The importance of UX in web design
Michael Jackson, Head of Technology
User Experience, or UX, is a critical component of designing a great and effective website. UX is all about creating a positive connection between your customer and your product and relates specifically to how your customer feels when interacting with a product.
In website design, creating a great user experience comes down to understanding the needs of your business and the needs of your target audience. It’s about connecting your business goals to your customer motivations and creating solutions that achieve good outcomes for the business while also solving the needs of your customer (or potential customers).
When you drill down to its essence, great user experience in website design is making strategy tangible. While in the previous decade of website design, the main priority was putting as much information as high as possible "above the fold", today UX and web design is a much more precisely considered craft.
When a UX expert works with a web developer to design and create a new website, the conversation is all about answering one very specific question for each design element. And that question is, “how does this contribute to the overall goal of what we want the user to do?”. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t belong on your website.
Your company website: Good UX or bad UX?
Incorporating good UX design into your company website design greatly increases the likelihood that users will stay on your site and perform a call to action.
So, how can you tell if your company website in its current form offers a pleasing user experience or a jarring user experience? While we can often instinctively tell if a website provides a good user experience or a bad user experience, there are specific website design traits that contribute to UX being good or bad.
Here’s a list of key design traits found in all websites that offer great UX. How many can you find on your company website?
“Great user experience in website design is making strategy tangible.”
The “what” is crystal clear
When a user lands on your website, they should understand what service or product is being sold within seconds. Any longer and you risk losing them.
Emotionally engaging
Your branding, including your specific combination of fonts and colours, all works together to deliver an emotionally engaging buying experience.
Fast loading
A fast-loading website is an obvious must-have. Don’t underestimate the power of a slow-loading website to drive visitors away.
Mobile-first design
Today, good UX in web design mandates that websites are based on a mobile-first design.
Correct rendering
Your website needs to render correctly on all industry-leading web browsers and platforms, ensuring it provides acceptable UX regardless of how and where the user is accessing it.
Ease of navigation
Your website needs to be easy to navigate, via an uncluttered, easy to use navigation menu. Your navigation menu should run down the left-hand side of your homepage, or along the very top of your homepage.
The three-click rule
Any page on your website should be findable in three clicks or less.
Visual ease
All visual elements (diagrams, infographics, etc) need to be as easy as possible to understand.
Seamless and frictionless
Interacting with your website – whether it be completing a contact form, registering for your newsletter, or making a purchase – needs to be as seamless and frictionless as possible.
This includes enabling the use of existing login systems (Facebook, Google, etc) to make logging in or purchasing an easier experience.
CTA buttons: Keep it simple
Clickable call to action buttons use as few words as possible.
On form validation progress communication
When users have to complete something before moving to the next step, include communication that clearly explains how to do so.
Examples of UX and web design done right
Apple: Amazing visuals, clean and easy to use navigation, great CTAs, an easy to buy experience.
Airbnb: Clean and engaging layout, great photography, amazingly easy and smart search navigation, emotionally engaging.
Examples of UX and web design done wrong
Craigslist: Too much blue, overwhelmed with links, navigation is confusing, isn’t mobile responsive.
Arngren: Just a complete overload of advertisements. No proper navigation, and a horrible mix of colours, to name but a few.
Don’t reinvent the wheel
When it comes to website design and UX, the wheel has already been invented. We would never discourage outside the box thinking, but it’s worth sticking to the tried and true when building your new company website.
For business owners or marketing managers who know they need a new company website that offers better UX but don’t think they have the budget for it, template website designs can be the right option. Templated websites have come a long way in recent years, and because they are based on tried and tested designs, they ensure great UX while being economical to build.
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