Techniques That Web Designers Follow for Improving User Experience

UX Design or Design for User Experience is the culmination of research that defines whether or not a user is going to purchase. This is a conversion science that your site can’t do without.

User Experience or UX is the cornerstone of web design; which has become a conversion science that can make or break an online business. If you are ignoring user experience while designing your website, you’re doing so at your own peril.

Maybe you’ve been burning the midnight oil trying to figure out your websites’ weak SEO performance areas, but the UX aspect of your site has totally been neglected. This is a very common scenario that puts the cart before the horse so-to-speak and will directly impact conversions negatively.

UX encompasses a lot of factors, some that are controllable by designers and developers and some that are environmental or just user preference. These factors include usability, accessibility, performance, design/aesthetics, utility, ergonomics, overall human interaction and marketing.

Ultimately, UX defines the way in which a user will interact with your site and if they will make a purchase.

User experience is so critical that there are dedicated web designers, known as UX designers, who look at this aspect of designing exclusively. Even the way you display the Contact Us page on the website bears considerable importance in generating interest among users, and it is the job of UX designers to help you achieve what you want – a lead.

UX designers can create great experiences for users that translate into visible business gains. Remember, UX affects users of all kinds including search engines that use it as an indicator of the site’s worth that influences search rankings. Let us discuss some of the standard techniques and methods discussed below that UX designers apply to achieve the desired results.

Value proposition

Most people aren’t convinces to make a purchase immediately from your site. Most users require some coaxing and cajoling, albeit subtly, to turn buying decisions in your favor. You can achieve this by incorporating a value proposition in the web design so that the customers know why they should buy your product as opposed to the competitors.

People won’t ever buy from you if they don’t even understand why they should pay attention to you. And they notice you only if you have a strong value proposition.

The most effective way of creating an effective value proposition is to provide solutions that customers are looking for highlighting the difference could benefit to the customer. Using testimonials and case studies act as proof that bolsters your claim of the superior offering.

Diary studies or Cultural probes

UX Design takes a lot of research. In order to create the right design for better user experience, designers have to gather information about user behavior and read the minds of users.

This requires probing of users to understand their intentions and activities to derive ideas that inspire new and more efficient designs. Popularly known as cultural probing, the method is different from traditional field test and usability test that relies on direct observation. The method of cultural probing is based on self-reporting by users and entails gathering information with minimal intrusion or influence on their actions. It is ideal for processes that take place over an extended period or that occurs intermittently.

This method allows designers to identify problem areas, discover new opportunities that inspire innovation and new solutions that are one of its kinds.

Competitive audit

In order to provide the best user experience in web design, you have to understand what the best features for your users would be. This makes competitor websites an essential part of the research process.

It always pays to know what your competitors are offering and the most efficient way to know it is to conduct a competitive audit that involves a comprehensive analysis of their products. In the process, you would come to know what increases their online visibility, for example, you would be able to understand how much influence they exert on the major networks of the social media. The most noticeable gain that you get from competitive website audit is that you come to know what customers want, be able to develop a better USP and discover new marketing channels.

Interviewing stakeholders

To gain insight into the user experience, UX designers take recourse to interviewing different stakeholders related to the business. They talk to not only customers but also people at all levels within and outside the organization including bosses, staff, and peers. This exercise allows designers to step into the shoes of others that help in understanding issues from the user’s perspective that leads to a prioritization of features. It also helps to define KPIs (key performance indicators).

Heuristic evaluations

In a heuristic evaluation, usability experts review your site’s interface and compare it against accepted usability principles. The analysis results in a list of potential usability issues. This list of usability issues provides valuable data about improving the web design for conversion.

Heuristic evaluation is a fast and inexpensive way of gathering feedback early in the design process. You can collect useful leads in design improvement provided you adopt the correct heuristic.

Besides the above techniques, doing a SWOT analysis that reveals the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats influencing the user experience.

There are a lot of techniques that experienced UX designers implement in order to create a website best suited for a specific audience. What is abundantly clear is that researching your customers’ needs is key in all aspects. So keep that in mind when designing your site for user experience.