Web Design and UX Design
UX refers to “user experience”, which is the experience a user has with a product or interactive media, such as a website. UX can be applied to many things besides websites that involve human interaction, such as toys, kitchen appliances, and 4D movies. UX design fails in products result in poor sales, diminished trust in the brand, and lost customer loyalty. The same can be true for your website. It is not enough to simply have a website; visitors to your website are expecting UX design that ensures that their visit is seamless, responsive, fast, and pleasant. While “web design” is term that represents the process for creating a website for the internet, “UX design” refers to the thoughtful process of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences for users. The following demonstrate why UX design matters1:
- 75% of people base credibility by a website
- 53% of mobile users will leave after 3 seconds
- 59% of people prefer a beautifully designed website
- 86% of visitors want information about products and services
- 1% of users interact with website sliders
- 94% of people won’t trust an outdated website
- 70% of small businesses miss call-to-actions
- 50% of eCommerce revenue is from mobile users
- It takes just 0.05 seconds to form a design opinion
- 44% of users will leave if there’s no contact information
- Slow image loading times can cause 39% of users to abandon
- You have on average 10 seconds to impress
- 2 out of 3 minutes spent online are via mobile
- Video content 53x more likely to reach the first page of Google
- 70% of people pay attention to bulleted lists
Some tips for effective UX design:
Be consistent. Engagement is an important element in web development. An experienced UX designer will be able to integrate fresh ideas into existing structures that users are comfortable with. Understanding human comfort begins with understanding that humans form habits. While it is possible to deliberately cultivate or eliminate habits, many habits are formed without a person intending to acquire them. When it comes to website engagement, we expect things to look a certain way and to be in certain places, and we are comfortable with this habit. Unfamiliar layouts, obscure fonts, wacky colors, and confusing navigation can disrupt users’ behavior patterns and are a recipe for bad and ineffective UX design.
Simplicity and responsiveness. An overzealous design with a lot of elements and action is not effective UX design. Effective UX design will ensure an easy and pleasant experience by giving each page a single purpose that is instantly understandable and will place additional information at the bottom of the page.
Know your audience. Know what your target users are looking for, what they need, and who/where they are. You can find this out through surveys or observation.
1 Chambers, 2021, “15 Website & UX Statistics of 2021”