The term “user experience” is very popular in the web design area. Today, more and more business owners understand that a good UX design plays a great role in retaining customers. It is necessary to state that many corporations have already invested large sums of money in producing web designs so that their visitors can enjoy browsing their web resources.
You will quickly understand the significance of web design once you detect that Internet users leave your resource because they do not like what they see.
What Is UX Design?
When talking about user experience, we mean Internet users’ needs and the ways of satisfying them. If you want to make sure that users do not encounter any difficulties when browsing your website and actually enjoy the process, you should create the best UX design. It has to include all the items that will help visitors use your website efficiently.
UX is a broad term that is connected with such items as accessibility, usability, efficiency, etc. Actually, a large number of online users believe that UX is the same as usability. Nevertheless, the mentioned notions differ from each other. The former relates to feelings, experience, and emotions of users, while the latter is about the convenience of a specific website.
However, this article is not focused on highlighting the difference between usability and UX. Its purpose is to draw your attention to the key UX design principles by applying which you will be able to create an outstanding UX design.
- STORYTELLING AS A MEANS OF PRESENTING YOUR WEBSITE
- BE AIMED AT THE OUTCOME NOT THE WAY IT IS PRODUCED
- DESIGN EACH ELEMENT OF THE WEBSITE
- DETERMING THE TASKS OF CARDINAL IMPORTANCE
- STRUCTURE INFORMATION PROPERLY
- QUALITY IS WHAT MATTERS!
- APPLY A COUPLE OF RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
- MAKE THE FIRST STEP
- CONSIDER USERS’FEELINGS
- BEING MAKING DRAFTS
It is necessary to admit that storytelling is very useful in describing the specifics of a website. It helps communicate even the most complicated ideas in a comprehensible manner. It means that the visitors of your website will not be confused by the offered material. Furthermore, by using short stories, it will be easier for you to explain the members of your team how the content or its separate structural elements have to be located on the website. It is clear that pleasant experience is what users will definitely remember.
It is no secret that the UX design process is complicated. If you do not use any lean procedures, you will be required to record the modifications you are going to introduce in the design of a specific web page. You will also need to provide the stakeholders with detailed information about the techniques you are going to use to optimize the design. It is apparent that the number of methods that can be used to create a great web design is huge. However, you should not spend all your time preparing documentation, as not the working process but a final product matters.
The invention of new gadgets and modernization of user interface have inspired UX designers to implement some changes in text scrolling and page transitions to make the use of websites efficient. However, being deeply involved in the process of improving the technical issues of websites, designers should not forget that they have to be focused on all aspects of a specific web resource to make it user-friendly. In order to achieve it, it is necessary to stay concentrated on the very flow of website visitors, and not the techniques used to maintain it. Keep in mind that an attractive and easy to browse website is always superior to that with poor usability.
The process of searching information goes faster when using mobile gadgets than computers or laptops. If the website which people are trying to access cannot be loaded quickly, they will go to another resource. Nevertheless, if you manage to find a solution to the problem, you will be able to keep users on your website.
In order to produce a wonderful UX site design, you have to make certain that it (design) will help Internet users perform their tasks efficiently. For example, owing to a new design, people accessing your website may find the needed information faster than they would do it with the old one. That is why you have to make sure that your web design is created in a way that will convince users of choosing your web resource instead of others.
Some time ago, people enjoyed browsing the websites comprising numerous design elements. Today, the situation is totally different. Users prefer to surf the web pages including high quality visuals and parallax-scrolling. When talking about UX web design, your task is to find a perfect balance between the web design elements so that visitors can enjoy using your webs resource. When browsing online, people prefer accessing the websites that contain not only beautiful images but also neatly structured information. In order to succeed in organizing a website, one should refer to the asymmetrical design. It is necessary to state that symmetry helps arrange the material presented on a website in a coherent and understandable manner what will certainly make users’ experience of browsing a website pleasant.
Online users may undertake two types of research:
1. Quantitative: Research results, conversion rates, and the information obtained from multiple choice tests – data that explains where, when, and how.
2. Qualitative: Examination of the participants of the survey, quotations from interviews – information that uncovers the reasons for some issues.
If you do not know what type of research to choose, remember that understanding the reasons for which users undertake some actions is more important than getting measurements that may not even be pertinent to the matter in question.
Each research method has its advantages and disadvantages. In order to determine what techniques to employ to create a superior web design, one should use a few research methods. Such an approach guarantees pertinence and accuracy of the gathered data. In order to be sure that you have chosen an appropriate designer technique, browse several sources to collect as much information about it as possible.
Imagine that you are a customer. What would you do on your own website? For instance, you may desire to watch some videos available on your web page, buy the offered products, or comment on the published articles. Write down all the actions you would undertake when surfing your website on separate sheets of paper. Afterwards, arrange them in the order which users would perform them. Keep in mind that your website visitors may carry out some actions a few times. Make certain that every user’s action can be done in a few steps. For instance, in order to buy something from your website, users will be required to:
1. Access your website
2. Choose the type of product
3. Go to the page describing the product
4. Sign out
Mind that a step does not mean a click. For example, a second step requires several clicks as you may need to select the color of a product and add it to your basket.
Use stickers of different colors to mark the emotions which you want Internet users to feel when performing specific actions on your website. For instance, you may want visitors to feel pleased when accessing your web resource. Additionally, you may desire them to feel complete satisfaction when making a purchase on your website. The aforementioned feelings as well as other emotions can be provoked by the colors prevailing on the website, content structure, sounds and other items. In order to come up with a right combination of colors, shapes, sounds, etc., you need to mind the products/services you are offering and your target audience. Imagine that you are the owner of a hotel. You want people to feel pleased and cozy when visiting your website. In order to achieve this goal, you will probably create a design in soft colors and use some lovely sounds.
Having read the presented UX design tips, you may start drawing sketches of your website. To make the process convenient, you may use either a notepad or a whiteboard. By utilizing the mentioned tools, it will be easier for you to determine what structural components will help visitors get valuable experience when browsing your web page. For example, if you want online users to select the desirable hotel rooms quickly, the sketch of a page should contain buttons corresponding to each type of rooms, e.g. honeymoon suite, penthouse, etc. Both your sketches and stickers can be used to create your website regardless of whether you are going to do it on your own or entrust the task to experts.
To sum up…
Now, you know the answer to the question “What is UX design?” A significant thing you need to realize is that building a good website to guarantee users a pleasant experience of browsing it should not be troublesome. Just follow the presented steps and you will attain your goal!