to a bigger audience, which means more revenue for your business.
Ask your audience
The UX design of your website should always be led by the people who use it. Take the time to think about the types of people who make up your audience – what are their goals? What do they value in a product or service? Even better, ask them directly through surveys or social media polls. Your users have all the information you need about what will make the perfect UX design – all you need to do is listen to them.
The Fanatic team are experts in creating UX designs that will delight your customers and make your conversions soar. Find out how.