User Experience and Why We Need It
So you might be wondering what is user experience and why is it important to your company and its overall success. Well, we are here to help you with that.
User experience is simply defined as the overall experience a person has when using a product such as a website or a computer application, in terms of how easy it is to use, as well as how pleasing it is.
Keep reading, and we’ll take you through all there is to know about user experience, and how you can use it to your complete advantage.
What is User Experience?
User Experience is the personal experience customers will have when using a product’s interface. A good example would be a website centered on online shopping. If a customer finds the shopping experience to be long, and unnecessarily complicated, then their user experience will be a bad one. However, if your website is simple and easy to understand with a short check-out, the customer’s user experience will be a great one.
Why is User Experience So Important?
The answer is quite simple, if a customer finds the experience you’re offering, either through your application or your website, to be better than your competitors, they will be more than likely to choose you over your competitors.
Optimizing User Experience
There are a few tried and proven methods to optimize user experience ratings. Here are a few:
- Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
Over 50% of all website traffic comes from mobile users, meaning if your website isn’t optimized for mobile then users will be 5x more likely to abandon it.
- Keep it simple
Keep your website straightforward and easy to use. If your customer needs to go through a maze to find what it is they are looking for, they will have a negative overall experience.
- Ask for feedback from your customers
This is arguably the easiest way for you to know exactly what your customers are looking for in the design of your website. Use their feedback and implement the changes you can in your site, which will keep your customers happy and coming back to you.
- Do your research
Research your target audience. Find out what it is they are looking for in the particular website/application you’re designing and use it to your advantage. Stay on the trends and you can’t go wrong.
- Whitespace is your friend
Whitespace will add simplicity and elegance to your website, helping your designs to breathe and look more polished. The background colour doesn’t necessarily have to be white, only the space between the elements.
- Website loading time
If your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, more than 50% of users will close the site and look for a new one. Ensure users can quickly accomplish their goals without having to wait for your site to load.
To conclude, user experience is a vital part of any website/application design and should always be a focus when going into the design/improvement phases. If you keep your user happy, they will not only stay with your company but will also refer others to your product.
