First impressions count in the world of web design and digital media. There are no second chances. To be successful, your website needs to impress from the moment someone visits your site. Which is why careful consideration must be given to user experience (UX) during the design stage.
According to research carried out in 2015 by the Statistics Brain Research Institute, the average person’s attention span is around 8.25 seconds. Yes, just over 8 seconds is all you’ve got to convince visitors why you are worthy of their attention and consequently their business. It means there is very little room for error.
But what exactly is user experience and how does it influence the success of your site?
User experience is the perception and feeling users get when they visit a website. It refers to how friendly, inviting and pleasing a website is to the eye. What first attracts users to a site, what keeps them there and what persuades them to purchase a product or subscribe to a service on offer.
In this crowded digital world, where alternative websites are always just a click of the mouse away, your site needs to stand out to grab the customer’s attention. You need to put in the time and effort to deliver a professional online experience to impress potential customers, otherwise they will just go elsewhere. Your website is likely to be the first thing they see; it’s really an extension of your business and how you do business.
If you take into account the user experience of your site’s visitors before and during the website design process, you stand a much better chance of achieving increased customer satisfaction, which will lead to returning customers and increased sales. If the customer is happy, they are much more likely to come back to your website again and again. That’s how powerful and vital user experience is to the success of your website and ultimately your business.
Usability and user experience, is there a difference?
Indeed there is. Usability focuses on making the website easy to use, while user experience focuses on user satisfaction. It’s about making the customer happy from the moment they land on your site, while using it and after using it. Therefore, usability addresses the ease with which users interact with the site to achieve their goals, and user experience deals with user perception of their interaction with the website.
Your website can be functional and simple to use, but boring as far as user experience is concerned. However, with a focus on user experience, your website will not only require less effort to use but it will also deliver a pleasant, inviting and emotional experience. Visitors will experience a meaningful and rewarding journey as they navigate their way around your website.
Still wondering if you should bother?
User experience is a broader concept and takes into account much more than website design. It considers the feelings, needs and expectations of the customers as well as of the business. This basically means that user experience incorporates aspects such as human-computer interaction, design, presentation, accessibility, ergonomics and usability.
In short, user experience solely is a specialised skill within website design and development. Therefore, it takes a knowledgeable user experience expert or architect with the ability to evaluate and understand the behaviour of users when interacting with websites to be able to design a website that best meets the users’ expectations and needs.
From the graphics to interactive content to integrating videos, audios and other digital media, a captivating user experience design will surely keep visitors on your site. On the other hand, a bad one will definitely send them away quicker than that 8-second attention span.
So, take a good look at your website and ask yourself, when someone visits your site for the first time, what sort of impression do they get? Is it good or bad? Is it easy to navigate? What sort of emotion and feeling does it invoke? Is it pleasing, inviting or dull and boring?
It’s never too late to benefit from good user experience design. With a talented and dedicated user experience expert, you can upgrade your website and start reaping the benefits.
Call + 61 402 636 014 to find out more about user experience design – or any of our other services. You can also get in touch via our contact page, or send an email to tadgraphics@t-adstudio.com
