User-Experience Design: Placing Yourself In The User's Shoes

Doesn't there seem to be a myriad of tutorials on how to do website user-experience design right? The trouble is that many of those tutorials try to promote the latest bells and whistles rather than placing the designer in the shoes of the user. When creating a website for a business, keeping the visitor from bouncing away from the site is a primary goal. However, now that most people have at least two decades of experience using the internet, users are quickly able to sense when a website isn't designed well.

With this strong sense of intuition on the part of users, it's all the more important to think like they do, and to design a site with their expectations in mind.

How do you really know what the users want, though? Much of this comes in understanding the psychology behind web design today. You also must consider mobile accessibility: people want information immediately and without confusion.

ORGANIZE INFORMATION SO IT'S EASY TO READ AND USE

Coming from the users' perspective, you have to think about what you'd do when encountering a website for the first time. You also have to consider the purpose of the site, so that you can then design it in a way that's immediately easy to read and understand.

Is the site meant just for basic relaying of information? Does it provide a platform for e-commerce? Is it intended for heavy video usage? In the case where you're merely presenting information for the user to read, using ordinary text is becoming nearly archaic. Even inventive and colorful fonts don't always go over well since it's harder to read, especially on a mobile device.

Rather, organizing text as an infographic is one of the best methods today for presenting information. Infographics are easy to scroll through and are an entertaining way to present information that might otherwise seem too dense. Recent evidence also shows that infographic use has gone up exponentially since 2007 as we continue to consume information in more visual forms.

As part of that visual culture, visuals are an important part of e-commerce as well. Present information about the products in a way that doesn't leave questions. This includes thorough descriptions, 360-degree photos of the products, and one-click shopping, which Amazon.com nearly trademarked.

Don't forget that marketing videos continually make user-experience design more enjoyable. Whether it's the business owner talking about his background or showing behind-the-scenes footage, short videos that are organized by category look good and work in nearly every format.

IS SPARE DESIGN REALLY THE ANSWER?

Google more or less answered this question when they did a study on the psychology behind simpler web design. They discovered that more people found a simple web design a better experience overall, as well as being more aesthetically pleasing compared to a site with clutter.

The result of that study is all the more reason for you to consider a simpler web design, as tempting as it is to add more bells and whistles. In a more mobile culture, you want users to be able to navigate your site quickly and effortlessly--or face them leaving within a minute due to frustration.

Whether navigating the site on a smartphone, tablet, or a wearable device, let the user go from one place to the other in seconds with simple icons and menus.

CREATING A USER PERSONA

Creating personas in marketing has become very popular, and the benefits you gain from understanding your personas apply directly to online user experience design. By creating personas, you experience the perspective of the end user and better understand what they might want in a website. Do this by accumulating data and market research on existing customers and your industry as a whole. Marketing is now more personal than ever, so it is absolutely essential to think from the perspective of your users.

Please contact us if you would like help achieving the right user-experience design for your website.