Over the years, marketers have developed various strategies and tactics for brand promotion. They all aim to build a larger customer base, but the success of each approach varies. Some have proven to be viable options, while others have disappeared after a while.
The constant struggle to attract and retain customers raises a question: Why is user experience so important? In today’s article, we will discuss the definition and significance of UX design and how it impacts your business. Let’s get started:
What Is User Experience?
User experience design is one of the vaguest terms in marketing. The ambiguity stems from the fact that “experience” is subjective. No one can establish a clear framework for defining and optimising user experience. Nevertheless, we can agree on its function. The primary purpose of UX is to maximise the interaction between customers and a business’ products and services.
UX design focuses on improving the experience of using a product, website, or app for a customer; in other words, making it more valuable, user-friendly, enjoyable, and marketable. In this general sense, UX design is ubiquitous. From clothing to smartphones, homes, cars, etc.
What Does User Experience Include?
UX brings together many different elements in the lifecycle of a product. So brand advertising is just one part of the bigger picture. UX is responsible for how users behave when interacting with a business’ app or website and what emotions the product evokes. In short, how the human element can be changed and manipulated by emotional and psychological factors.
UX reminds us that branding is more than hard selling. It’s about creating a sense of satisfaction and contentment when using products. As you can see, user experience incorporates insights from a variety of disciplines. That’s what makes it so fascinating and dynamic.
Here are some components of this vibrant field:
Visual Design
Visual design is where all the hard work behind the scene represents itself. From typography and colours to hierarchy, formatting, content typology, and choice of medium are all parts of the visual elements. However, visual design is not limited to “design.” It must take into account user-friendliness, UI, graphics, etc.
Therefore, developers, engineers, or even professional content marketers find it not uncommon to work with the design team. They all share and channel their knowledge and expertise to represent a brand’s image better.
Information Architecture
The interface of any app or website requires a detailed and carefully planned structure that ties together the content, design, navigation elements, and everything else that makes up apps and websites.
Think of it as the detailed plans architects create before constructing a building.
Structures help organise all the elements that work together in a specific way. This also allows the content team to understand which components need to be improved or adjusted without tearing the whole thing down.
Interaction Design
If one were to pick out three core elements of user experience design, they would be interaction design, visual design, and information architecture. This particularly tight network defines the fundamental basis for how users respond to the presentation of a product or service.
Interaction design, in particular, is responsible for turning customer data analytics and behaviour patterns into unique user experiences. In other words, interaction design looks for how users ideally want to convert and tries to accompany and guide them along the way.
Usability
This one is a no-brainer! If an app or website isn’t usable, all the effort put into creating quality content and stylish designs is worth nothing. An easy-to-use interface and navigability are probably the most determining factors here.
While the intricacies of visual design and architecture are critical to a successful UX design, usability reminds us not to forget simple things in the equation. And that’s availability, accessibility, and navigability for everyone, regardless of their abilities.
User Research
User research is not a luxury. It is a must-have tool in every marketer’s toolbox. User research helps us make informed decisions about various aspects of UX design. Without solid, reliable and actionable data collected before a project begins, there’s a good chance that the products and services you are promoting will not resonate well with users.
User research ensures that your products meet specific needs and interests. Another function of user research is determining how each audience segment prefers to be treated. This information simultaneously optimises UI and UX.
Content Strategy
Some may argue that content strategy is not a component of UX design. But let’s think about it: creating a website or an app is in some ways similar to an exhibition. There may be a lot of flashy things to display there, but throwing them all over the place is the last smart thing to do.
Similarly, thoughtlessly publishing content can negatively impact the user experience. That’s where a content strategy can help organise and prioritise where, when, and how each element should be presented. Content strategists also ensure that the design is consistent with the brand’s overall message and image.
Why Does User Experience Matter?
You may have a great product line that can revolutionise an entire niche market. But without a top-notch user experience, the chances of success are slim. Whether you are running a fresh startup or an established business, increasing competition in the market is forcing you to be more and more visible.
A thoughtfully-designed UX can be the factor that sets you apart and gives you an edge to stay on top of the market. UX builds brand loyalty, ensures people have a good experience using your products and services, and supports your brand’s image and reputation. But that’s not all. All in all, UX has at least five incredible benefits:
#1 Customer Retention
Almost every business wants to keep its users coming back for more purchases. If that’s the case for you, integrating UX tactics into your marketing strategy is a great way to start. A user-centric website or app shows your audience that you appreciate their presence. It also helps build solid emotional bonds that will subconsciously affect subsequent purchases.
#2 Customer Loyalty
A perfectly designed and executed UX can translate into customer satisfaction. And everyone knows that satisfied customers are the best you can have. They are loyal to your brand because you have left a positive impression on them.
Customer loyalty and retention go hand in hand. But loyalty is much deeper and more valuable than retention. Loyalty is what separates super-successful brands from mid-sized or unknown small businesses. Simply put, today’s market is all about having an active and supportive community around you.
#3 Boosting Revenue
Who doesn’t love money? Just about every business’s success is measured in one way or another by profitability. And a well-designed user experience can undoubtedly increase your return on investment (ROI). Let’s take an example to clarify:
Shopping abandonment is one of the most complex yet simplest metrics for evaluating online shopping success rates. Many websites have a long, compulsory registration process that discourages users from purchasing a product. UX can eliminate unnecessary elements in the conversion process and simplify future purchases.
#4 Brand Awareness
Think of the most memorable websites or apps you’ve visited in the last few months. If you can’t, check out Amazon, Netflix, Google, or any other website. What do they all have in common? Accessibility. Even a child can figure out what’s what after a few seconds of scrolling the Amazon pages. A user-friendly website makes your brand one that cares about its clients.
As the saying goes, “Satisfied customers make the best sales reps.’ Because people love to share their good experiences with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones, this shared positive feedback will gradually improve your brand awareness and create an impressive image that will set you apart from the rest of your competitors.
#5 Increased Time on-page
How many times have you lost focus while reading this article? If you are like most people, the answer is: at least once. Modern Internet users have an extremely short attention span. This means you only have a few seconds to make a good impression on your audience. Otherwise, you’ll lose them, perhaps for good.
UX design ensures that users find reasons to stay longer than a few seconds, so you have enough time to convert them. It’s best to convey your message clearly and briefly, highlighting the unique values of your products and services. This way, you also ensure that a target audience segment with the highest likelihood of conversion is aware of your brand.
The UX Design process
Now that you know the importance of UX, let’s explore some of the essential stages in planning a robust and effective user experience:
Identifying User Personas
To create the best experience, you need to know your target audience intimately. This way, you’ll develop a journey that shows the uniqueness of your offer and resonates with users. The first step is to create different audience segments based on typical customer personas you interact with. Then you can devise persona-specific customer journeys to maximise the likelihood of conversion.
Here are 4 most effective tools for creating your client personas:
- Xtensio
- Make My Persona by Hubspot
- Up Close and Persona
- User Forge
- Smaply
User Feedback
One of the most underrated stages of optimising UX is directly asking users how they felt or thought when interacting with your website or app. The more detailed the feedback, the better. You can create exit surveys or contact users and ask them to evaluate the UX performance. Remember that every user experience is unique, but there are always repetitive patterns of behaviour to give you general clues.
Survey existing and potential product or service users to determine which design would be most effective. Since user experiences are subjective, studying and interacting with users is the best way to gain reliable information.
Functionality Map
The next step is to define the characteristics of your products and the person who wants to buy them. This paves the way for content strategists and designers to create a functionality map that assigns each page a specific task. This functionality map will organise all the pages and subpages of your website.
Usability Testing
The last stop is to evaluate the usability of the product by a real user. It is quite possible that there will be a handful of frictions and bugs at the first lunch. At this point, testing is very helpful. The perfect UX is not created as such. It will gradually evolve and adapt to the needs and preferences of real users.
