User Experience (or UX) refers to the overall experience someone has while using an app or a website. It is less focused on how the app looks and more about how it feels and how it’s used. It is not an experience you would likely be able to recollect consciously, and that’s the way it’s meant to be. If you can remember then it’s likely because it was a less than pleasant user experience.
The Importance of UX Design
1. Reduce Costs over Time
The most fundamental aspect of UX design is prototyping. To prototype an app, for example, is to create a mockup of it that simulates the functionality it would eventually have. It allows designers and testers to establish whether there are any usability issues or anything in general that can be improved upon.
Because of this very vital process in the UX design side of things, they can pinpoint any usability issues from the get-go and redesign them as needed. This ends up being a less expensive route in the long run, since design changes are easier and therefore cheaper than development changes.
2. Increase Conversions
So many people have taken their business online in recent years that it’s hard to stand out. In and among the crowd there are many sites that are hard to navigate, the landing pages are confusing and unpredictable and the general experience just isn’t pleasant.
Some UX research and implementation will negate that and your site will be more likely to be the one chosen by customers for the purchase of your product/service. People want to be able to find what they want to buy without a struggle, and this is an easy way for you to set yourself apart from the competition.
3. Helps to Improve SEO
Search engines are forever analysing the experience users are having on landing pages. After all, they want to supply the best results possible when someone makes a query for information or products.
For example, Google’s search algorithm assesses the amount of time a user spends on the page they were directed to. If the page does not contain the information they were looking for, is hard to navigate or just looks displeasing, the user will likely leave the page very quickly, and this behaviour will be recorded by Google.
4. Increase Brand Loyalty
Acquiring new customers is only half the battle. Once they’ve bought from you, how do you plan on making them keep coming back?
Good UX design when interacting with your brand doesn’t just draw in new clientele, but also keeps old ones coming back to keep buying from you. You retain the business and increase loyalty in your customer base because a pleasant experience while using your website or app is desirable for any customer. This, in turn, may also lead to increased word-of-mouth referrals, which will expand upon your customers even more.