User experience at the heart of success: the importance of UX design

We get it – in the world of apps and web pages, standing out from the crowd is easier said than done.

You may want your next app to see widespread adoption rates. Perhaps you’re worried about your website fading into the background? If so, you should deeply consider how you approach the UX side of things.

It doesn’t matter what good or service you’re pushing online, focusing on how people interact with your apps and websites should always be your first priority.

Enter UX design, short for “user experience”. It’s a field focused on creating websites and applications that not only look great but are easy to interact with, too.

This post covers all things UX-related. Through it, we’ll ensure readers learn just how crucial UX design is to the success of their apps and websites. If you’re a UX sceptic, then read on to learn the importance of UX design. Chances are, it’s the only thing standing between you and your success.

What is UX?

UX Design and Why Is It Important?

To begin with, UX reveals the quality of the interaction users have with computer systems. In the context of this post, the systems in question are websites and apps.

UX is not simply about design. It's about crafting an experience for your users and consumers. UX is used to design the experience your users will have whenever they interact with your platform.

In truth, it's about prioritizing what your users feel and how they behave while using your app or website. The trick to achieving great UX is empathy. You have to deeply feel and understand what the customer may be feeling while trying to find certain settings or products on your app or website.

Perhaps finding one product takes 15 different clicks, or the features under your app settings are more frustrating than they are helpful. In the craft of UX, it is vital to always consider the why, what, and how of product consumption.

• Why: Why use certain motivators, values, or views?

• What: What is the value-added by the function or features?

• How: How can users access what they need? How does it look?

UX design is a game of questions and answers. Other questions you'd have to consider include:

• **What is the problem you are solving? **

• **Who are you solving the problem for? **

• **How do or how would people feel about it? **

While it may sound a bit rudimentary UX is certainly a scientific study and artistic process, all crammed into one!

What makes UX design such a game-changer is how it factors in how users feel while interacting with your system.

Here’s what UX reveals:

1. A positive user experience will translate to customer loyalty and long-term commitment.

2. A bad user experience – regardless of its cause – repels users from the solution you’re offering. This is regardless of how well your good or service does what it does.

Why is it important to keep your customers happy? Because it greatly improves the chances of converting happy browsers into loyal, long-term consumers of your product.

UX design, an investment that pays off: the advantages that will make the difference

1. Sales funnels that are efficient

Great UX leads to a far more efficient sales funnel. That is to say, a more efficient and seamless conversion.

According to Baymard, 69.2% of online buyers abandon their carts right after they finish adding their items. This is largely because of cart designs that are badly crafted and complicated checkout processes.

In truth, even if you had a great UX, you probably wouldn’t be able to keep that 69.2%. Yet, a sizable portion would have followed through on its purchases were a solid UX design in place.

Bolster your sales funnel with a great UX.

It's elements like the page or app’s calls to action. Maybe you have a very intuitive layout. It could be how clearly users can navigate between different icons and tabs to find exactly what they want.

The last thing you want is people shutting down your app due to how frustrating the bugs or layouts are.

2. Through UX design: increase sales and ROI

Walmart reported a 43% rise in e-commerce sales following a grand redesign back in 2018. The new website not only featured a drastic change – it boasted a far more intuitive layout than before.

Through their focus on UX design, Walmart greatly simplified how its customers shop and navigate through its online platforms.

3. Reduced long-term costs

It's true – UX can help reduce your app or website’s long-term maintenance expenses, this is especially true when it comes to marketing.

We’ve already established how UX enhances your app's conversion rate and sales. The result is, given the same investment, an application that offers a good user experience will generally generate more income than one with poor user experience.

Beyond that, by tracking low sales rates due to poor UXs, app and website owners will see increases in their marketing expenditure. As a result, they will need to boost their marketing cost because their apps fail to produce the results they are expecting.

On the other hand, if they are pleased with the experience and feel of your app, people are far more likely to recommend it to their friends, family and colleagues. They'll help market your product for you in the best way possible – word of mouth.

Putting markings in the back seat for a moment, a good investment in UX will stimulate long-term relationships between your apps and the target market you want to appeal to.

4. UX, a way to boost your referencing

Search engine optimization, or SEO, has become the lifeline of any serious website. Improving your UX can lead to improvements in the SEO of your website as well. While some people may fail to recognize the connection between good SEO and UX, we assure you – it’s rather strong.

One way UX could improve the SEO of your website is by affecting dwell time. For Google, dwell time is an important ranking factor. The more time people stay on your website, the higher it will rank on Google.

A good UX contributes towards dwell time, if not indirectly. This is because a great UX can retain users on your website for much longer. Simply put, careful UX designs lead to better SEO for your website.

What is the goal of UX?

When questioning what the goal of UX is, it becomes important to look at the desired outcome.

UX design is ultimately about improving customer satisfaction rates and loyalty. This is primarily achieved by making things on your app or website easier to read, use and simply more enjoyable.

But this isn’t just a game dedicated to making people feel good. Good UX designs improve how people view your business while increasing your sales.

The goal of UX is to analyze the experience you are giving users. Once this is done, you'll know how to improve or simplify them. UX understands that people perceive things through how they interact with them. It's all about how apps and websites make us feel, react and behave, ultimately bolstering conversion.

Finally understand the difference between UX and UI two disciplines that go hand in hand.

People often confuse the term “user experience” with “user interface”. This is mostly because of the similarities between the two.

The two terms also have great differences. Even so, both UX and UI play crucial parts in the development process of your website or app.

UI covers the things your user sees and interacts with. It includes the visual design, forms, color scheme, icons, buttons, and layout.

On the other hand, UX covers UI and a few other components. These other components help determine the quality of a user’s interaction with your system.

Besides UI, UX also relies on how responsive your system is. It considers the system’s structure, how easily users find what they want, and so much else!

The close interrelation between UX and UI comes from how UI seeks to create an efficient, clean, and easy to the user interface. Simply put, the successful development of a good UI leads to better UX.

Don't underestimate the impact of UX design on your business

UX shows your commitment to creating products and services that have customers in mind. It's easy to notice when your experience as a customer is being considered. Dare we say, we like it too!

UX is about reassuring customers as they navigate through your system. It's about making sure your users don't grow frustrated and abandon your app before achieving what they want. Once you have all this covered, you know you have a great UX design on your hands.

We assert that being user-focused is a great thing for your organization. Your success lies in drawing people in and designing experiences that impress them. When your platform factors in great UX concepts, it gains so much more in value. In other words, the products or services on offer become something worth paying for.

Always remember that your app or website was set up to help solve a problem. UX lets you solve that problem in a way that is enjoyable for users. Ultimately, this makes them happy. While humans may be complicated, one thing is clear: whenever we like something, we champion strongly behind it. Whenever we come to like something, we make use of it over and over again.

Good UX leads to people enjoying how they interact with the business. “Not only do they make great products, but they're easy to access, too!” That's the exact sentiment you need from your consumer base.

A poorly crafted UX does far more damage to how people perceive and trust your solution.

Conclusion

We'll close by saying this. Great UX renders your product a sure stand-out. There is no shortage of apps and websites that simply perform what they have to do. This is what makes it difficult to persuade people into using the items or services you are offering.

A more thoughtful UX design could very well be the missing link between your app's challenges and unrivalled success. We implore website and app developers to stop neglecting the importance of user experience.

While it can be hard to accurately define the scope of UX, in the end, it all proves to be worth it.

Make sure to take action now! Make sure your team focuses heavily on the right UX. It can mean the difference between a good and a great product!

Key UX take-aways:

When your UX is just good enough, it probably won't make a lasting impression. If it's bad, though, your users will definitely remember. People who have bad in-app experiences are far more likely to leave and not come back.

Not convinced? Well, how often have you abandoned an online store due to the purchasing process being clingy and annoying? How often do you leave an app because of how confusing it is? Have you ever done a free trial of something only to pull out because the platform was too incomprehensible to pay for?