Have you heard of user experience design, otherwise known as UX? Don Norman coined the term while he was Vice President of the Advanced Technology Group at Apple in the late 1980’s. His definition states, “user experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products”.
User experience is found all around us, from car stereos, to software, to alarm clocks, or even customer service. We all interact with a companies products and services constantly. Have you ever been frustrated with a website, spoken to a rude customer service representative, or robbed by a vending machine? These are all examples of a negative user experience. If you don’t keep the customer happy, it will show up on the bottom line.
The Growing Importance of UX
In the past, designing a product or service with the end user at it’s core, has not always been at the forefront. Many software engineers created products in a way that made sense to them, not the end user. Apple was one of the first companies to try a user-centered design approach and a big reason why they’ve been so successful. Companies in the past have tried many ways to differentiate themselves. From advertising, to customer service and many more, companies are always looking for a competitive edge. In today’s market, providing an excellent user experience has become crucial to success. Here are a number of benefits a company will see when they focus on building a positive user experience.
Benefits of Applying UX
- Reduces customer support by nearly 90%
- Reduced developer costs (less dev time when done right in the first place)
- Every $2 spent on UX returns $100
- 70% more products sold on mobile optimized websites
- 40% of customers turn to a competitor after a bad experience
- Customers are 16% less likely to switch brands when there is a positive UX
These numbers are mostly website/app based, but it shows that user experience research does pay off. When you apply a user centered design approach to your whole business, that’s when you receive differentiation and success. It’s as simple as offering value to customers with a positive experience. This not only encourages repeat business, but positive word-of-mouth.
How to Improve Your UX
If you are running a website business and are asking yourself, how do I improve my website’s user experience? We’ll, there are a number of ways to research and improve, but far too much detail for one article. Ways to improve may include your web hosting service, content management system (or lack thereof), fonts, colors, buttons, page hierarchy, information architecture, usability testing, and a number of other ways.
I earned my masters degree in user experience/user interface (UX/UI) design, so creating a great user experience is my focus for any website/business I work on. For instance, a couple specifics for this website would be that I chose WordPress as my content management system and Bluehost as my web hosting service. I’ve used other web hosting and content management systems in the past, but WordPress is a slam dunk for blogging and Bluehost is solid; which is where I’ve hosted all my websites for the past 7 years. Another solid choice for any design needs would be Adobe Creative Cloud. I use Photoshop and Illustrator almost daily and would highly recommend them for any design needs you may have. If you’d like to hear more about improving your website’s user experience and bottom line, please leave a comment below! If there is enough interest, I will go into further detail on how to accomplish this.
*Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something.
