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Want to Improve Customer Experience? Here Are Two Things You’re Forgetting

Customer experience is everything, no business leader would argue against that. We are here to serve and delight our customers with excellent products and services. In the process, we build credibility, trust, and loyalty over time. So why do so many websites and mobile apps seem to cut user experience (UX) and user design (UI) out of their process?

When websites are failing to convert, two of the more common reasons are lack of research and testing. These are two critical components of UI/UX that should not be ignored.

You can find the basics of UI and UX in a previous post, so we won’t rehash those points here. In this blog, we want to help you recognize problems with UX/UI and ideas to help you make improvements and adjustments as needed.

We are looking specifically at UX/UI as it relates to website design and mobile app development. These disciplines impact other areas of product development as well, but this post focuses strictly on the strategy and process behind website and mobile app development.

Does Your Website or Mobile App Have a UI/UX Problem?

Businesses create websites and build mobile apps for one primary purpose: to generate leads and sales. Of course, there are several layers to accomplishing this, but at the end of the day, if your marketing tools aren’t making you money… then why do you have them in the first place? Good UI/UX design will help you avoid this problem.

It’s not unusual to feel confused about why your website isn’t converting leads. When we help clients with problems like this, nine times out of ten we discover that customer research and testing are steps that were skipped in UX/UI stages of development.

For people who are not heavily invested in the tech industry, you may just be getting up to speed with UI/UX. And while you may not be an expert yet, there’s one thing you know for sure: something is wrong with your website or mobile app and you need it fixed—STAT.

To be sure, websites have a lot of jobs, but the most important job of a small business website is moving leads through the sales funnel. If the website or app isn’t leading to revenue growth, you probably have a problem that good UX/UI can fix.

UI/UX Includes More than Wireframes

Anyone who has participated in a website design process knows that wireframes and workflows are based on how the end-user will interact with your website. But without serious customer research and pre launch testing, you can’t be certain that your workflows and wireframes will actually produce the desired results.

UX includes making sure you are talking to users and analyzing their frustrations in order to fully understand the problem this product is supposed to be solving, then testing designs before pushing forward with production. The idea of writing a problem statement is a great way to discern what’s really going on in your user’s mind.

UI/UX Prioritizes How Your Customer Feels

Good UX/UI design prioritizes how users feel when using your website or app. This ranges from clean and consistent branding to clear pathways to accomplish goals, e.g. why they came to your website or app in the first place. If you’re not studying how your customers feel, you will likely experience problems with metrics such as dwell time, click through rates, and conversions.

If you’re not fully bought-in to UX/UI design, consider this: how do you track the leads and conversions your website and/or mobile app are producing for your business? If you’re an A-plus student, you’re probably using Google Analytics or a CRM like HubSpot to find the stats you need to know.

But while these are both crucial marketing tools, neither Google Analytics nor HubSpot can tell you how your customers feel about your website or mobile app. If your numbers are low, you can make a logical deduction that users are somewhat unsatisfied but without UI/UX research and testing you can’t pinpoint exactly what needs to be changed.

Yes, feelings matter when it comes to website and mobile app development. It’s easy to lose sight of this when you are swimming in a sea of zeros and ones, but how your customer feels about your website will directly impact how they feel about your product or service.

Research and Testing Take Time—And it’s Worth It!

Research and testing are hallmarks of good UI/UX design. This includes talking to customers, putting yourself in their shoes, clearly defining your customer persona, and considerable testing to ensure that your customers stay positively engaged with your process.

We say this all the time but you must know your customer to win at marketing. You cannot make assumptions or leave things to chance. You have to do the research. You have to ask the questions. As the old saying goes, you reap what you sow!

The customer research and testing components of UI/UX take time to do correctly which is why these are often skipped or overlooked. It’s tempting to avoid or discredit the touchy-feely parts but remember this: you can’t spend too much time getting to know your customers. The more you know them, the better you can serve them, delight them, and keep them coming back for more.

Design for Your Customer, Not For You

This is one of the hardest parts of UI/UX—letting go of your personal preferences in favor of what research and testing prove your customer actually wants. This means that you must be sure that your website and/or mobile app is arranged in a way that makes sense and looks good to your users. Otherwise, your customer might grow frustrated and abandon your product for a simpler solution.

This could differ from what makes sense and looks good to you or your internal stakeholders. Just keep in mind that it is always more profitable to land on the side of the customer.

At the end of the day people want to feel good about the products and services they buy. So businesses that strive to prioritize what the user wants above all else will often be the brand that wins the most business in the end.

UI/UX Final Tips and Parting Thoughts

Before we conclude, here are some rapid-fire tips and ideas to help you assess the quality of your website or mobile app UI/UX.

1. Change Your Perspective

If conversions are down, then you may need to look at things differently. Maybe the layout of your website is confusing people. Or maybe there are too many clicks between your user’s first look and the CTA. The brain doesn’t want to waste energy so make it as simple and intuitive as possible.

• Don’t make assumptions about user needs, talk to users and find out!!
• Don’t skip testing. Design-Build-Test, repeat.
• Create clear paths for your users to complete tasks. Stop trying to make them do what you want them to do. Create experiences that enhance what they’re already trying to do.
• You don’t need to put everything on your home page. People like options but don’t want to be overwhelmed by them.

2. Give the People What They Want

Do the research and discover what your website or mobile app is missing and start creating new experiences. For example, do they want:

• More videos about how your product/service works?
• More testimonials from past clients?
• More case studies?
• More reviews?
• More ways to contact you, e.g. live chat?
• A simpler path to conversion?
• An Easier check out process?
• More contrast in the interface design?
• The ability to customize their experience?
• The option to save favorites or compare options?

These are but a few ideas to get you started. The options for creating excellent user experiences and user-friendly interfaces are endless.

We hope this article has shed some light on the importance of UI/UX and helped you identify how to improve your website or mobile app and ultimately grow your business.

If you are hungry for more and ready to cut your teeth on a more thorough UI/UX website design process or need to address problems with your mobile app performance, please contact us asap to schedule a meeting.

We look forward to hearing from you!