Gregory Chapman
Category: Design Talks
Modern users take a good user experience for granted. Of course, this enhances not only competition but also the quality of web and mobile pages with which we interact every day. In this article, we have gathered several principles that you can use when creating your web or mobile application and have no doubt that you can offer a cool user experience to your customers
Find out and Follow What Users Really Do
A good user experience occurs when the application responds to users in the way they expect it to. In simple words, this is a coincidence of expectations with reality. And in order for this to be true, you as a designer need to create a user interface in such a way that each element meets the actions and intentions of users.
Very often, designers are guided by their personal opinions, and business owners, as a result, complain about a low conversion rate. Perhaps the reason is that the opinion of the designer did not coincide with the opinion of the target audience, and users constantly come across a stumbling block. The only way to prevent this is to create each element with users ’expectations in mind and test each new feature.
Use Simple Words
Of course, this is a task for UX writer, and here is the main principle. All the words that you will use on your page or mobile application should be simple, understandable and clearly indicate to the user what he needs to do next.
In addition, you also need to consider the user’s mental model and marketing tricks. For example, there is a case study about testing a text for a button on a hotel booking site. Users were not too interested in the suggestion when the text button said “Book your accommodation”, but the situation changed when the button text was changed to “Check if the accommodation is available for your dates”.
The trick is that the first version of the call to action subconsciously obliges users to part with the money, while the second offers just to look at the available options and nothing more.
Therefore, pay special attention to the words that you use – each of them subconsciously affects the user’s perception, and therefore his experience. By the way, you can always choose a professional author on the Best Writers Online writing services review website.
Focus on Usability
If the design of the site or application is its external shell, then user experience is what users feel inside themselves when using your online project. User experience is inseparable from the concept of usability because good usability cannot exist without good experience either.
Moreover, usability is a very complex concept with many pitfalls. As for web sites, the first element of usability is the download speed (which should be from two to five seconds), as for mobile applications – this is an onboarding experience that determines whether the user will use the application in the future or not.
Take the Requirements of the OS Into Account
This is perhaps the first commandment for user interface designers. And the biggest headache for those who are forced to come up with designs for cross-platform applications. The thing is that in the case of native or web applications, the operating system itself sets the standards for the user interface, which means it is easier to give the experience that the user expects, for example, by pressing the familiar Home button on the smartphone.
However, when it comes to cross-platform applications, things get a lot more complicated. It is necessary to create such a design and, as a result, an experience that will be equally cool on any operating system. And here there is no single recipe and a single set of prototyping tools other than constantly balancing on the brink.
Employ the Power of Typography
Web designers know that each font has its own mood, association, and message. However, it is not enough just to know it. It is also necessary to be able to find a suitable font for the project in order to enhance the impression, and not spoil it.
It is obvious that as soon as the user sees an unreadable font, in most cases, his interaction with the page ends. If the mood and values of the company contradict the mood of the font used, then the user begins to feel doubt and confusion. In order for the user experience to be positive on all sides, it is necessary to find the correct match of form and function in typography.
Create Personalities Similar to Your Users
This is another marketing approach that also works well for design and user experience. To make the integrated experience of interacting with the brand really cool, it is necessary to create personas who will be as similar as possible to your users. In this regard, experts also recommend creating stories, inventing interesting analogies, and so on – this is already from the field of visual marketing.
But with regard to the user experience, personas similar to average users reinforce a positive impression.
Always Make Your Pages Scannable
In fact, you do not need too advanced UX design tools to give a cool experience. As we already said, it’s enough to know the features of user behavior and their expectations from your site or application.
And the most important thing you need to know is that modern users practically do not read the text and rarely try to understand the essence. They fully rely on the first visual impression, as well as on the fact that the site design is built in such a way that they can do everything they need based on intuition only.
In order to provide such an intuitive experience, your pages should be easily scannable. They should also give the right visual impression plus stories, if relevant. For example, one of the effective approaches for landing pages is a full-screen picture or a photo that tells a story, plus the correct font, enough empty space, and expected clickable elements.
Remember 6 Main UX Qualities
According to the Interaction Design Foundation Review, there are six main user experience design qualities. Here they are.
- Useful – the project should have a value
- Usable – it should be easy for the user to use every function
- Desirable – people should get the experience they want and expect from you
- Findable – it should be easy to find your website or app, and any piece of content or feature inside it
- Accessible – people with disabilities should also be able to use your solution
- Credible – users should get a credible impression through your design.
What is more, these features should be characteristic for each page of your site or application.
Never Make It Long
The general principle of a good user experience sounds that way. Modern users are impatient, they want to get everything at once, and a little more. Good user experience is when function, content, and usability meet at one point. The simplest example is the registration form.
A long registration form has already become a sign of bad manners, and it’s hard to imagine how unique your proposal should be so that the user agrees to fill out more than three lines of the form. Most sites and applications seek to simplify this procedure with one click.
The only exception to the “never make it long” rule is the content of your blog. There is research that articles over 1500 words engage users better than short notes.
As for everything else, saving user time is one of the pillars of good user experience.
There Should Be No Guesses About Clickability
In order to create a user interface and experience, following this principle, it is necessary to return to one of the first rules – think like a user and follow what users really do. If earlier sites could afford games with clickability, today it is a taboo. If the user does not find what he needs, plus several times clicked on the non-clickable element in the hope of finding it, most likely he will no longer return to your site.
Therefore, it is necessary not only to think as users but also to monitor behavior. Build hypotheses and confirm/refute them. Test new features and ask users to give you feedback.
Come up With a Data-Driven Design to Provide an Expectable Experience
Well, this principle can serve as a kind of conclusion to the above. We have said several times that it is necessary to do research, test hypotheses, new functions, and collect as much data as possible from your users. This data should be the basis of the data-informed design – so that each element and function is intuitive, expected, and necessary for the user. It is this mix, combined with the right design and good product/service quality, that gives a positive user experience.
