6 mins
Why is UX so important in today’s industry?
WHAT IS USER EXPERIENCE (UX)?
UX refers to a person’s experience when interacting with a system. This covers any type of interaction between a person and a device, such as a website, web application, desktop program, etc.
WHY IS UX ESSENTIAL?
Simply put, UX is significant because it works to meet user needs. It aims to deliver satisfying experiences that maintain customers’ loyalty to the service or good. The ability to define customer journeys on your website that are most supportive of business success is another benefit of a meaningful user experience.
WHY IS A GREAT USER EXPERIENCE SO IMPORTANT?
There is no correct response to that query. The reality is that each person has a unique user experience. The most crucial thing to keep in mind when creating user interfaces for the web is that you are not your users. Make no assumptions about their needs or wants.
Reach out to your users to learn how to define a great experience. Talk to them, observe how they use your product, get inside of their heads, and reflect on their choices for yourself. You will learn from your users and customers, so pay attention, observe, and ask questions.
CX/UX PROCESS METHOD
When developing user experience, there are a number of steps to take. To begin, follow these 8 fundamental steps:.
- PERSONALITIES AND USER PROFILES
Getting to know your audience is the first step in the process. This enables you to create experiences that speak to the voice and feelings of your users. You should start by developing a user persona, which is a fictionalized portrayal of your ideal client based on data on your current audience and market research.
- INTERACTION TESTING
The more information you can gather while creating a user interface, the better. Analyze various user interfaces, including your current website, to compare their efficacy and level of experience. The effectiveness of your page could be affected by something as simple as changing a single word.
- USER QUESTIONS
To learn more about the system’s intended users and potential users, conduct interviews with them. Due to the subjectivity of the user experience, studying and interacting with users is the best way to directly gather information. A firsthand look at how users interact with the website can offer insightful information about how to improve it. A page element that you thought was working might appear completely invisible to the user.
- USER FLOW DIAGRAM
Create a flowchart that illustrates how users should navigate a system. Decide how you envision them navigating the website first, and then contrast that with how they actually use it. You can better plan the ideal user experience for them by using user personas to better understand the profile of the user on your site.
Additionally, a number of analytical tools can actually show you how visitors are interacting with your website in real time. A visitor’s mouse location on the page can even be tracked by platforms like Mouseflow. Additionally, you can see heatmaps of the page’s most popular areas.
Be willing to make almost any changes once you have discovered how users interact with your website. Websites that prioritized user experience tend to be the most successful.
- SITEMAPS
After researching the expected user flow for your website, careful planning is crucial. Making a sitemap for the pages you want to create is a good place to start. A sitemap is a list of all the pages and subpages on your website, arranged in a logical hierarchy.
It is simpler to envision how a user will navigate the website, including how many clicks it will require, after creating a sitemap. A sitemap aids in early idea elimination and identifies all the pages you will eventually need to design and write content for, saving you from having to make structural changes after the site has been built. It is a useful tool for making the process of creating websites more efficient.
- PROTOTYPES AND WIREFRAMES
Spend time creating wireframes, which are visual aids that depict the basic structure of web pages and give an idea of your site’s appearance. The graphics on each page are just as important as the site structure. You can eliminate usability problems before any page even appears on a computer screen by putting in place a visual website framework. This can shorten the time it takes for your business to develop necessary future adjustments.
- DESIGN SCHEMES
Consistency and a way to identify the best design for the task are provided by patterns. Choosing the appropriate user interface (UI) components, such as those in user interface design patterns (e. g. Better and more comfortable experiences result from using the most efficient tools (e.g., module tabs, breadcrumbs, slideshows) for specific tasks.
Style tiles are one tool we use to keep our UI consistent. Style tiles are deliverables that display every module’s design, right down to the font sizes and colors, on a site. The layout of the type, buttons, and even interaction are all included in this document. A user will be able to better understand how to interact with the site’s elements thanks to style tiles, which guarantee a fluid experience across the entire website.
- STYLE DIRECTIVES
To create a brand-based user experience that users will remember, consistency is essential. Style guides provide writers and designers with a framework for their work when developing content and a design. They also make sure that the brand and design elements complement the owner’s objectives.
If you’re working on a new website, make sure anyone can access your style guide. One element on a page can stand out like a sore thumb if it doesn’t fit with the image or voice of your brand. If you don’t already have one, think about creating one. You’ll be surprised at how helpful it is, even beyond designing the user experience for your website!
Learn more about the key CX/UX design principles in our UX & Design Thinking Course.