User Experience is how a person feels when interacting with a system. This includes a mobile application, a website, desktop software, and basically any form of human/device interaction.
While it is still important for a product to function, experience has also become extremely relevant: the better the experience you’re offering, the more likely customers will choose you over your competitors: UX can be a differentiator in a crowded marketplace.
Why is UX design so important?
UX design is all about creating extremely user-friendly interfaces that can enhance users’ satisfaction and usability.
UX design is important because it tries to fulfill the users’ needs: any UX designer building interfaces should, first of all, shape work on users’ needs and perceptions: what type of person will visit the website/app? What will they expect? How to make their experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible?
UX design aims to provide positive experiences that keep a user loyal to the product or brand. Additionally, a meaningful user experience allows to define customer journeys on the products that are most conducive to business success.
How do you define a great experience?
User experience is different for everyone. We cannot assume what a user wants.
Getting close to users, talking to them, watching them use your product, getting inside their heads and questioning yourself about the decisions they make. You learn a lot from your users and customers, so pay attention! Listen, observe and question.
Methods of the UX Design process:
Here are some basic steps to start the user experience project:
- Kick-Off
- Stakeholders’ Workshop
- User Research
- Analytics
- User Persona
- User Journey Mapping
- Site Map
Best practices in website user experience?
Many aspects matter in website user experience. Here is a selection of the top 5:
- Navigation through the site must be fast and logical.
- Update contents frequently. Nothing is worse than finding out outdated info.
- Mobile optimization is mandatory. The migration from desktop to mobile is going fast and not all websites are keeping up.
- Use images. All text websites are boring and ineffective.
- Test. Every now and then you should test your website. Make A/B tests, or use heat maps but make sure you’re keeping the user and their needs at the core.
